That is so cute!!!!

I like this. How did you come by all these antique laundry accessories? This link goes to another of my favorite "laundry gardens."

Laundry garden

Oh, that is so cute!! I recently added some pics of a washtub and an old washing machine to the thread for household items, here it is. That green on your machine is such a pretty color and the flower garland really makes it stand out! Very cool!!! blessing-sherri

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spedigrees - Thanks for the link to the other laundry room gardens. There are some neat ideas there too. I really love some of the plants used there too.

I have had the boiler and the old hand agitator (I actually have 2 of them) for quite a few years. I picked them all up at auctions over the years. Somewhere in my shed I have an old washboard with a galvanized scrubber plate that I will add to the room as soon as I run across it again.

The washing machine was a recent acquisition. It had been sitting behind the barn owned by a neighboring rancher. He's lived there for over 50 years, and it was sitting out back, right across the road from the ballpark where my grandsons play ball.

I'd been admiring it for several years, and finally mentioned it to my DH, so he stopped by and asked the rancher if he'd part with it. He'd told him that I would like to have it to put out in my garden. He said he'd be more than happy to donate it to my garden project (probably just to get it out of his yard!!)

daisydal - I love the washtubs and old washer in your pictures! I may end up planting in mine eventually, but I just have too many other projects to get completed this summer, and have not done much new planting.

Last week we put up a picket fence along a new area that will be the next phase of my gardening project. We got the used picket fencing free from a friend who does fencing. Next I will be laying out the new walkways and start planning seating area's, flower beds and such.

Of course there will be a whole new section available for my garden art, so I've got an eye out for that next treasure!!

Wow that is really neat! I like that galvinized tub with the lid and seeing the other ones hanging up is really great! Kinda like going into the past.

It looks wonderful Sherri. I love the laundry room theme.

Daisydal - simply awesome Michigan washtub planter. Your sweet potato vine is growing like crazy. What's wrong with mine???? I bought two of those plants for the first time this year because I think they are so pretty for planters. They've been planted for about three months now and are still less than a foot long. Is it because I have them in shallow cocco planters, do they need more room to establish roots to grow long?

Sal

Craftylady- I pinch mine back soon after they get established well and put the Miracle Grow to them. They have a new sprayer attachment this year with a liquid fertilizer and you can switch back from just plain water to water/Miracle Grow mix. I love it! You might try another basket, since they are a vegetation plant, it might need the extra ummph! blessings-sherri

Sherril 2008: is the hand agitator the thing with the stick sitting in front of the green washing machine? Was this used by an up & down motion or would you twirl it around a tub?
I have my mothers first electric/wringer washer stored in my shed. I thought about making a sink for my indoor laundry room from it but seeing all these pictures I may just have to change my mind.
akup_a

That is soooo cool! Wish you lived closer, I have an old wooden ironing board that is just waiting for mosaic or paint! It would look soooo cute with your wash tub!
I can remember when my grandmother and her sisters had one of these!

akup_a - Here is a close up picture of the hand washers I have. One is stamped "Ward Vacuum Washer". There are baffles in the bottom, and you use them in an up and down motion sort of like a toilet plunger.

I'm sure glad we have advanced so far that we can look at this as garden art now! My poor grandmother used these things back in her day, and she would have thought the green washing machine a great luxury!

According to my mom, grandmother did all her laundry with a washboard and wash tub. She raised 5 children and my grandfather worked in the coal mines, so there was lots of laundry, and the coal dust must have been horrible.

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texasfern - I used to have an old wooden ironing board, and got rid of it several years ago. I'm really kicking myself now - since it would fit into the laundry room perfectly!!

Sherril

No kidding Sherril, a modern washing machine might have clogged up and died an early death from the coal dust back in your grandmother's time. That must have been the ultimate laundry challenge.

My grandma had an old electric machine much like the one in your garden, with the wringer attachment, when I was a little girl. My mom and her sisters bought her a modern washer out of fear she'd accidentally get a hand stuck in the wringer.

Our 35 yr old electric stove finally bit the dust, and I toyed briefly with the idea of a garden kitchen, lol. It was a beautiful red/orange color and I hated to part with it, but it was so out of date that no one could even repair/rewire it. So I let it go with the delivery men who brought the new stove, but I still have fleeting regrets.

Sherril...I love it all!...and I love the table for the wash kettle...ah, this will become such a pleasant area for you all...hope you add some real flower/plants also...even if you put a couple pots in your kettle...and let them vine over. If you are in part-shade & sun, then try the "fan flower"...it's beautiful drooping over my copper kettle. Anyway, it's very, very nice!

Daisydal... Love yours' also..and love the plant combo. Jeanne S.

jeannespines - The table under the wash kettle was actually someone's log coffee table at one time. It had a glass top which had gotten broken.

A friend gave it to me, and my original intention was to make a bench for the garden, but it was just not the corect size. My DH was going to give it away for firewood, when I had a brainstorm to cut it in half for a wash stand for my tub. I think it worked out much better there!

Love the laundry room theme! I always thought ... if I had a yard ... I'd do a plumbing theme since my B/F is a retired plumber. I've been eyeing up the bathroom sinks, bathtubs and even toilets in people's yards. I really like the pipes and faucets with the dangling crystals too. This might just have to be another addition to the wish list! I really like how the red flowers set off the green of the washer. When you do decide to plant, I'd say go with red!