It’s springtime and everything is green and growing! I love this time of year when I get to work in my outdoor spaces! And, one of my favorite things to do is enhance these spaces with vintage items that I’ve either collected or are treasures from the past – like this vintage bicycle! This sweet ride was my sister’s Schwinn back in the 1960’s! It’s all original with scratches and scrapes from falls along the way, and I love it!
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I propped the bicycle against an ornamental cherry tree in my back yard. I’ve created a small shade garden surrounding this tree with a bridal wreath shrub and some shade loving perennials. You can just see a few branches of the bridal wreath shrub on the far right of the above photo. Surrounding the bike are various hosta plants and a “gold heart” bleeding heart near the front tire.
The bright pink flowers on the right is an annual Lady’s Slipper (streptocarpus). I love this annual flower and try to plant some each year! Here are some in a white and. purple colorway planted in a vintage tin bucket.
I didn’t secure the bicycle to the tree and it hasn’t fallen once. I’ve actually used this bicycle in this same spot for three years now! The first year I planted the basket with pink wave petunias and verbena. Please excuse the quality of this photo, because it was my very first year blogging before I had a good camera! But, I wanted you to see the flowers and the basket that I used that first year.
vintage bicycle planter 2012
The basket I used in that first year was an inexpensive oval basket that had a handle, like an Easter basket. I cut off the handle and used floral wire to wire the basket to the handlebars of the bicycle. Seriously, nothing fancy. I did line the basket with a heavy duty trash bag that I cut to fit the inside of the basket. And, I made a little music sheet pinwheel for the photo. You can get the pinwheel tutorial in this post.
vintage bicycle planter 2013
The next year, I made an outdoor banner and draped it across the front of the bicycle. I used the same basket as I did the first year. And, planted the basket with the same flower combination of wave petunias and verbena, but in slightly different shades of pink.
vintage bicycle planter in the fall
I’ve also used the bicycle in my fall landscape. I filled the basket with small white pumpkins and used some of the branches from the bridal wreath shrub as a filler. And placed some larger pumpkins on the ground.
The basket shown in the fall photo and the photo above is a wire planter with hooks that is typically used to hang over a railing (like a porch deck). You can find this kind of wire basket in garden centers. I lined the basket with an oval coco basket liner that I cut to fit the basket perfectly. This last year I planted the basket with pink double impatiens.
If you don’t have a vintage bicycle, they are pretty easy to find in the spring and summer months. Check your local yard sales, auctions, and facebook marketplace. I’m sure you can find one for your own yard or landscape! It doesn’t have to be in good condition or ridable! But, it will add a bit of whimsy to your landscape!
I love every one of them. Thanks for sharing.