Spring Mantel: Create the Botanic Look

Our spring season was moving along so smoothly. I was enjoying every minute of the mild weather. But Old Man Winter likes to have the last word as he’s walkin’ out the door and had his say a few days ago with snow blowing so strongly it created white-out conditions. Then Sassy Spring chuckled her way back in with 70-degree temps making sure that snow didn’t stick around. Just when I thought she’d win the kerfuffle, Old Man Winter blasted one last breath (at least I hope it’s a last breath) of his icy air. Sigh. I’m doing a little fighting back of my own with a botanic-style spring mantel.

Hubby and I braved the cooler temps this past weekend to do a little shopping at our local flea market. There were plenty of garden vendors and I went a little crazy snatching up a range of pretty plants.

 

The plant on right is a pretty little boxwood that I might or might not clip into a cute shape.

 

I found the Euonymus topiary at my favorite garden designer’s booth. I wish I had her talent for creating such beautiful pieces of art from living plants.

 

She tells me that the moss on the outside of her pots grows naturally in her greenhouse. She hasn’t treated the pot at all and assures me the moss will remain on the pot.

 

When I visit her booth I always try to find the garden pots with the most moss.

 

My plant-laden spring mantel lifts my spirits when I walk through the room. Plants help clean the air in the house, too.

 

A soft topiary wreath of angel ivy pairs with a jagged succulent.

 

Aren’t plants beautiful?  The little metal pot hails all the way from Kennebunkport, Maine. The vendor selling it told me her story of how she was visiting a friend in the coastal state and found the little metal pot for a favorite plant. But the plant didn’t fit because it was too big so she was selling it at the flea market with her wares. I love items that have a nostalgic story behind them.

 

I had to grab the Christmas tree-looking plant when I saw it in the corner of another booth. Now I just have to keep it alive until the holidays arrive in another 8 months.

 

Plants aren’t the only thing I dug up at the flea market. I found these gorgeous ceiling tins from an historic home in a nearby town. I don’t know what happened to the house itself; I’m just happy to have a few of its architectural elements.

 

Another architectural element from a previous flea market is my plant pedestal.

Now wish me luck that I can keep all these new plants alive on my spring mantel!