Hungry? Thirsty?

Perhaps I have the munchies this morning but while adding details of some designer plant containers to the http://www.plantcontainershop.com/ website, I couldn't help feeling that the planters should have labels attached saying "Eat me!" and "Drink me!"

The Fuzzy stool and Fuzzy pot in metallic chocolate brown would be ideal plant pots for the corporate headquarters of a chocolate confectionery company. The stool is a stool one way up and a plant container the other way up. They are stackable and can be topped off with a fuzzy pot for an alternative shape.

It would then be only a matter of days until the chief executive of a marshmallow company would bang his fists on the boardroom table and shout " Get me some plant containers that look like marshmallows!" This is where I come in.

Naturally, after eating so many plant containers you may feel thirsty. Well take a sip or two from the Cubalibre planter. The Cubalibre is 880mm dia x 980mm tall, with an internal planting depth of 410mm. That means it will only hold 725 litres of drink so you won't feel too full if you drink it all! Also available in an illuminated version. take a look here: http://www.plantcontainershop.com/designer-plant-containers.html

A county or two away, and in another boardroom meeting, another chief executive bangs his fist on the boardroom table. " We don't make confectionery, we make aluminium foil but I still want plant containers that reflect our business! Get me plantcontainershop.com on the phone!" I am already one step ahead. Here's a plant container with an effect that mimics crushed aluminium foil. We could go even further and plant them with Pilea cadierei: the aluminium plant!

Email me for further snacks, sorry, information on keith@wrap.co.uk

Beachcomber

A classical urn: everyone loves the style and elegance but few have the kind of garden that lends itself to displaying them to full effect. Some may have a pair to accompany the stone dogs atop the garden gate posts, others may have dozens of them around their stately gardens. The classical Roman urns were copies of classical Greek urns which themselves were copies of classical Egyptian urns.


The classical style or something very similar has been around for at least a couple of thousand years - and we think a car looks dated after five years! There is a new slant on the classical urn though: the Beachcomber. Designed by Chris Kabel, this urn reverse recycles. In other words it takes something very modern: the shape of a beach ball, a hub cap, a washing up bowl, a food tray, a lifebelt and turns it in to something old: the classical urn.

In the same way that the classical urn needs the right location, so too does this interpretation. A nightclub perhaps or a quirky modern residence. A little more mainstream is another design by Chris Kabel: the Shadylace parasol. Mimicking the view from under a canopy of a tree, this is such a simple and elegant design, we can all kick our collective backsides for not thinking of it ourselves!

Although not yet shown on our website: http://www.plantcontainershop.com/, the beachcomber is currently available for purchase. A number of other new designer plant containers will also be added to the website in early November 2009.

Not the bee's knees

We are all concerned about the decline in Britain’s bee population but it isn’t only bees that do the pollinating. In fact, plants can be pollinated by birds, bats, butterflies, insects and even lizards and rodents. 80% of pollination is biotic ( by living organisms) with most of the remaining pollination performed by wind. A tiny fraction is performed by water.

Plants adapted to using bats or moths as pollinators usually have white petals and a strong scent, while plants that use birds as pollinators tend to develop red petals and rarely develop a scent (few birds have a sense of smell).

The largest managed pollination event in the world is in Californian almond orchards, where nearly half (about one million hives) of the US honey bees are trucked to the almond orchards each spring. New York's apple crop requires about 30,000 hives.

The Chinese orchid, Cymbidium serratum, is pollinated by the wild mountain mouse Rattus fulvescens and in fact this rodent is the only pollinator of this particular orchid. Another plant pollinated by rodents is the Leucospermum. Some varieties have flowers growing near the ground so that mice attracted to the nectar get covered in pollen and pass it on to the next plant.

The leucospermum, known as the pin-cushion plant, is often used in tropical office flower displays for its appearance and longevity. The picture on the home page of http://www.plantdisplayhire.com/ shows a beautiful combination of leucospermum with protea and tropical ginger.



Lilies from the wholesaler are wrapped in bunches of ten stems. They are stored in cold rooms but packed dry in boxes. The flowers are tight buds at this stage with the colour not yet visible. When placed in water, the flowers open and are then more delicate to handle and bruise easily. With the flower showing, the five long stamens complete with tiny oval anther are visible. The anther contain the pollen and although these from part of the beauty of the flower they will stain clothing or furniture if brushed against and should be removed. Another reason for removing the anther is that they are very poisonous to cats.

The single style in the middle of the stamen carries the stigma at the tip. This is where the pollen from flowers is received. The stigma from a crocus, the Crocus sativa, when dried is called saffron and has been used as a seasoning, fragrance, dye, and medicine for more than 3,000 years.

Saffron is native to Southwest Asia but was first cultivated in Greece. It slowly spread throughout much of Eurasia, later reaching parts of North Africa, North America, and the Pacific islands.

Saffron cultivation came to Britain in the 14th century but only survived in the light, well-drained, and chalk-based soils of the north Essex countryside. Indeed, the Essex town of Saffron Walden got its name as a saffron growing and trading centre. Its name was originally Cheppinge Walden and the name was changed to show the importance of the crop to the local area; and today the town's arms feature crocus blooms.

Cool pool!

I have mentioned illuminated plants containers in an earlier post. You may have seen illuminated garden globes: outdoor lamps in a sperical shape, but have you seen the pool globes? They look the same as the garden globes but are low voltage and swimming pool friendly. Needless to say that on no account should you put the mains voltage garden globes or plant containers in or near the water! See them on the slide show at the bottom of the page at:http://www.plantcontainershop.com/illuminated-plant-containers.html

Not only but also...

Not only do Lechuza plant containers filter and humidify the air ( see previous post), they also light up the world! The lighting is a low energy, mains powered, led installation that can be arranged in any configuration. The illuminated plant containers are based on the Cubico 400x750 and 300x560 models but can be made from other types of Lechuza container and indeed most plant containers that have a flat side.

You can see other illuminated plant containers and even illuminated seats and tables here: http://www.plantcontainershop.com/

Lechuza AirClean planter and humidifier

Lechuza plant containers are made by the people that produce high quality Playmobil toys. Lechuza has just added another excellent product to the range. It’s a combined plant container, air filter and humidifier.

Humidifiers are used to increase the relative humidity in a room. Raising the humidity can relieve irritating symptoms such as a dry throat, nose or skin. With the winter weather looming, the heating indoors can reduce the humidity especially with the use of convector heaters.

The Lechuza AirClean has a water reservoir of around 28 litres and with the aid of a pump, draws air through moist zeolite based granules. Zeolites are medical grade adsorbants and are used to produce pure oxygen by acting as a microporous sieve. The air takes in moisture as it passes though the granulate and releases it in to the room. Fine dust particles are captured within the granules.

The water reservoir only needs refilling every 4-10 days and the high humidification output can be up to 7 litres a day.

One unit is recommended for a room of at least 40 square metres and will need a mains electricity supply. They are for indoor use only.

It is also recommended that hydroponic plants are used or plants that have had all the soil washed from the roots. Hydroponics are not commonly used in the UK but are readily available if required. Very tall plants are not recommended due to stability issues.

A selection of available hydroponic plants are as follows: Sanseveria, Rhaphis, Aglaonema, Yucca, Zamioculcas and Dracaena fragrans.

You can see the new plant containers at: http://www.plantcontainershop.com/lechuza-plant-containers.html

Intensive care

Occasionally I am shown a plant in very poor condition and asked “What can I do with it?” My immediate reaction is to suggest throwing it in the bin but I have realised over the years that people get attached to a plant. Some cases I have seen are terminal. There are other cases that would pull through with some intensive care but hey, why not just go and buy another. Oops, sorry, there’s me being insensitive again. I try to suggest a remedy but I don’t hold much hope.

I suppose it comes from being in the office plant display trade where the customer likes to see plants at their very best. Any plants in an area with poor light will deteriorate over time and before anyone has a chance to say that the plant isn’t looking as good as it used to, it is replaced with a new one. Members of staff will ask whether they can take the old one home but invariably it is left in the office, doesn’t get watered, then dies.

Did I mention that the replacement plant is free of charge? Yes, pay for a maintenance service and the plants are replaced for free. Excluding, that is, those plants that have been accidentally or wilfully damaged or taken for a dance around the office. Yes, a dance. It was such an unusual event that I can still remember from over 20 years ago that it was a large yucca plant. The leading partner probably had his eye poked out by the pointed leaves but didn’t notice because it was a Friday afternoon. At Christmas. Yes, dear readers, he had been drinking alcohol!

Forgetting to water the plant is the most common cause of death. That, followed by a lack of light. The first cause can be remedied with a self watering plant container. The reservoir of water inside the plant container is topped up every couple of weeks and the plant can largely be forgotten. Taking the intensive care theme a bit further, there are designer plant containers with a different type of self watering system. These would be really at home in a hospital reception area as they have a medical type drip feed for the water. This can be adjusted depending on the plant and conditions.

See them on plantcontainershop.com with other designer planters