The Cache Pot

Garden pottery comes in a myriad of shapes and styles. Add a plant and it can become sublime art.

Pictured: planters by contemporary Florida ceramists Leo and Karin Villeroman.

Wrought and cast iron items in the garden are durable and and can give many years of use but eventually (like the rest of us) will suffer the slings and arrows of time. Although a little pricey, having vintage items sandblasted by a detailing or car body shop and then powder-coated will seal the iron from corrosion and give items about 10 years of outdoor use without having to paint them at all. Here are a few 'before' pictures of cast iron urns and Victorian garden edging. In a few weeks I will post for you the 'after' pictures.

Mid-20th century turquoise embossed ceramic vase from the Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati, Ohio, #6870 (1947). The art pottery company was founded by Maria Longworth Nichols Storer and was noted for employing women.

Psst -- We gardeners, whether inside or outside, know this. A thousand years ago when I lived in a one-room screened cottage in the middle of a jungle garden on Maui I never experienced such happiness and joy in just being alive. Nature is the master tonic. "When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the Garden."

Doctors Are Now Prescribing House Plants for Anxiety and Depression An innovative new Rx from U.K. doctors: a trip to the garden store.

Large antique ceramic jardiniere with playing cherubs in raised relief paired with orange clivia. c. 1915, Donatello series, Roseville Pottery Co., Zanesville, Ohio.

My latest trolling for planters find. I can't help myself, my form of chocolate.