The Shell Game—A Five Minute Garden Project With Unique Results

some type of hen and chick with elfin thyme on wood

Tired of your boring planters?

Want to give your succulents a spiffy new look as well as a groovy new home?

Are you like me? Do you have a bazillion things to do?

Are you in the middle of doing them when an idea pops into your head and instead of making dinner for your children, picking up your car at the shop, picking up one of your kids at a friend’s house, finishing the laundry, empting the dishwasher, cleaning the gravy off the stove, finding the overdue library books, making your bed, vacuuming, putting the groceries away, feeding the fish and the dogs, clearing off your desk, pulling out the Christmas decorations, trimming the roses, picking the tomatoes, you see a shell.

Now this is not just any shell. This is a shell that your mother brought back from the island you were born on, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This shell was never really worth much because it was imperfect—it had a hole in it, and it wasn’t shiny but you kept it around and it traveled with you through every move you’ve made since you were eighteen years old.

That would be approximately 16 moves.

You kept it because it represented your family history—a history that is mostly lost now except for little mementos like this shell.

You see this shell and an idea pops into your head.

You pick up the shell, clean it out, fill it with planting mix, stick a couple of succulents in it and, voila, you have a shell planter family history memory thing.

Comments

[Muum]

I love the whole project - 5 minutes, combining genealogy, memories and gardening all in one, wow! Sometimes it is great to have a great idea and be able to act on it right then, dirty dishes be damned ( or darned).

[Annie in Austin]

It is a great project, Chigiy, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the 16 moves since you were 18 years old. Wow! That shell had to provide a lot of continuity, didn't it.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[kate]

Um, I understand too well having a thought pop into my head and off I go, neglecting the things that I really should be doing. This was definitely worthwhile ... now you have some good memories that remind you of your mum and all those moves. I thought I had made a few but my number pales in comparison. (You should write about them ...but remember to pick up the kids first!)

[chigiy Binell]

Muum,
Damned sounds better, damn it.

Annie,
My best friend and I had a contest one year to see you moved the most times we tied at seven.

Kate,
The moves themselves were pretty boring but why I moved and what I did at each place would make good writing material

[MrBrownThumb]

very nice project you got there.

The choice of "hens n chicks" is very apropos.

Hope it lasts forever.