Pottery

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Flower Tower: Summer Edition

Tower of Sedum

Tower of Sedum

Earlier this season I created a ‘Flower Tower’ by stacking three clay pots in graduated widths, then securing them with a stake.  The flowers were beautiful, but the narrow space for planting, meant they dried out quickly.  Annuals are shallow rooters to begin.  Couple that with the porous clay pots and you have a watering challenge on your hands.

I loved the tower, and had fun aging the pots with gold leaf.  I wasn’t ready to give up.  I shifted the annuals to larger pots, then replanted with drought-tolerant Sedum.

I’m really pleased with the results.  The plants don’t mind drying out between watering (and in fact probably prefer it).  The soft greens contrast nicely with the clay.  As they grow, they’ll cascade down the sides of the pots, and once established will send out tiny flowers.

Power to the tower!

Sedum Guatemalense

Sedum Guatemalense

Sedum layered in tower of pots

Sedum layered in tower of pots

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Crafts and Plants: My Winning Combination

Before Pinterest, when you found an idea you liked, you simply tore it out of a magazine. Way back in 2008, I did just that. I thought it would be fun to make this stack of terracotta pots. It looked easy, affordable and fun.

Flower Tower

Stacking Terracotta

I saved the picture and instructions to do as a summer project with my son. Life threw us some curve balls that year, so the clipping was forgotten. Every year since, I pull it out of the folder, think “wouldn’t that be fun?” and then for some reason, I never get around to it. Does that ever happen to you?

Well, not this year.

The beauty of blogging is the sense of accountability.  I’m telling you that I will do this fun project. Soon. Maybe even this weekend.

I could simple stack and plant the pots as shown, but I’ve decided to make it even more crafty. I saw another cool idea on a design blog using gold leaf to jazz up clay pots.  Doesn’t this look like fun?

I’ve never applied gold leaf before, so I’m challenging myself to try something new. Stay tuned.

What do you have planned this weekend?