Bette Childs of Encinitas is more of a green thumb, and Joanie Espy, her partner from Escondido, is more of a floral designer. Childs, who likes to scour garage sales, is the gardener, and Espy, who frequents second-hand stores, is the arranger.

Together they are the Flower Girls, two retired educators who have made a business of converting old treasures into new planters.

The concept of container gardening has probably been around since there were plants, but its popularity grew in southern California in the 1950s when people started putting violets in teacups and mother-in-law's tongue in cookie jars and displaying them around the family room.

Now, enterprising souls like Childs and Espy have taken the concept to a new level, using containers from the most unexpected sources to bring garden accents to home and garden.

Like a scuffed-up pair of cowboy boots. A distressed rocking chair or kitchen stool. Even a tool box or a birdhouse. The Flower Girls have used them all as planters. "One of our things is to find an unusual container," said Childs. "The container is the beginning of the process."

From there, the team takes any interesting container they find to the potting bench, often drilling a hole in the bottom for drainage, sometimes lining the container with heavy plastic and always bunching plants with similar requirements together.

In fact, what makes the Flower Girls unique is that their plant knowledge is part of the parcel. "We generally plant things to last," said Childs. "We have had people come back two years later to say their planter still is beautiful."

This is often in startling contrast to planters that customers might be attracted to at their local home improvement warehouse or superstore, but that probably won't last much longer than a cut flower arrangement. "You can go and get a color bowl at Home Depot, but it won't last," said Espy.

Buying the plants from Childs' eldest son, Craig, who is a North County nursery wholesaler, the team uses special potting soil with time-release fertilizer granules. They cover the soil with bark, shells or stones.

They often work around a center of interest -- a figurine or the like. "I just did a basket with a black and white cat (figurine), and I designed around it -- with the colors and theme," said Espy. "Succulents are particularly popular these days. You can put those in a shoe and they barely ever need water."

Popular for Father's Day this year were tackle and tool boxes, added Espy. They also use rusty iron baskets, bird houses, all sorts of boots and shoes, and even old patio chairs with a hole cut out of the seat and plants placed inside.

Five years ago when they retired, the women began their business, starting with floral arrangements for weddings and other special occasions. The business quickly grew to include container gardening.

Just off a successful open house at Child's home this month, the women often sell their planters at farmers markets in Carlsbad, La Jolla, Scripps Ranch, Bernardo Winery and at the San Diego Horticulture Society meetings at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on the second Monday of each month.

They also show and sell their container gardens at annual events, including the Home and Garden shows held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in March and September, the Green Scene at the Fullerton Arboretum, the American Association of University Women's Garden Tour in April and the Bernardo Winery Craft Show in May and October.

Childs and Espy say spring is their busiest time. "In the spring, we use a more cottage theme with more color and annuals like hydrangeas and pansies, and in the fall, the theme is more rustic with fall colors and chrysanthemums," said Espy.

"Around Christmas, we use poinsettias, ferns and cyclamens," said Childs.

"It depends on the time of the year," said Espy. "In the spring, it's more the girlie stuff and at Christmas, we'll do sleighs and use a lot of ivy."

Espy, who goes out to one customer's home to replant her wrought iron wheelbarrow every year, said she enjoys the work because she sees the business as a way to introduce tranquility, peace and beauty into people's lives. "It's not about the money for me," she said. "I love planting and seeing things grow."

So does Childs, though neither she nor Espy is inclined to work themselves to the bone.

"If I didn't have a partner and I did it all of the time, I guess I could make a living at this, but we don't need to, so we don't," said Childs.

Both retired from special education in the Escondido Unified School District. The duo said they only make enough at the business to afford exotic vacations once a year with their husbands, like trips to Borneo, Africa and Europe.

"We sell a lot to people with small gardens and condos," said Espy. "Every magazine talks about how to liven up small spaces."

Childs added that though most plants will grow better in the ground than in a container, containers do allow people to enjoy plants in an area where a traditional garden is awkward or impossible. They also can be moved easily, bunched together or put up against a wall or fence with a trellis allowing for more flexibility.

And once you get the hang of it, almost anything can be seen as an unusual container for planting. Creative possibilities abound. Watering cans, wooden crates, old milk cans, lunch pails, or apple barrels. Even a hollow tree trunk or a retired car tire can come in handy and bring color and interest to any setting with living plants tucked inside.

It's just a matter of thinking outside the pot -- the terra cotta pot.

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.

On the Net:

The Flower Girls: www.amazingflowergirls.com