The first time I saw blue bottles on bamboo stakes in a garden was many years ago and I was enchanted with the sight. When I translated the practice into my garden I found that using pencil rebar as the supports (pencil rebar is a magical ingredient in a garden*) in six foot lengths and varying the height by how much they were pounded into the ground let the bottles wave on these flexible ‘stems’ and brush against each other in the breeze – gentle wind chimes.
A few months ago I saw two or three blue bottles upended on what looked like actual plant stalks in a garden on a street where Grandkid and I go for strolls and this ‘bloom’ nudged memory and motivated me to do it again.
I came across some blue bottles at a sale and the flat bottomed ones were fine but when I turned these two over and saw the concave bottoms – well, I gave them a hug. They are on rather sturdy bamboo poles, being rather sturdy bottles, and
are flanking the scented geranium which got sunburned on the deck and is likely now grateful for some shade down in the garden under the bridal wreath bush. The cup of the bottles may catch rain water – I’ll have to see. They are going to be receptacles for ‘treasures’ such as the piece of blue willow china I found while digging. That’s it in the right bottle. That’s Bombay, the neighbour’s cat, on a visit.
*Pencil rebar has many uses in the garden. Bring the ends of a ten or twelve foot length together and a graceful arch forms which then can make letters and then words (like MIMI – use straight lengths for the I’s) and leaned up against a wall or fence for interest or as a trellis for vines. Three or four such arches, anchored in three or four holes in the ground (two ends to each hole) and then bent in toward each other make an instant structure. Once I covered such a seating area with a large lace tablecloth and got patterned shade.