Repurposing Glass Jars to Bring Some Green Inside

My mom is amazing at bringing the outdoors in…what we like to call “BLENDing” here at RYG.  She has such a gift and an eye for plants and how to arrange them in such a lovely way.  She’s always gathering things from her yard and bringing the beauty inside for various occasions…or maybe for no occasion at all, but just for her and others to enjoy.  And I’m not just talking about flowers here. She is known to just clip some greenery and add it to a vase or special container to bring some life indoors.

Well…while visiting with her over the holiday weekend I picked up a great little trick from her…and of course I just had to share it with you.

So here’s her trick…well, at least it was a trick for me.

Pots don’t have to hold potted plants! Good news for those of you who, like me, don’t have a green thumb or can’t seem to keep plants alive.  You see…my mom often takes decorative pots and with the help of a glass jar she uses them for arranging non-potted plants…cuttings from her yard. And here’s how she does it.

She saves and reuses glass containers of various shapes and sizes that she’s acquired after eating jelly, pimentos, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, pasta sauce, etc.  Of course she cleans them real well and takes off the labels…and then they become inserts for her various pots or containers that she wants to use to display fresh greenery or flowers.  She drops a glass jar into the container, fills it 3/4 full with water, and then adds the cuttings.  This effectively makes the glass jar a “vase”…or insert…that is hidden within the decorative container.  (I”ve pulled one out here to show you what I mean.)

This was an  “a-ha moment” for me…and it opens up so many options for using my pots or various decorative containers in so many different applications with greenery and flowers.

I don’t know why I never looked more closely at her green creations before. It’s so simple, yet so effective.  Especially for those of us (me!) who want to enjoy the beauty of live plants inside, but can’t seem to remember to keep things watered.  Once the cuttings start to wither you can just toss them out and cut some more next time you have guests over or just want to add a little life inside.  And with fall approaching and fewer flowers blooming, greenery is a great alternative to flowers to spruce up a space or a table in your home.

Here’s a list of some of my mom’s favorite plants to use for fresh green cuttings in arrangements…or just all by themselves:

• • Long and bigger cuttings :
    • Leucothoe
    • Cryptomeria
  • More compact and smaller cuttings:
    • Boxwood
    • Daphne
    • Sarcococca
    • Pittosporum
    • Pieris (which is what is in the little pot featured in this blog)

On another note…all those glass jars of various shapes and sizes that my mom saves…they also make for great little vases by themselves to hold flowers.  My Resident Gardener is always getting me to save whatever random jars we use for this very purpose. And now I know I can have them on hand for two purposes…as a simple glass vase or as a vase hidden in another decorative container.  Great way to repurpose food jars.  Maybe this will motivate you to start your own collection!

I hope you have a great…and possibly greener weekend.

Take care,