Potty for Pots and Pottery

This is sort of a two in one blog, for when I was going through some of the photos we took in Rhodes recently, I was also reminded of something else, from a trip we had many years ago in another country altogether.

As the title indicates, I do love my pots and pottery, especially if it is made from natural materials like terracotta, wood, or stone. Not just for growing on plants but also (or for me, mainly) as a garden accessory. Okay, I don't 'like' it as much as gardening and plants itself, but do like the way how a well chosen pot immediately enhances its surroundings, in more ways than one.

So, as I've said, whilst looking at photos of our recent holiday in Rhodes I felt a sudden wave of nostalgia of a pottery workshop we visited whilst on holiday in the Philippines a few years ago. 

Pots galore! Even the ones that collapsed looks nice.

Pots in the making

All hand made

If only we can hand carry the big ones back with us! In the end we had to settle for a few miniatures to go in the luggage and hand carried one that was about a foot tall. But oh to have one of those big ones!

Now back to Europe, the very next day after our arrival to the island we were whisked away to a nearby garden centre by a couple of friends who know the area very well. And with them knowing how much into plants we are (and so are they, hint hint :-)) they thought that visiting one of the local garden centres first thing would be a nice introduction to the island.

The first things we saw by the entrance...a taster of things to come

Summer irrigation is the key to a green lawn in Rhodes

Shrubs and small trees in a shaded area

Palms, Bananas, a Strelitzia, amongst others

A line up of Bananas, Plumerias, Citrus, etc

Agaves

Opuntias tucked away at the back

Oh I like this particular Opuntia!

A selection of little succulents

The shade house

Now these volcanic rocks would look great on a xerophyte bed...

The photo defies the size of them. These are huge specimens

And yes it was a nice introduction, seeing the sort of plants are available to locals, as well as giving us a taster on what a garden centre set up is like there.

They had a varied selection of plants, all suitable for the local climate of course. They had a nice enough selection, especially their cacti and succulents, but the one that caught my attention the most are their gorgeous terracotta pottery.

Very nice (okay, maybe not the heart shaped one...)

Sumptuous and gorgeous! And again if only we are able to take back some of the bigger ones with us (without having to fork out excessive amounts of cash in excess baggage weight)! Get some shipped I hear you say? Maybe, that's too much effort to arrange on a relatively short holiday, not to mention too costly. Although as you can imagine, it is much cheaper to buy there, and with shipping costs added it will still work out cheaper than buying ones available here.

But we just settled for pure admiration and left the garden centre empty handed. We figured out though that it would have been possible to hand carry a reasonably sized pot each, perhaps up to a foot and half tall but alas we never had the chance to go back there again during the rest of our stay.

Maybe next time, with better planning and preparation. Definitely next time!

And if you are curious whereabouts exactly is this garden centre in Rhodes, here you go...

Mark :-)

Posted in: exotic garden , garden blog , garden design , Greece , Philippines , Pots , Tropical Garden