Faking it with planters

I don't do much with ornamentals, preferring to think of our food plants as the beautiful ones. But I'm having over some folks (yes, you're invited) Saturday afternoon in honor of my 64th birthday (Beatles will be playing in the background). So I thought I would grab some planters and pretend-plant them with color spots, to be re-purposed after the party as potato planters.

Son climbed down into the creek and got me a wheelbarrow load of rocks. We filled the planters to within four inches of the top.

I covered the rocks with newspaper and filled the top of the planter with potting soil.

Then planted the flowers, pot and all, hiding the pots in the soil.

There now, not drab. After the party, I'll unpot the plants and set them out in a bed near the front door. Then take the potting soil to the potting shed to make up flats of summer seeds. The rocks will go into a support crib for a fence line.

The planters will then be available for spuds. The idea was to replace the field spuds, which have been frozen down to the ground twice. But they seem to be recovering.