Hypertufa and clay pot update

At the end of February I tried my hand at making hypertufa pots. Even though I’d never done it before, I was very happy with the results. The four pots I made have been drying for a month now and are noticeably lighter, both in color and in weight:

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In quite a few spots the nylon fibers I had added to make the pots stronger were sticking out. That was the one thing that bothered me about my creations. Several readers suggested burning them off with a kitchen blowtorch—and that’s exactly what I did. I don’t think my crĆŖme brĆ»lĆ©e torch had seen any outdoor action since I tried it on some pesky oxalis in December 2010!

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I’d already picked out a couple of agaves to plant in my hypertufa pots: the Queen Victoria agave (Agave victoria-reginae) I bought from Greg Starr last December in a 6½ inch container…

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…and the variegated foxtail agave (Agave attenuata ‘Variegata’) from the  UC Botanical Garden Landscape Cacti and Succulents Nursery in the larger 9½ inch container:

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I’m very happy with how these two look. Now I need to keep my eyes open for the perfect plants to go in the rectangular 10½ x 7½ x 5½ inch containers!

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At the end of January I attended a pottery workshop at the house of Donna and Keith Taylor. Time to show you the finished pieces!

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Very simple pinch pot, double-glazed (blue and turquoise). It looks like a grade-school art project, LOL!

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The letters are from alphabet noodles I’d pressed into the clay

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The one nice thing I can say about this one is that I like the rich brown color!

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My wife hates this one. I like it, maybe because it’s so ugly!

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I may use it for a small vining plant, or else as as pen and pencil holder.

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Creepy doll faces—I love them all! They’d make an interesting mobile.

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This is one of the two pots I’m really happy with

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I like how the stain came out

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And this is my favorite pot

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White clay, with a black stain

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The inside looks like stone

These pots are quite small and I have no idea what I’ll plant in them. Maybe I’ll just keep them as is…

Comments

  1. Put some little succulents in them, growing through one of the doll faces!

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  2. I love the pot with the leaf design on the sides, it's amazing! (The first one you said you were happy with) can I ask what you used to make the pattern?

    Your hypertufa pots are also wonderful.

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  3. Like them all, even the doll faces all in one pot! The hypertufa pots turned out so well and scorch marks I think made them even more natural.

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  4. They are all wonderful and show your talent. Thanks for the garden tour also.

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  5. These are all great! Have you tried papercrete for plant pots? Papercrete - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papercrete

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