Ho-Ho-Holy Crap. The Holidays Are Coming.

Is it just me or do the holidays start earlier each year? I was shopping last week and heard Christmas music already, a full two weeks before Thanksgiving. I understand that retailers want the buying frenzy to begin as soon as possible—Black Friday is now a weeks-long endeavor—but just hearing those peppy tunes put a rock in my belly.

I'm not ready for this year to be over yet. Here in Texas, we've barely entered sweatshirt weather. We've had an exceptionally warm fall and just last week I was in short sleeves putting pansies, violas, dianthus and kale in the ground. But make no mistake, any second now, we'll all go hurdling over the precipice of time and start free-falling into the holiday season.

For many, this time of year is not when gardening is top of mind. Digging in the dirt doesn't seem that attractive when your hands are full of cookies and hot chocolate. But don't fool yourself, the gardeners in your life are thinking about it all the time. In many places, Christmas Day is when you put your tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth bulbs in the ground. Or plant garlic cloves (two inches down in well drained soil, get 'em in before the first freeze) to ensure a bumper crop in spring.

So as we speak, I'm working on a list of great gifts for gardeners. Not just the EP3 Planter mind you, (which of course you can check out here http://kck.st/2AL2klc) but a whole bunch of cool things I've seen and covet for myself. Stay tuned. We'll talk again soon.



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Ostrich Planters

Choosing a US Manufacturer

Bringing the #EP3Planter to Life

Todd and I are big proponents of supporting the US economy. We feel we should do everything we can to help our own country’s people thrive. So when we started looking for a manufacturing facility to produce our new EP3 Wraparound Planter, we were delighted to find that our best option was to produce in the good old USA.

Granted, we looked at both domestic and international options. And eventually, we chose to have our injection molds fabricated in Moldova—a tiny country between Romania and Ukraine—because they could do it substantially cheaper and would air-ship the molds to us upon completion, whereas China would just put it on a slow boat. It was a compromise we made based on limited funds, but when it came to production, it was the USA or nothing. And after much research, we chose PTI manufacturing in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Perhaps you know the location from the 2002 movie “The Mothman Prophecies” starring Richard Gere and Deborah Messing, based on actual incidents that occurred in 1966 in which a large winged creature appeared predicting great tragedy, and on Christmas Eve of that year, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 36.

Supernatural associations aside, we found PTI to be a great fit. Rod Roush, the plant manager was super-smart, personable and seemed personally invested in our success. Plus, he took us to dinner at a great BBQ place, which, as anyone who knows Todd will tell you, is the way to his heart.

But more importantly, Rod helped us step-by-step along the way to help finalize our design, choose our materials and evaluate mold makers all over the world.  His focus on our success (and as a byproduct, his company’s) made us comfortable every step of the way.

Help us fund the EP3 Planter. Support our Kickstarter Campaign at http://kck.st/2AL2klc

Gardening Trends: House Posts Need Love Too

Most of us look at our house posts as those things than simply hold up our porches or roofs.  As part of the structure of our homes, they become invisible elements we look past every day. We pass them morning and night, going about our business without a second glance. And so they sit there, unloved and ignored—a sad and useless wasted space.

But some people look at house posts and wonder “Why aren’t we using them for more?” They see a tall expanse and imagine a perfect platform for beauty. Those people are Casa Linda residents Todd and Julie Price, creators of the EP3 Planter, a new Kickstarter initiative that lets you give your lowly house posts the love they deserve.

“We have 13 square posts on our own house,” said Todd. “It’s crazy that we weren’t using them to create more curb appeal.”

Todd set about designing a planter that wrapped around those square posts. And the resulting EP3 planter takes plants to “a whole new level of awesome,” he says, though not with a totally straight face.

The pair is hoping to gain traction with a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign to fund their first production run.

“Kickstarter’s changed the way new products are brought to market,” said Julie. “It’s leverages the voice of the consumer. We’re hoping the consumer will speak up for us.”

See the campaign at http://kck.st/2AL2klc.

Garden Trends: Shed Your Dead Space

Add Blooming Color to House Posts

They flank your front porch like dead-eyed sentries. Eight to twelve feet of vacant vertical space. But instead of just accepting bare house posts as a sad fact of life, now you can use them to add a welcoming pop of color.

Before | After

With the advent of new products like the EP3 Planter, launched on Kickstarter this week, you can use your square house posts, porch posts, balcony posts and more to improve the curb appeal of your home.

Two Large EP3 Half-Wraps with petunias, plectranthus and marigolds.

Created as an option to planters that eat floor space on landings as well as old-fashioned hanging baskets that look out of place on many newer style homes, the adjustable, patent-pending design gets flowers up off the ground to deliver an eye-catching display.

The result? When I come home, I'm greeted by beauty, not bare wood. And that is an improvement indeed.

See the EP3 Kickstarter campaign at http://kck.st/2AL2klc