crittergarden said:Actual PAINT paint.
Like outdoor paint from hodepo.
Then a coat or two of clear marine varnish.
Mind you I haven't tested this outdoors yet.
But the stone is porous and the sealant is a sealant....
SO.....

Don't spend any big money on it until one of us tests it, but I think it'll work....

Not sure what else would work outside but real Spar varnish is about $30-40.00 a quart. There are urethane products with Spar in the name (Spar is not a urethane) but like all urethane they get fine cracks almost immediately. Still might be good enough though.
There are paints made specifically for exterior use on concrete. Don't see why they wouldn't work on a somewhat porous stone.

flowersrjen said:Yep American Meadows, is where I got it....here's their pic of it, you can see the pink ones in the middle



Yeah I think if it's not there by July 4th it's pretty much a lost cause

I don't see the pink ones in the middle. Looks all purple with shades of Lavender.

Pirl on the other website has stone markers in her gardens.She might say what she uses to mark .
I have a stone she sent with a siberian iris ,That was 4 years ago.It's still going strong.

I would like to see that.

I've seen stones used and it can be very pretty. Again, "pretty" can be determined by the printing/writing. I think the ones I saw were just written in paint pen, no lacquer. Very natural looking. The problem is that stones are mobile, and if they're moved a little, you won't know where the plant is...

I've also seen sea shells used. Pretty, but not practical for everyone. Most would blow away here.

Karen

Yes, that is for sure! Where do you buy those paint pens? I have heard of them but never seem to see one when I go shopping. I like the thick plastic sticks and you can shove them all the way down if you want. They are for me, when I need to identify. For looks, I would like a few pretty rocks so if someone walks through the garden they can identify a few things they see. I will experiment a little, sounds like fun!

They may look more fuschia here but may be your monitor, I circled the pink ones

susan,I found paint pens at the hardware with the craft paints...Menards..Lowes should have them..


Jen, funny how the colors of the photos dont come true ??? beautiful anyway..

eclayne said:

Not sure what else would work outside but real Spar varnish is about $30-40.00 a quart. There are urethane products with Spar in the name (Spar is not a urethane) but like all urethane they get fine cracks almost immediately. Still might be good enough though.
There are paints made specifically for exterior use on concrete. Don't see why they wouldn't work on a somewhat porous stone.

Thanks for the education! It's deeper than what I already knew. I just know I love wood and I hate it when it greys. So for the permanence factor, I'd pay for that spar.... I recently read on some thread or another that it comes in a spray, too. Would that be real spar or a urethane?

I wasn't talking about Spar varnish. I use the Minwax brand Spar Urethane spray. Works just fine for me. And my rocks, wooden items and so forth stay outside all year around. So far, not cracking.

Spar varnish works great on wood. Don't know about rock and stone.

These looked good Monday, was warm and sunny. Now back to the drizzle.

Cheery trees and a magnolia


A pink azalia

JM maple has leaves

Tee,
Do you think Dave might use the top picture for the Banner? Would you know how to submit that? Is it good enough?

Springcolor,

Here's a link to the site banner area.
I think it's a lovely picture.

http://garden.org/forums/view/...

Its almost May, hang in there.

Song - now I'm confused. (nothing new!)

Waht ARE my clear coat options anyway?

I didn't know the word "spar", I just knew that I've seen boat hulls that weren't grey so I was going for that.....

I need to now a brush on kind and a spray on kind.

If you just use any good quality Marine Varnish (clear) you'll be good. It stands up really good to the weather.

crittergarden said:

Thanks for the education! It's deeper than what I already knew. I just know I love wood and I hate it when it greys. So for the permanence factor, I'd pay for that spar.... I recently read on some thread or another that it comes in a spray, too. Would that be real spar or a urethane?

Critter,
I was responding to your reference to a "marine grade varnish" which is generally accepted as Spar varnish. There are new products on the market which are more environmentally friendly (low VOC) like the Minwax spar-urethane Tee has used. My comment was simply a warning that the Minwax product is not a marine grade product.

flowersrjen said:They may look more fuschia here but may be your monitor, I circled the pink ones

Yup! They look fuschia to me. Must be my monitor.