Over the winter I was e-mailed by Jeff Maniscalco the husband of a Kristy Maniscalco wondering if I'd explain what this whole garden blog thing was about. I get a lot of e-mails of people who want to do "partnerships" of one kind or another so I was a little hesitant to answer. Over the course of a few e-mails I tried to explain why people like us blog about our plants and gardens and explain how to use a blog. I set them up with an account and created a couple of entries for them in their blog showing how to use the container garden inserts that Kristy had designed. 
After I was done Jeff asked if I'd be interested in trying out one of the Ups A Daisy container inserts. I said sure and when it came in the mail I set it aside and forgot about it when life took an interesting turn recently. The other day I was finally getting around to planting my spring bulbs and my Amaryllis bulbs that I had kept dormant all winter and I spotted the Ups A Daisy planters Jeff had mailed me. Needing to plant everything at once I chose to plant my bulbs up in a large container I grabbed the Ups A Daisy insert and took it outside to see if it would work.
The idea behind the Ups A Daisy is to eliminate the need to fill the bottom of your garden pot with packing peanuts, soil or empty water bottles. I didn't get a chance to save up any packing peanuts this winter for my large pots so the Ups A Daisy came in handy. You measure the inside of your pot with a measuring tape and the measurement dictates the size of the insert that you'll need. The Ups A Daisy insert is then slid in and sits halfway down your pot so you only use half of the amount of soil you would normally use.
The photos in this entry are not mine they're product shots from their website but I'm using them to give you an idea of how to use it. I'll post the pics of my pot when I get a chance to go through my photo album and edit the pictures and the plants are a little more filled out. While I used the sample to plant up some of my "indoor" bulbs I don't see why the Ups A Daisy can't be used to pot up ornamentals, veggies or even houseplants. It is a good product for frugal gardeners like myself who don't want to fill a whole pot with soil and since only half the pot is filled with soil it makes it easier to move your container garden around. One of the creative uses they found for the Ups A Daisy was using the planter insert to create a water fountain for a patio garden. If you're interested you can learn more about the Ups A Daisy inserts for your pots or container garden at the Ups A Daisy website or find a store that carries it near you.
Thanks for the tip, MBTh! I have to ask you an unrelated question, and I hate to sound so "uneducated," but are there pots you can fill with dirt and leave outdoors year-round in our climate? (remember, I'm in SE Iowa) I would love to plant a clematis in a big pot and never move it!
ReplyDeleteOh, I haven't seen the inserts. This is going to sound very 'redneck' but we have a lot of pine trees in our yard, and so I just fill a large container w/ about a third full w/ pine cones, water them, and fill with dirt,etc. Lighter and cheap...
ReplyDeleteWOW..this thing is awesome! I MUST get some! Thaks for showing!
ReplyDeleteJulie
The one question I have for these is this: Does it end up making your container top-heavy, to have just air in the bottom half of the container and dirt/soil plants in the top?
ReplyDeleteI saw these at the Cincinnati Flower Show last year and thought they'd be great. I don't have any though.
ReplyDeleteMBT - I saw these when I was looking for an insert for my big square purple pot. Unfortunately they seem to only come in round. Can you tell your new friends to make some square ones? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteShady,
ReplyDeleteI guess we'd have to use some kind of natural or man made stone or be lucky. One of my neighbors has a pot with perennials that is left planted year round. The thing is made of plastic and doesn't break! I left one of my pots planted (fiberglass) recently and nothing happened other than the painted texture peeled off.
Mum,
That's a good tip too. I once filled the bottom half of a pot with all the weekend newspapers that get tossed here and never read.
Julie,
Glad you liked it.
Kim,
When I did it I thought it would be top heavy and get knocked over but it hasn't happened and seems very sturdy even survives kids bumping up against it.
Kylee,
You need to change that.
Gina,
I just sent them an e-mail with your suggestion. ;0)
Try this again! I use the tops from 5 Gallon buckets with holes drilled in them for my water fountains, so these would be ideal.
ReplyDeleteAlso I put styrofoam to raise my large pots planting area- these would be good to add a solid footing on the large pots