Summer is here, and Independence Day is quickly approaching! That means barbecue, fireworks and everything red, white and blue! It’s always fun to decorate your home and yard for this time of year, and what better way to kick your festivity up a notch by involving your plants?
We’ve got some great ideas to help you get your garden 4th of July ready-- and they’re all projects you can do in the comfort of your backyard!
Bucket of Firecrackers
Nothing says ‘Merica like rustic farmhouse decor and things that explode. This project will combine these elements into a lovely, festive planter that’s sure to impress!
Materials:
Galvanized Metal Bucket/Washtub
Power Drill
Potting Soil
Firecracker Bush
Cardboard Tubes (paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls)
Craft Paper
Pipe Cleaners or Streamers
3 Wooden Dowels
Red, White & Blue Paint/Spray Paint
Paint Brush
Hot Glue Gun/ Glue
Scissors
Wired Ribbon
First, you’ll want to take your galvanized container and turn it upside down. Take your power drill and drill 5 holes into the bottom, this is to ensure that your plant will have proper drainage. After you’ve done that, you can flip it back over and fill about halfway with potting soil, add your Firecracker Bush. Then, fill the container the rest of the way with soil, firmly packing it around the plants’ root balls.
Now that your bushes are planted, it’s time to get creative! Set your planter aside, and get out that glue gun, craft paper and your cardboard tubes!
Start with the craft paper; you really don’t need to worry about the color too much because we’ll be painting over it! Hold the piece of paper horizontally and curl the top two corners into each other to form a cone; using your glue gun, glue the sides together. Then, take your scissors and trim the excess along the bottom. Repeat this process 3-5 times or for as many fireworks you want in your planter, these will be the tops of the rockets.
Now that we have our tops, we’re going to construct the bottoms of our fireworks. Take another piece of craft paper (or two, depending on how wide your rocket tops are at the bottom) and cumple it into a tight ball. Hot glue this ball of paper to the end of one of your cardboard tubes. After that dries, run a few lines of hot glue around the ball of paper and then place the rocket top over it, completely encasing it.
Your rocket is built, and it’s time to decorate! Break out the spray paint, and evenly coat your rockets the color of your desire. Let dry for 10-15 minutes or until the surface is no longer tacky. You can now paint whatever designs you’d like on your rockets (We recommend stars and stripes for this occasion, maybe even add some glitter!). Allow your fireworks to dry, then use your glue gun to attach the pipe cleaners and/or streamers to the inside of the bottom of the rocket. When you’re done decorating, take your wooden dowels and cut them to your desired length and glue one end to the inside of the bottom of each rocket. When they’re dry, you stick these dowels down into the soil in your planter so that it looks like fireworks are shooting out of your Firecracker Bush!
All that’s left to do is to tie your red, white and blue ribbon in a bow around your container!
This planter would be a great piece of decor for your entryway, porch or yard and it’s a super easy and fun project that you can do with the kids!
Star Spangled Table Topper
Looking for a patriotic way to class up your backyard picnic table? We’ve got you covered. This is a fairly simple project AND it’s inexpensive!
Materials:
Terracotta Flower Pot
Potting Soil
White or Red Flowers
White Spray paint
Read And Blue Acrylic Paint
Sponge Brush/Paint Brush
Painters Tape
Foam Star Stickers
Pebbles or Marbles
Clear Glass Candle Holder
Tealight Candles
The very first thing you should do is coat your flower pot with a few layers of white spray paint. This will be a good base to work from, and will be your white stars and stripes. Once the paint is completely dry and no longer tacky, you can start taping off your stripes. Run your painters tape around the pot spaced about 1” apart. Do not put tape on the lip at the top.
Once your stripes are taped off, paint the spaces that are not taped, red; do NOT pain the lip of the pot. When you’re done with your red stripes, remove the painters tape and allow it to dry.
Next, place your foam star stickers around the lip of the pot; You can evenly space them or mix in different sizes, just make sure they’re snuggly secured to the pot!
It’s time to add the blue! Take your paint brush (or, we found it’s easier with a sponge brush) and paint/sponge the blue paint around the stars on the lip of the pot until it’s completely covered. Allow the paint to dry, and then peel off the stickers to reveal the white stars!
It’s finally time to plant! Fill your pot about ⅓ of the way with potting soil and add your flowers (we’re using sambac jasmine) ; try to plant them out around the edge of the pot, leaving a space in the middle. Fill in the rest of the pot with soil, tightly packing it around your flowers.
Place a glass candle holder in the center of the planter, and pour the pebbles/marbles in until you see fit; then just place a tealight inside and you’re done!
You can add a flag or two if you want to go all out!
This is an easy project and a great decoration for your tables at your 4th of July BBQ! Candlelit hotdogs anyone? We think YES!
Red, White, And Blue Tower of Flowers
Last but not least, it’s time for a festive statement piece! In America, we go big or go home am I right? Naturally, our country’s birthday deserves a larger than life planter.
Materials:
1 LARGE Terracotta Flower Pot (At least 16” in diameter)
1 Medium Terracotta Flower Pot (about 8”-10” in diameter)
1 Small Terracotta Flower Pot ( about 5”-6” in diameter)
Power Drill
Potting Soil
Red, White, and Blue Spray Paint
Painters Tape
1 36” Wooden Dowel, ¾ “-1” in diameter
Red, White, and Blue Flowers
Wooden or Plastic Star Decoration
Start with your largest pot; using the painters tape, mark off the lip of the pot and carefully spray paint the bottom portion of the pot blue. Once the blue paint is completely dry, use the painters tape again to mark off the lip of the pot, and spray paint the lip red.
Repeat this process for the next two pots using the following coloring instructions:
Medium Pot-- Bottom portion should be red, the lip should be white.
Small Pot--- Bottom portion should be white, the lip should be blue.
Allow your pots to dry out completely!
When they’re ready to go, you can start assembling the tower! Take the dowel, place it in the drain hole of the largest pot, then fill the pot with potting soil-- be sure to keep the dowel straight! Then, slide the medium pot onto the dowel, fill with dirt, and repeat with the last pot.
At last! It’s time to plant your flowers! For the bottom pot, we’re using White Dipladenias. These flowers have a tendency to bush/trail down the pot so they’ll be perfect for the base of the planter. For the middle, we’re using Blue Days, the vibrant blue hue of the flowers will contrast beautifully with the white pot above them. For the top, bright red Pentas for a final burst of color!
After you’ve planted your flowers, all that’s left is to add a star on top! We found this wooden star at Michael’s and we thought it’d be perfect. To attach, take your power drill and drill a ¾”-1” hold in the bottom of the star (size depends on the diameter of your dowel). Then simply place your star atop the dowel and you’re finished!
Your Tower of Flowers is sure to be the talk of the party, bursting with red, white and blue blooms! A couple of these placed in your yard or on your deck will definitely up your decorating game!
We hope you loved these DIY 4th of July planters as much as we did! Get outside this weekend and give them a try! Post your finished projects on instagram, and tag us! Use #PlantExchangeDIY to see what others are creating!Have your own patriotic planter idea? We’d love to see! You can submit your photos to media@americanplantechange.com for a chance to be featured on our social media!