~Fun with Clay Pots!~

It's no secret, I love gardening! I love flowers, I could spend all day walking through a garden center getting ideas...maybe it's the fact that my grandmother loved flowers too. She loved them so much that my dad and 2 aunts were basically named after flowers. My beloved Aunt Pansy (she is gone now, but when I'm in my garden I feel like she is still here in spirit!). My Aunt Ruth Violet. Then there is my dad, Jesse William, William comes from the Sweet William. I do have these three favorites in my gardens! Anywho, I wanted to share a little about clay pots and the fun you can have decorating with them and at the end, give you a little tutorial on how to do a Tipsy Pot Stand. Hope you all enjoy!

Alittle chalkboard paint and you can have your spice garden on your kitchen window sill or a table on the back porch!

Same idea, no chalkboard paint? Use a permanent magic marker!

Your basic painted pot, so pretty!

White washed, with little bands of the natural clay peeking out!  This is my all time favorite!

Now this is great, stacked pots and a base for a bird bath, your feathered friends would love you!

How pretty would this be to add some white washed paint and a little moss for that old worn look?

Now this sitting area making me swoon! The pansies in a blue pots against a white backdrop. Adding in the little details like playing up the blue trim on the window and blue curtains, makes me want to go sit a while, sip some tea and enjoy!

And finally the tipsy pot plant stand!  Any questions, let me know...

Step 1 - Prepare the site

First you need to clear a spot in your garden. Remove the sod and pound in a 66" long piece of 1/2" diameter re-rod (re-bar) into the soil at least two feet. This is very important for stability as the pots being stacked on it will be heavy with soil, water and plants. Surround the area with black/white newspaper to help block any weeds that might come up through the mulch.

Step - 2 Start Stacking
Place a 12" round clay pot at the base of the re-bar, threading the rod through the drainage hole in the pot. Fill the pot with potting mix, leaving an inch or two at the top and water it in. I like to take a good sized rock to put in the "side" of the pot to help stabilize before putting in the potting soil.
Step 3 - Continue Stacking
Slide a 10" clay pot over the rod in the same manner and tilt it on its side. The bottom will be resting on the soil. Fill pot with clay soil leaving at least two inches at the top.

Step 4 - Finish Stacking and Plant
Continue stacking 10" pots on the rod alternating the way they lean until you run out of rod. We were able to use five pots based on their size and the length of the rod we started with. I would not recommend going any higher than this as it will be hard to water and the tower could become unstable. Now you are ready to plant the pots.

Step 5 - Finished
Once planted, your tower will look something like this. You may need to add a little more soil around each plant as you are putting them in, but leave at least an inch at the top of each pot so that when you water, the water does not run out too fast. You can mulch the pots to help prevent this. To water, start at the top and water slowly. Pour the water on until it starts to run out. Stop watering that pot and go to the next. Continue until all pots have been watered. Weight several minutes than repeat the process. Clay pots tend to dry out quickly, so you can slow this down by sealing or painting them and lining the inside of the pots with newspaper. You can also use those water absorbing crystals in your potting mix. This tower may need to be water twice a day if you have temps in the 90s or more.

 Have a beautiful day!

Hugs...