I'd love to somehow suspend a brilliant amber glass ornament or ball (to catch sunlight) I can entrap in perhaps macrame or fishnet knots of 50# fishing line (I have some). I could anchor it from the top ball and to some sort of buried metal eyelet in the ground so heavy wind wouldn't bang the glass piece into the spokes and break it. Then perhaps tightly plant a circle of short bloomers like dwarf marigolds around the bottom only. That way the entire metal shape might look like it were a bolting bloom emerging from the "mother plants" below. It'll be in full sun most of the day where I'm contemplating putting it, so the low flowers at the bottom would have to stay pretty low and tolerate a hot, sunny beating in the middle of the day and early afternoon. Mexican Heather would sure work but will eventually sprawl too much. Mine in TX City got pretty wide over time. I need to confine this to a small area.

I'd be a blur like Annie if I saw in on a curb ... LOL Also agree about not planting a vine on it so the beautiful curves show.

Your idea sounds cool, but I can't think of anything to hang except, since I have them, a blue bottle attached from the cork. Those bottles do not break easily. Not one of them right out in the open on top of the wooden tower broke during the BIG hail storm we had several years ago.

Actually I think it's pretty just as it is to adorn a pot of colorful flowers. If you wanted to gild the lily a bit you could paint the ball on top to match the color of the flowers.

I have one of those Buttoni Mine is not near as pretty as yours but I have used it for a variety of uses. In a pot to give a little height to a setting, to place over a prized new planting to keep dog toes off it . You will enjoy it.

Thank you Roselee, and Junegreen, for such great ideas! I love the idea of painting the ball "to color coordinate", Roselee!

Here's where it's going so far. Planted an oil drip pan with Tradescantia Purple Heart. I might eventually poke some sweet potato vine in there, too. And if I can fine a sparkly, metal spinning thing that grabs me to suspend down inside it from the top ball, I think that may work out for the look I'm trying to achieve. You likey?

I absolutely LOVE it. Where do you find a 'drip oil pan'? I hope you don't mind, but I lightened and enlarged it so I could see the planter better.

Now that makes a statement. Love it. The potato vine would lighten it with some lime green color.

Thanks, Roselee. Yes, I think I'll add some sweet potato vine and/or a lime coleus in the center, Junegreen. And maybe a little blooming pink impatien? Or a small clump of pink oxalis? May have to wait on those until next year as I haven't seen many bedding plants lately. The stock at the garden centers is really getting "thin" now. Your photo does it justice Roselee. Thank you for lightening it up a bit. I went out and took one in sunlight and see I don't have it centered right. What can I say, it is a work in progress. ;)

I needed something to span the base (a piece of a fountain that quit functioning as such). That is 6" cross the top. It also had to be either black or paintable, and I wanted cheap. I knew I'd likely not find anything clay or pottery quite deep enough. I was in Walmart for something else and thought of an old round plastic dish pan I once had for camping. Wondered about a bucket I could spray paint. Then the light bulb went off and I remembered my husband's oil drip pan was black. So I headed on over to automotive and voila. Black, wide, deep enough and certainly cheap enough. :) You know, I think these would make great pots for succulents, too. :) Anyway, I'll post a new photo as I make changes/additions.

I think I might spray the top with a thin coat of black spray paint also since I have to lift it off to center it better anyway. I'll get there eventually. LOL

C R E A T I V E ... !!!! ...For shu-wa!

OK, I've moved the "whirly-gig", as I have dubbed it, down to another spot in the front yard. I decided on what to hang down inside.........a purple crystal bell that has a lovely ring. It's suspended with a wire that doesn't allow a lot of play, so I don't think it will break being jostled around by heavy wind. The morning sun shines through the trees from the street and it looked real pretty this morning about 9am. This spring, I plan to add some white and pink Impatiens in there. Should rise above the purple heart. I'd do Periwinkle for height, but that can get too tall and too broad. Don't want to \\hide the bell or the metalwork. The Purple Heart has really filled out fast, hasn't it? So I guess my oil drip pan "pot" is deep enough for it. :)

I need to get out today and pull the dead leaves out of that Aspidistra on the right. Garden jobs just never end, do they?

The 'whirly-gig' looks great just like that, but maybe just a touch of color might add a little pop. What about a pink begonia; perhaps one of the taller ones?

That would look nice if I can find one that isn't too dark in the leaves. The contrast in shape would be super nice. I need to go research pink begonias a see what all it out there. Will they do outside? I've never grown the more ornamental begonias.

Do you mean the pink wax begonias (which I have grown lots of, or pink begonia rex varieties, which I have never grown. Googling I see there are a lot of pretty pink rex's out there. Will have to see if they are hardy outdoors in Temple. This pink rex is gorgeous: https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=images+of+pink+begonia+rex&fr=yhs-att-att_001&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fbb%2Fbd%2F9c%2Fbbbd9cff0dc7fe8279baac3ca338efe6.jpg#id=11&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fbb%2Fbd%2F9c%2Fbbbd9cff0dc7fe8279baac3ca338efe6.jpg&action=click

This one would be pretty, too: https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=images+of+pink+begonia+rex&fr=yhs-att-att_001&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fbb%2Fbd%2F9c%2Fbbbd9cff0dc7fe8279baac3ca338efe6.jpg#id=23&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F6f%2Fce%2F10%2F6fce10467a9a218e37bda596fae0896c.jpg&action=click

Well, I see the Rex varieties are only hardy in Zones 10-12. So I'd have to think of them as annuals and replenish each year. Might not take our late summer heat, either. The wax leaf ones come back after winter die-back. But they are so "full" they may crowd the Purple Heart. At least with impatiens or periwinkle, I could pinch offending branches off if they got too big, full or overpowering the overall presentation.