Garden Pots

It's been crazy hot today. We're the hot spot in Canada right now and I'm hiding away indoors for awhile, sipping raspberry iced tea with lime.

After recent rains the mosquitoes are out in full force as are the dragonflies. I'll bet the bats will be out tonight eating their fill too. The blackflies are still out in droves. Their time is short and soon their little legs will turn white with old age and they'll die, but in the meantime I get fresh bites almost everyday. They're tenacious.

I've been busy in the garden, weeding, planting new things recently purchased from the greenhouse (Japanese spurge, astilbe, white bleeding heart, numerous annuals for planters and hanging baskets), and haven't been quite as busy with the pottery as I would like to be, but that's gardening season for you. My friends have been thinning out their gardens and I’ve been the lucky recipient of daffodil bulbs, lillies, chives, lemon balm, violets, a pink bleeding heart and Lady’s Mantle.

I really enjoy my flowers, planting them and watching them grow, seeing clumps of flowers that were modest a year or two ago getting thicker with blossoms every year.

Now that I have my plants in the ground I'll be able to focus on the pots. I've not been idle, mind you, I did a bisque firing the other day which means more stuff to glaze and fire in the coming days. And the last firing was quite successful, producing many beautiful pots. On my list of things to do is take pictures of those pieces before they get sold, but first here's a look at some pots in the garden.

Giant elf shoe planters filled with Johnny Jump-ups.

A large white planter that didn't make it through the winter outdoors. It cracked exactly in half and is now home in the garden beside the Creeping Phlox. (And those dead looking green onion thingys are the daffodil leaves dying back.) P.S. do not leave your valued planters outside over the winter! The clay I used to make it is only semi-vitreous. It has 3-4% porosity, so any water that seeps into the clay via the only unglazed part - the foot ring - will freeze and expand and crack the pot. This clay, I found out the hard way, is an unsuitable choice for an outdoor pot. I have changed the clay I use for outdoor pots to one with less than 1% porosity, however, I think if you value art, you should store your garden pots clean and empty in a dry place for the winter.