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| My husband recently made a bird bath out of an old, large ceiling lamp shade and placed it on top of an old tree stump. I would LOVE to plant something in it (edible would be nice, but not necessary) but hubby informs me it will get way to hot for anything to survive.
Is he right? Any suggestions for what can withstand a hot sunny day in a few litres of water (not quite full sun, but plenty of mid day sun in summer) in Sydney? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| A photo would be useful, as it's hard to imagine how big, how deep, how high the stump is... any chance of a pic? And.... are birds to be included or is it just now for plantings? If so then there are probably some bog plants that would do quite well and survive the heat, and that might include edible mints or edible ipomoea - check asian plants? |
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- Posted by Sydney_Laura Sydney (My Page) on Thu, Jan 6, 11 at 21:14
| I've just put a photo of the birdbath on my gardening journal blog. You can see it here: http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/ Sorry, but I'm not sure how to include a photo in this post. The birdbath is about 60cm across and 8cm deep. I've put a few stones in it to allow birds to sit before "plunging" into the deeper bits if they are so inclined. This is my first birdbath so I'm not sure if they'll like it (just filled it today). I may paint the inside to get rid of the white (will that scare them away?). And yes, I want birds to enjoy this more than the plants. I just thought the plants might look nice. I do plan to grow a creeper (probably fig) up the trunk. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Laura's gardening journal
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| Nice bit of re-cycling. I think you'd be better off leaving the bowl alone, actually. First, when birds see nice fresh water on a hot day, they tend to go all-out in flapping frenzy, so plants are likely to be an impediment. Second, keeping the thing clean enough for birds while constantly having to remove potplants (I don;t think you could put anything in there permanently) would just be a headache. I'd be inclined to do what you were planning, just soften the log a bit - maybe in the meantime you could find some nasturtium seeds (flowers are edible) and plant in little pots just under the bowl so they trail down and perhaps something to creep over the back of the stump. Great conversion, anyway. |
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- Posted by Sydney_Laura Sydney (My Page) on Sat, Jan 8, 11 at 17:22
| Alison, Yep, we're the recycling kings. The lamp shade we found in a local council cleanup. We'd already decided we wanted a bird bath and so kept our eye out for something that might work. And we've kept a bit of rubbish out of the local landfill. I think your idea about plant avoidance is best. And I love the nasturtium suggestion. Some has come up wild in the back of my garden, I might try potting a bit and see if it will trail down. Fingers crossed. |
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