Project: Homemade orchid basket

I made a couple of orchid baskets out of sticks and wire last year.  Those are cool, but they are not quite as sturdy and permanent as I was wanting.  They tend to come apart pretty easily.  I was looking at some orchid forums online and came across some similar baskets that were constructed a little differently, so I decided to give it a try.

Completed orchid basket, ready for a plant

First, I needed to get some sticks with a larger diameter and then use my table saw to cut them lengthwise, yielding a smooth edge.  Then I attach these with small nails to upward supports in each corner.  The bottom was a little more improvised, using paint stir sticks.

Stanhopea oculata in new orchid basket

I lined the basket with a coconut fiber liner and then potted a Stanhopea oculata in sphagnum moss.

DIY trellis

For the last couple of years we have had a couple of non-hardy plants growing on trellises that we transport back and forth from the greenhouse to the back fence with the changing seasons.  This way we can enjoy some near-tropical climbing and flowering plants in the yard during the summer and keep them alive over the winter.  I mounted brackets on the back fence for reattaching the trellises each year and I have Christie help me move the potted plant, attached to the trellis back and forth.

One of our purchased trellises.  Notice the Passiflora bloom.  More on that later...

This year I had another plant (or two) that I wanted to add to the shuffle, but I was out of trellises.  I knew that I could buy another trellis to match the ones I have, but it would require a trip to Oklahoma City and also would cost a bit of moolah.  And we had some wood lying around...

Veritable smorgasbord of unknown projects

So I decided to just make my own trellis.  It's a pretty simple contraption and it didn't even need to be an exact match to look legit.  After previous unpleasant incidents with the circular saw, I had Christie on hand to help me hold the wood while I was cutting these slivers of wood.  It helps to have a supervisor nearby who reminds you not to do stupid things - like getting your fingers in the way of whirring blades that don't notice the difference in wood and finger.

My new trellis, crafted by moi.

About fifteen minutes of work and we had a new trellis mounted on the back fence with my Flame Vine (Pyrostegia venusta) planted at the base.  (and I still had all my fingers!)