108) Plastic Flower Garden Markers

A few weeks ago we put our first seeds into the garden, just a few cooler weather vegetables because in Baltimore there is still a frost chance for a few more weeks. Our peas, beans, lettuces and onions are off to a great start. With all our vegetables starting to grow we needed some garden markers so we know what's what. Last year we used these small plastic white garden markers from the store. They were fine at first but after the plants grew a little they got lost in the growth.  This summer I wanted to try something with a little more color, so I enlisted the help of my two favorite painters.

I begin by taking a few plastic containers (my years as an art teacher means I compulsively collect these things) and using a heavy duty pair of scissors I cut lines towards the center. I then bent the cut pieces of plastic down to create the petals of a flower. The Bean and Bee painted all the flowers with acrylic paint. I left the color selection up to them and since they are really into color mixing these days their flowers have a great swirly, multi-color look!

Once the paint had dried I wrote the name of the plants in sharpie markers. Using my handy dandy awl (although you could probably do this with a sharp pair of scissors) I poked two holes into the center of each flower. I then cut a piece of garden twine and tightly tied a wooden dowel to the back of each flower. I looped the twine around a few times so the flower would not slip. Once all the dowels had been attached the Bee helped me place the garden markers into their proper places. The flowers look beautiful adding a bright pop of color into our green garden and the best part no more trying to remember what we planted where!