An Australian artist named Mea Souris invented the Down Under Pot. Mea’s formal training is in portrait style sculptures and architectural ceramics. With over 25 years in these fields, she has found that she needs to supply a growing export market with a unique product. She came up with the idea of the Down Under Pot. This plant pot (not to be confused with the upside down planting device seen on TV) is a totally ceramic pot with a heavy wire bail made right into the top of the pot as an aid to hang the pot with. Each pot is fired individually, therefore giving each pot a slightly different look even though they may be the same color. The pots come in many different colors, and also in terra-cotta.

Planting the Down Under Pot is actually very easy. You plant your flower in the opening of the pot and leave the pot as you would a normal pot for about 2 to 3 weeks. At that point the plant should be rooted firmly in your new Down Under Pot. At this point in time, you can then turn the pot over, and you’ll notice that the pot has a very heavy wire hanger made right into the top of the pot. This is what you will use to hang your pot from your desired hanger. You will want to make sure that you have a very sturdy hanger. These pots are not lightweight, they are ceramic and are fairly heavy.

You can also use these pots year-round and keep them in your home. Each pot has a small water well designed right into the rim. If you are going to use your pot inside, you may want to make sure that when you water your pot and plant that you put them over your sink to avoid spilling water on your floor. As soon as you have your plant adjusted to its new home in the pot, you’ll also see that you could take the Coco fiber out of the top and easily make it a double duty planter. By that we mean why not use that space to put something valuable like herbs in which you could then use your fresh herbs in your daily cooking.

The possibilities are endless. You will soon find yourself experimenting and finding fun new things to do with your Down Under Pot. Some of your neighbors and friends will wonder where you found these unique treasures. Thanks to Mea Souris we can all enjoy these unique pots. Please don’t confuse these pots with the upside down plastic bag style planters that you see on TV. Those planters are made for totally different purpose. The Down Under Pot was designed to be a showpiece and has style.

John Rowe The Yankee Gardener

http://www.theyankeegardener.com/

For more info on the Down Under Pots please follow this link http://www.theyankeegardener.com/downunderpots.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Rowe

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Why bother with aroma therapy when you can spend you leisure time surrounded by the fragrance of a scented garden? A scented garden is delightful at any time, a wonderful place to relax on a comfortable garden bench, the scented garden can be therapeutic, but is also a fabulous place to entertain.

It is a well known fact that there are certain smells that trigger intense emotional reactions. Some scents are famous for their ability to create different moods, for example

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• Lemon – clears the mind.

• Mint – invigorating and uplifting.

• Lavender – very calming.

While few gardens have the climate for lemon trees, a

lemon scent can be experienced in many flowers, there are several lemon scented varieties of geranium and many lemon scented herbs, such as thyme.

Why Do Plants Smell?

Plants create an aroma by producing organic compounds on their surfaces. Fragrant flowers have perfume in glands on their petals to lure pollinators. Not all flowers have a lovely smell, in some plants it is the foliage that is scented. This comes from water repellent essential oils that are manufactured by glandular leaf hairs to repel leaf eating predators, mainly insects. Some plants exude a scent which is decidely undesirable, most noticeably the carnivorous plants, many of which smell like rotting flesh.

The first thing to do in a scented garden is to make coming up your path a pleasant experience. If you have a stone or flagstone path, plant creeping thyme between the flagstones, and lavender to edge the path. As you crush the thyme and brush past the lavender, they will release a glorious scent, both come in many colors and several different perfumes, thyme can smell of anything, from caraway to citrus and as a bonus of course can be used in grilling and in cooking.  Fill tubs or pots with scented geraniums and trailing, variegated ivies and put them near your front door. In the evening the scent will be heavenly.

Nothing is nicer than a garden filled with the spicy scent of Old Fashioned Roses. You can gather the petals to make pot pouri or rosewater, or even rose petal ice cream, and of course while in bloom they  are so beautiful to look at.

Use fragrant climbing shrubs like Honeysuckle or Jasmine on your fences, walls or on an arbor with a built in seat so that you can sit, surrounded by scent on a summers evening when the gardens’ perfume is at it’s height. Some of these shrubs and vines grow at a rate of knots and it won’t take long before you can’t even see a wall or fence.

Plant Evergreens to keep the garden looking good in the winter to so if you are looking for a flowering, wonderfully scented, evergreen shrub that will grow anywhere, look no further than Eleangus Ebingei, it has insignificant flowers and, grey green leaves that have a spectacular white underside, more than one of these and your garden will be full of the most glorious scent from August to November. Another is Helicrysum or the curry plant, with it’s distinctive scent, as well as the yellow Choisyas and don’t forget the Lavenders and Rosmarinus with it’s fragrant needle like leaves. Consider Casimine and the Mock Orange that smells like orange flowers, Nepeta or Catnip which not only smells good to cats but to us too. Monardo or Beebalm has scented foliage,  but can be invasive so plant in pots.  Perovskia or Russian Sage, is not a sage but has a sage like smell from all parts of the plant and Santolina too, these are all sweet smelling and a joy to have in your garden.

Growing plants for their visual appeal is only one small part of gardening. Why delight one sense when you can delight them all?

Related articles

• Scented Garden: Growing and Enjoying Palmarosa (Lemonade Recipe) (boisdejasmin.typepad.com)

Check out this video on how to plant a Down Under Pot and see how easy it is to plant one. Then pick one up and watch your neighbors look at it with amazement in their eyes and wonder where you found such a unique product. Planting an Upside Down Pot