I thought these cast iron pots might be worth sharing. Recently we found these at a local auction we attend on a regular basis.. It’s the type of auction held at the same location, same time every week, and you never know what may show up each week.

[ These are the iron pots. ]

What to do, what to do

Character like this is very hard to find, very hard. I attend a lot of auctions and go through a lot of garage sales, and do some plain old searching around, and to find three of these together is what I consider a major “get”. To say that I was very excited to win these . . . would be a major under-statement.

How will they be used? This is something I haven’t decided. I know for sure that we will keep one, and that pot will be used near the front door, slightly buried in a bed that contains a lot of “hot” perennials. What will go in here I have yet to decide.

It is the fate of the other 2 pots that I am unsure about. I may design them into a project that I am working on for another client. I may clean up one or both and display them in some weird way. Heck I may even sell them. I just don’t know.

As a designer I see numerous ways to use these pots in the garden.

[ Looking at them from a low angle. ]

Lets think about this for a minute:

1. Obviously they could be used for annual plantings.
2. How about for some type of perennials?
3. The other obvious one is some sort of combination, or throw in some tropicals.
4. Do the pots belong on hardscape?
5. What about buries in garden beds?
6. Maybe some weird shrub(s) pruned in some weird or unique way.
7. Trees; small of course, a bonsai of some sort.
8. In a formal planting, at attention on opposite sides of a prominent entry to a formal area.
9. Turn one of the pots into a water garden.
10. Tomatoes?
11. Place all 3 together in some sort of sculptural element.
12. Rubbed down with a sandstone block to bring out a different look/paint?
13. Use one or more pots with some other object to create . . . . . ? ? ?

What about you?

If these were yours what would you do with them.

How about if these pots were not yours, but they belonged to a client, then what would you do with them?

Is there a type a garden pots like this do not belong in? Is there a type of garden cast iron pots are perfect in.

Could it be this type of element transcends garden style because of it’s high character development/style.

Pictures, share some images if you have been lucky enough to have used pots this size.