Sunday, June 24, 2007

Pot Pourri

The beauty of even the most alluring plant or flower is accentuated manifolds, if the pot in which it is planted compliments it. Here, in my part of the world some interesting makes of the pot are seen and I thought about sharing them with my blogger friends The imaginative shapes and colors of the baked molded clay, leaves me gaping in wonder at the skills of semi-literate potters. Although there are numerous varieties available, here I could picture only the ones which I have. Maybe sometime later I’ll add more varieties. An earthenware pot is an essential part of any garden, cheap and ideally suited to the needs of a growing plant. Despite the availability of more visually appealing options, a pot of clay or earthenware is as yet unmatched in its suitability for a plant. A flat pot is ideal for displaying Bonsais or certain special characters in the stem of a plant, like in this case the swollen base of Beaucarnea is seen prominently. Then sometimes pure economic sense prevails and in an effort to get some good (if not the best) out of waste, I used these gunny bags to plant shrubs like Plumbago,Hibiscus and Lantana. Besides saving the effort of procuring the pots, they are very convenient in shifting because of the easy grip and light weight. How could I not include this one in my post! It has featured in my previous posts and here it appears again. More colorful than the leaves of croton planted in it, the pot steals the sight away from the plant. Sometimes the potters do their bit to test their artistic skills. This pot was coated with plaster of paris and covered all over in reflecting mirror. It certainly doesn’t look out of the world but I bought it anyway for the effort, the maker must have put in it. If you are not happy with the way the pot looks you can use a cane planter to make it appealing. Thin strips of cane are intertwined to form this beautiful and strong structure. A blue beauty again! I came across it on one of my outdoor trips. If not for the idea of dimension conveyed by the Syngonium plant, the pot appears more like an ice-cream cup! Possibilities are endless. So many things can be used for planting, like an old gum boot! (I think I’ll try the idea for its practicality before mooting it). Out of the box ideas can make gardening such a fun thing. May we have more of such whacky ideas?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Green Thumb: I am a purveyor of pots and love them all! Clay, ceramic, metal, etc. But the bags? I have not seen that before! How clever of you!

kate said...

Your clay pots are beautiful - you have quite the collection, Green Thumb! I love the blue pots. They are so pretty. The mirror pot has an interesting look to it ...someone spent a lot of time making it.

Sometimes I think I should leave more of my clay pots unpainted ... but then, I get the urge to paint and stencil pots and clay works the best!

Have a lovely rest of week!
Kate ox

Tira said...

I like the clay pots-elegant and simple. have you ever tried "mossing" some to make them look old?
I have a surprise pic I put in for you in my new post, on flowers and gardens in weddings in Trinidad -let me know if you guess what it is!

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

I love the mosaic pot with the mirrors on it! Beautiful, the croton is so pretty.

A wildlife gardener said...

What a lovely collection of pots! Your plants look great too :)

Annie in Austin said...

Your pots do look great, Green Thumb. Apparently you don't have to worry about them freezing and cracking and can keep them out all year. Pretty clay pots frequently turn into shards in our winters, with the resident plant suddenly exposed to the weather. That's why our large patio pots are mostly hypertufa or composite material painted to imitate clay.

Buying a pot for the effort put into is really a sweet thing to do.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Andrea's Garden said...

hi there Green Thumb, all the pot addicts are having a coming out, did you notice. I admit, I am addicted as well. Each year I keep saying "no more" until I see another one. Terracotta and blue pots are my favorites, too. By the way, I made a ball which is in my Fairy rose bed that has little mirrors, too. Thanks for sharing, Andrea

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Have you gone potty dear Green Thumb with this post? ;-) Love those pots of yours. I like earthenware/clay best too. Great idea using those bags as pots and your blue pot at the end is to die for. Love that colour and stylised flowers!!!!

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Hello Green Thumb, I like your pot-garden very well, because I am a big fan of pots in all variations. I love bonsais, too and have a lot of selvmades. For Example, my "Rosskastanien (buckeye)-Bonsais". There are little "Childs" from our big tree in the garden. They are all developed from the conkers of the mother-tree. I love your sunflowers also. I haven`t sunflowers this year. Hope, it is sunny weather with you. Greetings from Germany, Birgit

A wildlife gardener said...

Green Thumb, I have recommended you for the Bloggers For Global Change award. You will find the details on my post of 10 July.

I will return to catch up and leave a comment on your recent posts :)

Anonymous said...

Love your clay pots and pictures of your plants. You have a very interesting blog and look forward to seeing more of your work.

I know anything can be used for pots for gardening. My father uses pretty much any container he can get his hands on for gardening. I too like the idea of those bags used as pots. Can't wait till summer now to start my gardening.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
Hypertufa Gardener Enthusiast

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