A while ago Mark gathered all the smaller ceramic pots that we display throughout the garden. He left them by the deck waiting for them to drain and dry out before storing them for the winer.
A week ago today we worked together to get them all stowed away until next spring. We used to bring our big pots indoors for the winter but these days we have too many to display inside anymore. The majority of these are all by local artist, Mark Skudlarek, of Cambridge Woodfired Pottery.
The big pair on the right have layers of bubble wrap between them for extra protection. These are the pair that I use with giant Hostas in them on either side of our new stone steps that lead up into the front garden.
Until we went to stack these pots I did not realize that I had three matching ones. One pot was on the stone wall out front in the Moon Garden holding my new fastigate Ginkgo tree. The other two sat on either side of Buddha on the back deck holding 'Golden Tiara' Hostas. I plan on keeping the Ginkgo in a pot for a few years but next spring I think I will put Japanese ferns in these pots rather than the small Hostas.
This is one of the first few pots we got from Mark Skudlarek. We use this as the Tsukubai water feature with a copper pipe that drips into it so that the water overflows.
This pot is cracked so we handle it very carefully. It should last a long time if we don't heave it around casually and if we don't let any water freeze in it. We lost a large pot a few years ago when it fell over in a storm and hit a rock. Now we are more careful about where we put the pots so that can't happen again.
This storage unit that Mark built is on the east side of the garden right up against the garage wall. There's also a big maple tree and the roof overhang giving the area added protection from the elements. And there's Mr. Metalhead watching over everything day and night, whatever the season or the weather.