The Tipsy Pot Tower that Almost Toppled

After having recently visited two gardens

featuring tipsy pot towers,

I just had to have one in my own garden.

Bonus,

I even had the perfect place for one.

The 14" clay pot was carefully placed on a level

piece of ground.

You don't want to know how difficult it

was to create even a small level spot on a sloped garden.

But even more difficult?

Finding an eight-foot length of re bar.

Un-uh, just ain't gonna happen.

Fortunately for me,

the dear husband knows people.

The right people.

Wonderful John came over and brought me

a piece of ten-foot re bar.

I found out how one gets a piece of re bar into heavy clay soil:

soak the soil and continually plunge the re bar into the ground

until you reach the desired height.

Unfortunately,

it was 85 degrees with high humidity,

and I didn't want John to stress himself,

so I had him stop when the re bar was about 7-1/2' tall.

I had a bad feeling, but...*

*Cue the ominous music.

After filling the bottom pot with potting soil

and firmly tamping it down,

it was time to start the tipsy part of the tower.

Would you look at that:

one of the pots had petunias

that had seeded themselves from last year.

Nine pots of varying sizes.

I don't know -

seems risky.**

Well, what do you know -

it was risky.

How did I know?

I think the tower leaning over and hitting me on the head

was a clue.

Who knew re bar could bend that far?

So I removed the top three pots

and worked on pounding the re bar into the ground some more.


**Personally, I would not suggest trying

to make a Tipsy Pot Tower that is

taller than five feet.

Then the husband and Foodie Boyfriend came home

and just sawed off the top eighteen inches of the re bar.

To be extra secure,

or at least until the tower "settles"*** in,

we secured it at two points with heavy duty fishing line.

***Let's just cross our fingers, okay?

In the bottom pot I planted red onion.

The second pot has petunias,

a portulaca (moss pink)

and a white vinca (Catharanthus roseus).

The third pot has more white vinca

and another petunia.

The fourth pot contains a verbena

named "Large Lilac Blue."

The top pot has a single

Superbells "Tickled Pink"

(Calibrachoa) plant.

The cost of this little endeavor?

I already had the top four pots on hand.

The 10-foot re bar cost less than $5.

I had to purchase the bottom pot -

again, less than $5.

I also needed to purchase:

a bag of potting soil - $7,

two plants @ $4 each,

and three packs of plants @ $2.

Total cost: $31.

Impact in the garden: priceless.