Are You Ready To Be Beguiled Again?

One of many displays in the nursery, Aspidistra.

All aboard! Jump on the Aspidistra Bus to continue our excursion to this quirkiest of quirky Western Cape (South Africa) nursery!

Sue Langley, author of the addictive blog, Sierra Foothill Garden and her latest and very exciting additional blog, Flea Market Gardening, tweeted about my last post on Aspidistra and mentioned it on her Facebook page, on Wednesday. As of this evening (Friday), that post has attracted in excess of 900 page views, skyrocketing itself right off the charts in terms of total page views, to date, of any other single post on Driftwood Ramblings.  The majority of these views can only be accounted for directly as a result of Sue having 'put the word out' on it. Thank you, Sue!

And thank you to all of those avid Flea Market gardeners, worldwide, who came over to have a look. I believe there are in excess of 9,000 of you on FB, eagerly sharing and experimenting with the exciting flea market and junkyard finds you source on your own excursions. By all accounts, you are a thriving community of like-minded enthusiasts.  

What a wonderful world we live in, with so many imaginatively creative folk, all determined to reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle in their own individual attempts to make a difference to our largely throw-away and discard, ditch and replace, wasteful mindset. It's good that we all try to remember, every little bit helps. So, for all of you shining examples for the rest of humanity, here's another peek at the wonderfully creative genius of Willie Schmidt (incidentally, 'w' is pronounced 'v', as in 'very'), as seen in his beguiling nursery, Aspidistra.

Aspidistra is a haven for Willie's own pets. I love the way this old garden shed door is decorated, while the shed itself has been repurposed as a bird cage.

Another cleverly 'cobbled together' water feature using the scrappiest of scraps. Willie demonstrates that it's not necessary to spend very much money at all to enjoy the sound of water in ones garden.

These are made from tin and really delicately executed. I thought they were quite lovely. Not sure where they are from or who produces them, though.  Willie wasn't around to ask. He was busy in Swellendam at the kykNET Road Show, a South African TV Magazine Programme.

She's not genuinely old, but I loved her! I resisted making her mine, though.

This out-of-focus young boy, and the happy fellow below, would look good tucked in amongst the greenery in anyone's garden. A nice surprise element. See the old tables on which they are displayed? Everything in Willie's nursery is repurposed and adds to the quirky, rustic appeal that I so love about Aspidistra. 

This was quite striking! Those few thin shards of mirror picked up the light so beautifully. 

Clever beadwork!

Another of several attractive shoes on display, decoratively wrought from tin.

My Mum had an old tray just like this one. She tossed it out years ago.  With a touch of creative wire and beadwork, it becomes an object of rustic beauty and could be used as a bird feeder or shallow bath for butterflies. Note, also, the decorated river stone.

A tin and mosaic bird house, again incorporating mirror. I thought it was quite lovely! Aspidistra has several made along similar lines, each one different from the others. I couldn't choose, so left them all for the next person to deliberate over ;)

Again, something so utterly simple using a weather beaten piece of fencing fashioned into an arch, an old toffee tin and a couple of succulents. Attached to a section of  rustic fencing, it has an arresting charm, don't you think?

Rusty old baking tins and pots all find a new use in Willie's nursery. He has them planted up and tucked away all over the place. 

Willie has a knack of finding really old chairs. He says he's always on the lookout for interesting old things and has a bevy of eager smouses who go around scrounging on his behalf. He repurposes some to use as planters, others are given a role in a staged setting and others serve as stands for potted plants and ornaments. The nursery garden has chairs of every description here, there and everywhere. They all blend in so well and nothing looks out of place or "junky"! 

A section of old picket fencing, an old work bench, a rough bit of wood, an old galvanized pail and a couple of  potted specimen plants...instant eye appeal and, if this isn't quite to your taste, then at least it creates a conversation starter on the why's and wherefor's of using junk in the garden! 

This cat intrigued me. It seemed to follow me all over the garden :)

Here's another example of turning a tossed away item into an alluring planter sure to draw appreciative looks.

I still delight when I see these quirky Pot Men. I know they aren't unique and are available widely, but I think they are very cute :)

Give a rickety old cupboard a lick of paint, add your collection of dainty terracotta specimen pots, two disused finials and voila! You have a lovely backdrop for displaying a few pretty potted plants.

Willie sources rusty pails in all sizes and states of wear and tear. Some are fully planted up, others such as this one are used as receptacles for individually potted up plants, still others are used in the making of water gardens and water features. It seems nothing goes to waste when Willie gets his hands on things at which many others would turn up their noses.

Old wire and pliable twigs can be woven into animal shapes for decorative use in the garden or in the potting shed.

Never throw away bits of wood, especially not attractively aged fallen branches or pieces of well-aged root. Willie uses wood (root balls, planks, railway sleepers, aged driftwood) extensively and has an enviable collection that is not for sale. He says he's always on the lookout for pieces wherever he travels.

Bits of gravel lying around? Just drill a hole in each piece and fashion yourself a heart or whatever else you fancy!  Hang it up in the garden to frame whatever scene you wish to emphasize. The little boy in this picture stepped in without my knowing it. I only spotted him when I came home. I think he completes the picture rather nicely.

Another addiction of Willie's is really old wheelbarrows. He has them performing various functions throughout the nursery, with several planted up, as in the case of this particularly handsome example. Others are used very effectively as seductive water features.

These seemingly simple sculptural representations using bits of driftwood, to partly fashion what the eye suggests the shape might be, work superlatively, don't you think?  I loved those I saw at Aspidistra! Here, we have a goose in flight.

As shoe bags, these inventions were pretty useless unless your feet are the size of a child's, but planted up and hung in the garden (this one was hanging on a wire chicken coop), they perform not only a useful function but can add an element of surprise and beauty to an otherwise dreary spot.  Once the plants fill out, the shoe bag will largely be hidden.

This young male parrot is my husband's favourite pal at Aspidistra. He always gives him extra lengthy neck scratches and the bird seems to recognize him :) 

Willie has aviaries throughout the nursery, hence the No Dogs Allowed signage at the entrance.  All birds and fowl are his private collection. They lend such charm and melody to ones visit!

If you have old broom handles, make yourself a decorative plant hanger, to pretty up your wall, fence or even a chicken coop, as has been done here ;)

Here we have evidence that absolutely nothing is discarded. Even an old pot, broken right through the middle, finds a use hung up on its side as a planter on the chicken coop.

A driftwood duck taking a stroll among the plants, no doubt gobbling up any stray snails and slugs missed by the ever present and always busy team of gardeners that keep this nursery perfectly swept and groomed.

A broken statue is cleverly propped so you'd never guess.

I love these balls fashioned from bits of driftwood collected along the shoreline at low tide.

A cement angel, in the naive art style, saying a silent prayer beneath this bromeliad clad tree trunk.

Old urns, wirework birdcages, chairs, tables. All have a place at Aspidistra.

A seating area, shaded by a lovely old tree, is defined by the striking blue chairs and old tool trunk that serves double-duty as both foot-rest and coffee table. 

Another wheelbarrow planted up colourfully. The piece of decorative driftwood tucked in the middle adds sculptural appeal to the simple planting.

I really need to go back to get a better picture of this. Willie has used three, full-length railway sleepers to fashion a simple archway. Attached to this, is a piece of decorative trellising on which potted plants have been hung. It really makes a most attractive feature, completed by having lain large pieces of driftwood and chunks of root at the base and sides. Individually potted plants and a Buddha statue off to one side really enhance the overall feeling of serenity.

Odds and sods, so cleverly cobbled together. This, too, hung on an old Wendyhouse shed, converted into a cage for a pair of parrots.

This old drawer has found a brand new purpose to its existence.

Another of the brightly coloured mosaic globes strategically dotted throughout the garden at Aspidistra.

A pottery leaf tucked amongst a carpet of Peace-in-the home and filled with water for passing butterflies, frogs and geckos to refresh themselves.

A particularly attractive, homemade, cement water feature! Several of these, all different, have homes in amongst the plants. Being a nursery, just about everything is for purchase. Willie will quickly fill any gaps so you'd never guess anything was bought and frequently, he will utilize the space in a completely different way. It's this attention to detail that makes Aspidistra so enchanting. 

To some, just an 'ugly' chunk of root, yet planted up with greenery, it makes a bold statement at the base of a rickety, wooden bird cage on stilts, lending charm to this section of the nursery garden. 

Boring fence? Break it up by attaching prettily potted plants in quirky holders.

Although the watering can was old, this planter wasn't, but I really liked it! No, I didn't buy it. I was too busy taking these photographs to share with all of you ;)

This genuinely old cage provides protection for the veggies within, allowing sunlight and rain to enter freely, but keeping greedy garden visitors out!

An old oil drum, cut lengthwise, makes a very clever mini-vegetable garden and see how little space it takes up? 

I thought the colours of this little display worked so well against the backdrop of green foliage and bold blue sky. Notice the old garden/hay fork heads tucked into the strawberry planter?  

Now, this was the tiniest of tiny little 'lean-to' green houses, yet it was packed to capacity with all sorts of edibles and even a simple, small water feature fashioned from stone (centre). Here, Willie demonstrates how very little space is needed to create a fully functioning garden eco-system and an enchanting retreat for ones work-weary soul. Again, this entire structure has been fashioned out of toss-away items and could easily fit on a small balcony in an apartment block! Who says you can't have a garden?

Same space, showing what you can put into it to give it visual and emotional appeal.

In another section of the garden, this simple old shelf is turned into a free standing small garden for another tiny space. Using three old pots, Willie has fashioned a small water feature. This, too, could easily find a home on a balcony, and would take up very little space, yet provide the homeowner with a quiet retreat in which to escape at the end of a busy work-a-day week.

This combination really caught my attention!

How is it possible that a bit of rusty chicken wire, a very rusty old pail and a few chipped, cracked and broken pots could become so visually appealing? The idea is to allow these little surprise elements to meld almost completely within the surrounding scene, off set by plenty of greenery. What was really just junk, then becomes an art piece!

This formerly ugly, dented and rusted old paint tin now takes pride of place in the vegetable garden! No need to even paint it, although you could if you wanted to!

There really is no limit to what can be done when we allow our creative juices to run. Remember the teeny tiny greenhouse? This is in there, too!

This little space, neatly framed by clipped hedges becomes a mini-nursery area. Lavenders are grown up from cuttings and a water feature is incorporated to attract birds and butterflies. Once again, everything is old and repurposed.

Rita expressed some concerns about all the 'standing water' in the nursery and the prevalence of everyone's pet hate, mosquitoes!  All water features run daily and birdbaths and other receptacles holding standing water only are flushed daily.  This was the only green water I saw. 

Those rusty bird cages have so many uses in the garden!

Take a collection of disused, cement clad spades and make yourself a piece of decorative garden art! I love this one!

Toss some small pebbles lovingly collected on your walks into an old galvanized pail, pop it on to a repurposed chair and tuck it in amongst your lush plantings. The birds will love you for it and friends will stop and say, "Wow! That looks lovely!"

This wrought-iron daybed would look so good beneath my Gwenya (African Wild Plum) tree! Decorated with a soft, plump mattress and lots of colourful cushions, it would make a tempting retreat in the bottom of the garden.

I loved this grouping of urns.

Add an old plank, roughly painted in bright colors of your choice, attach it on the outside of an old aviary and top it with a few potted plants to add interest for the birds and your human visitors.

Depending on the amount of interest this post generates, I am happy to do one final post on Aspidistra, as I still have plenty of photographs to share. Besides, I'm always eager to pop around there again to see the new additions Willie will have added since my last visit. So, just say the word and I'm at your command!

And now, to all my wonderful, regular commenters/readers. Please pop along and acquaint yourselves with Sue (links provided at the start of this post). You will honestly wonder why you'd not done so long ago!