A while back I bought a tin of strawberry tea in a fabulous pink tin from Fortnum & Mason. It turned out that the tin was indeed fabulous, but the tea not so much. So saving the best of it, the tin has been in my cupboard for a while as I knew, one day I'd have a use for it. I vaguely remembered seeing succulents planted in tins on Pinterest and I thought, as you do, how hard can it be?
In short, pretty easy - the hardest and most laborious part was removing the paper labels from two sides of the tin. There'd been plenty of cycles through the dishwasher, some scoring and some soaking, but some of the label remained. Last weekend I decided the paper labels were going once and for all. Cue more soaking - and a new trick - some nail varnish remover to remove that sticky residue that some glues leave.
And finally my tin was ready.
I decided not to pierce drainage holes in my pretty tin, but also didn't want the succulent to sit in water. But instead of crocks and stones I added some corks to the bottom of the tin before filling with earth.
I hadn't planned to plant a pink succulent, I'd wanted to use one of the ice white ones that I'm propagating from a fallen leaf as I thought that'd make a nice contrast to the pink. However when I looked at the leaves, they weren't quite ready and I couldn't quite bring myself to uproot the ice white plant that's still establishing itself in my succulent trug.
And instead this pink succulent called me.
I added some vermiculite to the top - I think I'd used my grit laying the base for the pizza oven - and that adds a textured addition to the soil, which glistens in the sun and will, I hope help with moisture retention.
The results though were stunning, a pretty succulent in a pretty tin, and a great garden table decoration that'd look equally good in the conservatory, or well anywhere really.
What do you think?
If you want some more succulent inspiration, why not join me over on my Succulent Love board on Pinterest: