Anybody here have pink lawn flamingos?

[CottonBear]

I do!

[Kire]

1. the guy in front of me at Wal Mart bought some

the last time I was there...it was probably Wal Mart

[Zuni]

6. don't shop at Wal mart

They are very bad for America. Go to Costco or other places for discounts.

[Kire]

47. there's one in every crowd

thanks for the advice

[cally]

2. no, but I have gnomes

As a kid, one of my favorite great aunts had a yard with many cement gnomes. While the adults had tea and cookies, we roamed the yard. I have several gnomes and other garden stuff in memory of her. I'm thinking of adding pink flamingo. It's so tacky and good.

[CottonBear]

5. Did you see The Full Monty?

There was a garden gnome in that movie!

[BOSSHOG]

9. Have you seen the Gnome series

at Crackerbarrel? They have about ten different ones and they are very well done, very gnomelike.

[CottonBear]

12. I've only been to Crackerbarrel once in my whole life.

I do remember the huge gift shop. One opened near my work. It's right next door to WalMart and it seems to be patronized by hordes of RW fundies, so I've avoided it.

[NV Whino]

44. You must see the movie Amelie

for garden gnomes

[CottonBear]

51. I have been wanting to see that film

and garden gnomes alone will make me rent it this weekend! Thanks!

[MsUSA]

3. I did have 13 of them......but the metal legs broke off from me

moving them around the lawn all summer. So now I have a flock of 11 penguins, and I move them all around the snow on my yard all winter. It's fun and gives me something to do and it makes winter seem to pass faster.

[CottonBear]

7. My friend's dog chewed on the beak

of one of my flamingos. my flamingos live in the azalea bushes in my patio garden.

[BOSSHOG]

10. Are your Azaleas blooming?

Here In South Mississippi, I suspect we will be awash with azalea blooms next week. Ours are "fixing to" burst out. What part of the country do you live in?

[CottonBear]

15. No blooms yet.

I live in northeast Georgia. I used to have an azalea that bloomed in March. It died. I used to have a beautiful Clematis Armandi vine that bloomed in March. Unfortunately, it died as well. I have to redesign my patio garden this spring. My garden is an on-going experiment in design. I would never let my garden design clients see it! (The pink lawn flamingo was the unofficial mascot of my school when I was in college!)

Here in Georgia flowering quince, japanese cherries, spirea, daffodils, crocus and hyacinths are blooming. The temps are still dipping below freezing on some nights.

edit: My azaleas (pale pink and white gumpos) bloom in May.

[BOSSHOG]

20. I have put some Encore Azaleas on the North Side of the house

We've had them about two years now and they bloom at least twice a year. We should have Hydrangea blooms in a few weeks. Our Japanese Magnolia is in all its glory right now. Beautiful blooms, they just don't last very long. I've had success with RedBuds but if I look at a Dogwood it dies. We haven't had a frost in a while but one may still sneak up on us before the season is over. Happy gardening.

[CottonBear]

24. Happy gardening to you too!

It may be too hot and/or too sandy for dogwoods to do well in your area. I love redbuds and dogwoods. A 30 year old redbud in my neighborhood came down in the recent ice storm. I miss it already.

[barb162]

39. side question...have you ever visited Natchez? I was thinking

of checking out the plantations and historic homes there next week

[CottonBear]

54. I've always wanted to tour the gardens.

Southern Living magazine had a great article on the fabulous gardens there.

edit: sp.

[BOSSHOG]

4. We got a small one in front of the house

and three wooden ones in the back. We also have some beautiful wooden ones by the fireplace surrounded with live plants and some wooden Irisis. There is a neat little shop at Jackson Square in New Orleans that sells the wooden products. They are very tasteful. My wife had to work out of a trailor for about year while a new building was being constructed. She had a bunch of plastic Flamingos out front. They were a morale boost except for the guy who had to mow the lawn. Our Christmas "Tree" is a Palm Tree. I guess you have a little wacky in your blood when you live a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico

[CottonBear]

11. The Gulf Coast is ideal for pink flamingos!

My sister-in-law lives in Lacombe. I'll have to check out the Jackson Square shop when we're down that way. My husband is a New Orleans native. We love to down to New Orleans. Our first stop is always at Cafe du Monde. Coffee and beignets are two of his major food groups! I love Jackson Square Park. What a fabulous place!

[BOSSHOG]

17. I can't recall the name of the shop

but it has been there a long time. "Tropical Illusions" I think. As you are walking away from the Cathedral it is in the row of shops on the right side about halfway between Decatur and Chartres Streets. One of the latest things for sale in NOLA is little lapel pins which have several blinking lights on them. I got my Wife a, you guessed it, Pink Flamingo pin. It about the size of a 50-cent piece and very bright. You just can't beat Cafe Aulait and the Times Picayune early in the morning. We live 60 miles from New Orleans and are going down next Friday to the D-Day Museum. I love that town.

My wife got a Pink Flamingo Bird Feeder for a Christmas Present from a coworker. We have it hanging in an oak tree surrounded by Azaleas. Its a little gaudy but the birds (and squirrels) love it.

FYI- The French Quarter Festival is 8-10 April. Its really a great time.

[CottonBear]

21. The French Quarter Festival sounds like fun!

Is it lower key than Mardi Gras? I would love to attend sometime. The weather should be just perfect in April. We need to visit my sister-in-law at some point this year. It is a super-long drive to get there from here. The train takes just as long but is much more relaxing. The Crescent stops right in Slidell at the original train depot!

[BOSSHOG]

29. The Train also goes through Picayune, MS

which is close to our home. The French Quarter Fest is lots of music and lots of food. Jackson Square is packed with food vendors from local Restaurants so you can imagine the quality and Bourbon and Royal Streets are loaded with live Musicians. There is also more of the same along River Walk. Its much tamer than Mardi Gras and much more user friendly than Jazz Fest and the music is just as good if not better. And the weather is just about right, if not just a little warm. It is fast becoming one of the finest festivals in the City and each year there is a great T-Shirt Design. Mark your calendar and come on down. Slidell has really fixed the train depot up. There is a restaurant in there now and the City has really spruced the area up.

[CottonBear]

33. New Orleans is calling me....

I can just imagine the yummy food and wonderful atmosphere of the festival. I want grilled oysters, gumbo and a Bloody Mary pronto! My sister-in-law is an incredible cook. Her gumbo and red beans & rice are to die for.

I'll have to check out the depot in Slidell. It was a bit run-down the last time I rode the train. The Old Town part of Slidell is very charming.

[BOSSHOG]

49. You can't resist

Book that train trip now. Close your eyes and imagine the sensations that only New Orleans can provide. Cafe DuMonde will just be the start of your visit. Ersters and a bloody mary will be yours for the asking. The French Quarter Festival will be incomplete unless Cottonbear and her native husband are strolling the quarter. (I swear to god I don't work for the chamber of commerce) I just love New Orleans and those who love New Orleans make it loveable. Let the Cottonbear times roll!!!!

[CottonBear]

52. LOL!

We must make a trip to the Big Easy very soon! We'll send a PM mail to you when we come down. Maybe we can have a Big Easy DU meetup. I bet that funkybutt would be there! I love her avatar!

[Freebird12004]

8. Not me !

However ~ I do have :hippie: waterlilies in my cement pond !

[CottonBear]

19. Cement pond! LOL!

Is yours really fancy like one on the the Beverly Hillbillies? I've got a cement basin with a cement urn that is my fountain/goldfish pond. The running water sound is very soothing.

[Freebird12004]

27. Once Upon A Time

it was... that was before we bought the house. Then the :mad:gentleman who closed down our pool back in 2001 forgot to open one last drain :wtf: I could replace the pump housing and spend tons of money on chlorine every year and waste electricity running the filter but a small solar-run fountain keeps the pool aerated enough to keep the waterlilies alive, I'll add-on as the years pass. Perhaps a few fish that can survive a "zone 5" winter.

[CottonBear]

30. Bummer. Try plain old goldfish.

Ours have lived for more than four years in a small garden basin/urn fountain that we made. They have actually grown quite a bit. You just need to keep the proper water level in the pond. They can survive very cold, mostly frozen water. The running water helps to keep thing from totally freezing up.

[Freebird12004]

31. this cement pond has a diving board

so it is quite deep only the top foot or so freezes

"The Bird House" where I bought my Blue & Gold Macaw also sells fish for outdoor ponds ... if I decide to be :crazy:responsible for more living things guidance is only a 15 minute away.

[Debi]

13. I have a flamingo statue on my desk right now

and bought a pink flamingo w/seasonal outfits for a girlfriend to put outside her trailer that she is renting while going to college...her neighbors thought it was hilarious and a fitting gift.

[CottonBear]

16. Cool! I need one of those statues.

My mom bought me a pink flamingo Christmas tree ornament. It has wings and a pink tulle tutu! I also have pink flamingo insulated drink cups which are perfect for gin and tonics. Oh yeah, I've got pink flamingo whirlygigs that go in potted plant in the garden.

Mmmmm....gin and tonic. I knbow what I'm gonna do after work! I'll have a gin and tonic in my flamingo cup while enjoying the nice spring weather in my pink flamingo garden!

[Debi]

23. It was a gift from a friend who vacationed in FLA

Now...about that G&T....YUMMY

[ccjlld]

14. I don't

But my neighbor down the street is crazy for flamingos. Her house is pink, her mailbox is a flamingo, there are several flamingos of various different types in her front yard, flamingo flags, etc. Whenever any comes to our house for the 1st time they always ask about the pink house.

[CottonBear]

28. I bet it's easy to give directions to your house!

:crazy:

[barb162]

18. I know people who do (don't flame me but I think they're

the cheeziest things I ever saw)

[CottonBear]

22. That's OK. Not everyone appreciates the beauty of the lawn flamingo!

FYI: here's a history of the pink plastic lawn flamingo:

http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/pink_flamingo/

Pink Flamingos
So tacky, yet so cool.

The pink flamingo is one of those objects that people seem to either love or hate. Considered by some to be a work of art and to others to be visual pollution, this one object stands for everything that is good and bad about our modern society.

Lawn ornaments are nothing new. From marble statues created centuries ago to the Granny Fannies of the late 1980’s, lawn decorations have been around for an eternity. Some compare a lawn without any ornaments to be like a coffee table that is totally empty. (I can't comment here. My coffee table was empty for years. Now it is covered with junk.)

The history of the pink flamingo can be traced back to 1946 when a company called Union Products started manufacturing “Plastics for the Lawn”. Their collection included dogs, ducks, frogs, and even a flamingo. But their products had one problem: They were only two-dimensional.

Hmmm… World peace surely depended on solving this critical problem.

In 1956, the Leominster, Massachusetts company decided to hire a young designer named Don Featherstone. Although Don was a serious sculptor and classical art student, his first project was to redesign their popular duck into the third dimension. (One must do what they can to pay the bills.) Don used a live duck as his model and after five months of work, the duck was retired to a local park.

His next project would prove to be his most famous. He couldn't get his hands on real flamingos, so he used photographs from a National Geographic in its place. He sculpted the original out of clay, which was then used to make a plaster cast. The plaster cast, in turn, was used to form the molds for the plastic. The original design called for detailed wooden legs, but they proved to be too costly and were replaced by the metal ones still seen today. While the exact date was never recorded, the first pink flamingo was born some time during 1957.

The late 1950’s just happened to be perfect timing for the flamingo. America was moving to the suburbs. Industry was convincing America that a natural lawn was one that was mowed and treated with chemicals. And, every lawn needed a lawn ornament.

But an empty lawn wasn't the only thing in the flamingo's favor. The country was much more mobile and an increasing number of people were traveling to the many hotels, motels, and lounges named after the flamboyant flamingo. The 1950’s was also a time for bright, bold colors. Common colors had been around for years, but plastics now allowed for hot colors like bright green, vivid ruby, and, of course, hot flamingo pink. Pink refrigerators, washing machines, and (obviously) Cadillacs were highly sought after.

The 1960’s were not as friendly to the pink flamingo. There was a rebellion against everything man made. It was a time to go back to nature. The plastic flamingo quickly became the prototype of bad taste and anti-nature. By 1970, even Sears had removed the pink-feathered bird from its catalog.

It looked like our fake-feathered friend’s days were numbered. But time was on this bird's side. Some people just love to do things that annoy people. You know: If you are not supposed to do something, you do it just to annoy others. If pink flamingos were the ultimate in bad taste, then people were sure to place them on their lawn to bug their neighbors. And they did so in great numbers.

When I first started college back in 1981, I went to see a movie titled Pink Flamingos. My recommendation is that you never, ever see this 1972 flick. It is the most disgusting movie ever made. You'll probably vomit long before it ends. (My girlfriend back then certainly did!) Yet, this movie clearly marks the time at which the pink flamingo moved from lawn junk to lawn art.
In 1984, Miami Vice kicked the sales of pink flamingos into full throttle. For the first time ever, Union Plastics sold more flamingos than they did ducks. Today they are sold for just about every purpose. They are purchased for use as wedding decorations, housewarming gifts, and as replacements for reindeer at Christmas time.

Some people actually travel with their pink flamingos. The plastic birds go camping, hiking, skiing, and mountain biking. Entire web sites are devoted to the travels of these artificial creatures.

Pink flamingos have also become a prime target of pranksters. Many are stolen off lawns every year, particularly by kids that have been drinking a wee bit too much. Others are kidnapped and held for ransom. One particular pair was kidnapped and had their ransom paid in play money.

We all know that what is art to one person is garbage to the next. Bans have been placed on pink flamingos all over the country. As a result, Union Plastics was forced to introduce a blue flamingo to circumvent the rules. Of course, these communities then changed the laws to ban all plastic flamingos. (That's when I would paint my house purple.)

Should you wish to purchase these decorations, they are readily available. Hundreds of thousands are sold each year in stores and through mail order. Authentic flamingos always have Don Featherstone’s signature under their tails. Each has a yellow beak with a black tip and they are only sold in pairs.

Useless? Useful? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

[CottonBear]

32. How about a "snowmingo"?

[barb162]

38. better! But you know what, I use concrete or stone bunnies and

cats in my garden beds. I am sure people will think they are perfectly cornball, but it's so much personal taste.

[CottonBear]

42. Oh! I love concrete lawn statuary.

There is a really big place just north of here that makes the statues and other items. My Aunt Sue collects garden bunnies. My husband collects green garden turtles and gargoyles.

It's all about how they are displayed and how many. It can be either kitschy or cool or tacky - all depending on your design preference.

[barb162]

48. You're so right about how they are put out there. Right now I have

too many and so I bought three more this past autumn on a great clearance sale on a garden center that was closing. I have nowhere to put them and they are sitting in my basement until spring. Every time I go down there I look at them and say where I am going to put you guys? Two cats and one more bunny.

[Theres-a]

25. I have pink lawn flamingos in my pants

[CottonBear]

26. Look! A visitor from the "in my pants" thread!

:crazy:

[hedgehog]

34. One or two are not enough!

At last count I had 19 or 20. We move them around all summer to entertain the neighbors. It's a hoot!

[CottonBear]

35. Mine must "roam" inside my fenced garden.

I like the idea of a big flock! You need a big yard for that.

I see that you raise chickens. What kind do you have? I want some when we move to the country. How do you keep the foxes and other critters from eating them? I got pecked by a really big, black chicken last Saturday. I tried to pet it and didn't realize it was sitting on an egg! Ouch!

The Homeowners Association would frown upon a front-yard flamingo. We can have two potted plants and one lawn ornament in our front yard. (it's a town home.) We have a tacky neighbor who put blue silk flowers in her front yard along with a blue wooden peacock. That was it - we all got a letter with the new rules the next week!
All of our cool garden ornaments are in our fenced garden. I have a gazing ball and a goldfish fountain and my husband has a rock garden with underground lighting! Our fenced garden is like another room. We spend lots of time out there. It is ever-evolving.

[hedgehog]

40. We have a mixed flock of heritage breeds

From Murray McMurray Hatchery - Australorps, Brown Leghorns, New Hampshire Reds, Arcana and Buff Orpington. My favorites were the Lakenvelderes we used to have. They were full of personality and used t follow me around talking to me. Unfortunately, they were also good flyers. I haven't gotten them again because I don't want to pester the neighbors. We have lost a few to foxes. They have to go into the coop at night before the foxes start their rounds. We've lost more to dogs. Huskies especially like to kill chickens. I think it's because historically no one had any incentive to breed that out of huskies.Our mutt is descended from a long line of farm dogs. He plays with the chickens by waiting until they gather around his food dish and then rushing out barking so they all scatter in panic. Dogs really do laugh!

[spinbaby]

36. That's the way to do it

If you have lots, you have an "important collection."

[spinbaby]

37. A friend of mine had her daughter flamingoed

There was this company that delivered a yard full of flamingoes to the birthday girl--one for each year, like candles. So she woke up to find 35 flamingoes in her yard and is still talking about it months later. Great birthday idea, forget the name of the company.

[CottonBear]

41. Church youth groups will "flock" a chruch member's lawn

and then the homeowner must pay a small ($20 or so) "ransom" to have the birds removed! Pretty cute idea.

[NV Whino]

43. Now I've got the right thread

Yes--three. I'm thinking of turning them into paisley flamingos for a change of pace.

[trof]

46. I like the idea of paisley flamingos.

I'll take three.

[CottonBear]

53. That's a great idea!

Customized flamingos!

The official (Featherstone) Pink Flamingo website has flamingos that are white and blue. The white ones would be perfect for custom paint jobs!

[RetroLounge]

45. I have a few pair out there

Someone stole one a few years back so we have 5 now.

At one point just the tops of their heads were poking up thru the snow...

RL

[yellowdogintexas]

50. no but I have a stuffed one named "Cherryjello" (sherREEjello)

in honor of the legendary twins Lemonjello and Oranjello