pottery Archives - Keeping With The Times

Today I have 5 great ideas for succulent containers.

Seriously, I’m addicted to succulents (in case you hadn’t noticed!) and when I was in Arizona I purchased a few tiny specimens to play with. I’d rather have succulents than roses (although I did have roses too ;)

I love the textures, the shapes, the colours, and the fact that they look beautiful in pots ranging from concrete, to clay, to glass … happy little sigh.

I found several of these containers at garage sales. Note the tiny little G. Wolff & Co pot. It’s such a treasure, and was a steal at .25 cents! I’ve since done a little research on that pot and found the maker. You can check him out here. Unfortunately this little gem may end up costing me, because I won’t be able to hold back if I ever run across any more (I think I’m in love ;)As I mentioned, succulents look good in just about any pot and I especially love them in glass containers filled with rocks or pebbles.

I simply placed a few rocks and a little soil in the bottom of the glass container, set the tiny succulent in and filled the sides with pebbles. It will need repotting sooner rather than later, but it works for quite a while. Just be sure to not over water it because there is no drainage. Drainage is key people! (See my link at the bottom of this post.)

For the larger concrete pots, I like to put the succulents in a plastic liner first.

Here I recycled a food container. I punched holes in the bottom with scissors, placed rocks on the bottom, added a bit of soil, inserted the succulents and filled the sides with soil.

After a good watering and draining, I put it in the pot.

5 Great Ideas for Succulent Containers

Concrete pots. I used a liner, but if the concrete has holes for drainage, you don’t need to.
Rock-filled glass containers. You can find tons of glass containers at garages sales and thrift stores.
An old toolbox
Cake pans, muffin tins
A ladle … basically any kind of junk!

For even more container ideas, and if you’d like more information on caring for succulents and to find out my “dirty” little secret, check my post Tips for Overwintering Succulents Indoors

Being in a different climate (not to mention country) brings new perspectives and opportunities for my still life photography. If I was at home, I’d be shooting potting benches and perhaps baby bedding plants (even though it’s too early for plants, I’d be keeping them inside.)

As it is, we’ve been going to a lot of garage sales here in AZ, and there are always treasures to be found.

I like the southwestern “look” but I want it to be subtle and that’s what I was hoping to achieve in the following photo.

It was the handmade basket that sparked this image, and I’m kinda going with my “gut” without knowing how to explain my choices. I try to create vignettes that really work in my decor. Again it’s still life is real life is still life.

Of course my tall entranceway table made from an old door is the gem that’s sets the stage here. I absolutely adore it. I make use of all four sides in my photography—this time it’s the back with the beyond amazing hinges. When I set the little metal drawer on the table I was quite astounded to see how it matched the hinges!

Can you say “serendipitous”?!!

Still Life Perspectives, Keeping With the Times, Barb Brookbank

kk_Lilly preset by Kim Klassen

The little handmade pottery vases and old books just seem to fit … adding to the rustic feel.

Settings and setup:

West wall with north sidelight coming from the right
Manual mode
1/60s (on a tripod using a timer)
f7.1
ISO 500

I focused on the basket which resulted in it, and the hinge, being quite sharp. The rest of the image is slightly out of focus. I’m OK with that. I could have tried changing the f-stop but by the time I got my shot, I’d had enough and was done for the day. So I’m taking artistic licence here and declaring that this is how it’s supposed to be … although I did try a little sharpening in Lightroom.

This is for the “Gather” prompt for The Studio Online, and the “Utilitarian” prompt for the Be Still|One Year Wiser class at Learn | Kim Klassen dot com.