Keeping Potted Plants Watered While Away On Vacation

Welcome to the 697th Metamorphosis Monday!

Wow, what a week it’s been here in Birthday Land! Things are beginning to wind down a bit, but the partying isn’t over quite yet–we still have one more birthday to celebrate. Speaking of birthdays, you may remember last year I gave my son a Yeti Cooler. I can’t remember now if that was a birthday gift or an early Christmas gift, but it was still summertime…that part I do remember.

 

It gets tons of use, especially on the weekends.

Yeti Stocked for Weekend

 

When I was asking my daughter-in-love, Nancy, for birthday gift suggestions for my son, she suggested a Yeti Cooler Backpack since they love hiking and go hiking as a family almost every weekend. A sporting store near me had it in gray but I thought he would possibly want it in navy blue since that’s the color of his Yeti cooler. I found it in another location in blue and purchased both so he could choose the color he wanted.

 

It turned out that he loved the navy and they used it on Saturday for their first hiking adventure. If you need a great birthday or Christmas present idea for the person who loves hiking or camping, this backpack makes an awesome gift. You’ll find it available here: Yeti Backpack. It’s also available at Dick’s Sporting Goods and on the Yeti website.

 

I purchased a couple of these gigantic gift bags. It turned out that both coolers fit inside one bag, that’s how big they are! If you ever need a gift bag for a really big gift, you’ll find this one here: Extra Large Bag. I’m going to buy a few extras to keep on hand, I love the design!

 

Watering Potted Plants/Flowers While On Vacation

Sooo, remember the pretty geraniums I have growing in flower pots on my deck?

Spring Dining Outdoors

 

A squirrel or raccoon (or something) must have jumped or landed on one of them because I found a couple of big stems broken down recently. There were no tree branches nearby so nothing fell out of the trees on them. I’m guessing it was a squirrel because they love climbing on my decks and eating the buds off my Knockout Roses that I have in large urns on the other deck. This photo was taken before the damage occurred.

 

While I’m visiting family, I was thinking about how to keep them watered. I brought them all out to the front of the house which is north facing and a bit shadier and I’m giving these plant watering spikes another try. I tried them once before and they drained quickly, pretty much overnight. I think it may have been because I had the bottle in the spikes at a slant instead of completely upright which is how the instructions recommend. I placed the geraniums on this bench in my front yard. It dawned on me yesterday, that location may not have been the best spot since the bench is kinda underneath the eaves of the house, so they may not get a lot of rain unless it’s a big storm. I probably should have pulled the bench further out and away from the house.

Watering Flowers While on Vacation

 

Here’s a better view of the watering spikes. I watered the plants thoroughly before inserting the spikes/bottles. I should probably have placed 4 in each of the two hydrangea pots since they are so big. If this works, I need to buy more spikes since I barely had enough for all the flowers.. (Watering spikes are available here: Terracotta Watering Spikes.)

 

I’ll give you an update on how they worked.

Watering Plants on Vacation

 

Remember the little Dharuma Hydrangea I planted behind the mailbox a few years ago?

 

It’s not so little anymore! I usually cut it back a good bit in late winter but I waited too long this year and it was starting to set buds everywhere. I trimmed what I could without cutting off the buds and this year it’s definitely bigger than I would normally let it grow. It’s so beautiful…and so hardy!

Dharuma Hydrangea, Spring Bloomer

 

I definitely recommend this hydrangea if you have an area that gets full sun. It flourishes beautifully in full sun!

Dharuma Hydrangea, Beautiful

 

Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!

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Comments

  1. I have a Yeti tumbler that I fill each morning and it lasts all day. love it. Thanks so much for hosting, Susan. Have a great week!

  2. Susan, most of my front and backyard get great sun. The hydrangea would be a lovely addition!
    Thank you for hosting and have a great week.
    Rachelle

  3. My son just got a Yeti backpack, he loves it! I have used a similar watering method, it works great! Thanks for the party Susan~

    • So good to hear, Jenna! My son and dil used the backpack on Saturday and really enjoyed it. Yeti makes some amazing products…they seem to know just what people need. I would never have thought of a cooler backpack.

  4. You have such a green thumb!!! You are a very gifted lady in so many areas!!!
    Beautiful hydrangeas! Love our Yeti travel mugs. Enjoy birthday week!

  5. We have a Yeti cooler for our driving trips & Yeti cups, that we use everyday. I think we need to get the backpack for hikes & utv rides with our grandkids when we’re at our lake house! You cost me$ Lol. I have been using the terra cotta spikes combined with a small drip watering system that’s on a timer for 5 years, whenever we head up north. I am seriously considering a smart system, because now that he retired, my hubby wants to spend the majority of the summer @ the lake. I grow tomatoes in Earth boxes, that has its’ own tube style watering system on a timer that works fabulously! My tomatoes are always very prolific.

    • I need something like that, too. My plants really suffered last year when I was away visiting family. I dread when I return and see what condition they are in. I like the timer idea…that’s awesome!

  6. Elizabeth Roderick says

    Having to travel one summer, six weeks at a time, I put old panty hose strips in the bottoms of my plants with a chop stick. Next we set the pots on bricks in an large cooler (filled to the bottom of the bricks with water) and let the hose dangle in the cooler. Only the hose got wet. This worked so well and saved all my plants.

  7. Mary Ann says

    I use the watering spikes too. BUT I also put the water filled bottles in the soil and they do just as well by themselves!

  8. Antoinette says

    I love your white hydrangea, it’s gorgeous and it looks so healthy!

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