By Maureen Gilmer
Tribune News Service
At the epicenter of our love affair with succulent plants, there’s one hot trend toward the handmade. Maybe it came from a new appreciation for one-of-a-kind creations. Or perhaps it’s an offshoot of shows where plantophiles display their most outstanding specimens, often in competition. These gatherings of the succulent-minded are the genesis of a new art form just emerging onto the national scene.
Succulent shows are all about staging. This considers the size and quality of a plant as it sits in just the right pot, often accented with a matching stone or driftwood. Staging doesn’t limit style but opens the door to create unique compositions. Naturally you don’t want your super fine specimen plant sitting in a pot just like that of another competitor. That’s like wearing a designer frock and discovering someone else at the party is wearing the very same thing.
Enter the demand for one-of-a-kind pots, which has stimulated a revolution among art potters in the West. Each artist creates their own containers designed specifically for succulent plants. These can be pricy, but an haute decorator will gladly reward an artist for creating a perfect expression that suits a beloved specimen. After all, that may be the pot that earns the coveted blue ribbon or a shot in Architectural Digest.
Potters seeking to meet the needs of succulent plant lovers are inspired by the Japanese technique called wabi-sabi, which celebrates the imperfection of nature through art. This almost-wonky look is the antithesis of perfectly manufactured, mass-produced ceramics. The colors are earthy and rarely feature bright colors or glossy finishes so as not to overwhelm the presence of the plant. Some of the best are studies in textures inspired by stone, plants, landscapes and even man-made materials. The right texture in combination with the smooth surface of an aloe becomes a dramatic expression of contrast. And when the plant and pot are eye-catching without blooms, you’ll know you have it right.
Shapes almost always feature a wide mouth relative to limited depth in order to maximize the amount of soil surface area visible. This is vital to succulents that tend to “pup” or offset identical clones around the base of the mother plant. It also helps to repot plants when they exceed the size of the container. Best of all, a wide mouth ensures space on top to use sizable stones to ground the plant and gravel to top dress the surface.
Succulents must have a very well drained root zone, so it’s the drain holes of a succulent pot that make it different from all the other planters. Instead of one small hole in the bottom, there may be two more. For living stones, which are particularly sensitive to residual moisture, many drain holes are required.
Potters are just learning about this new art form that is a Western version of bonsai, using a much wider range of plants. Due to the low moisture requirement of succulents, they are rarely watered and thus make great office accents, or as a bold living display in a plain white room.
There are art potters working all over America who are joining this movement toward creating succulent art pots for the desktop. Peruse the handmade marketplace online at Etsy.com to see what’s out there. Visit local art fairs and craft shows to encounter artists because buying from them keeps your dollars in the community while supporting homegrown artisans.
With succulent plants now commonly sold all over, anyone can dive into this great new idea. When you discover how amazing that one-of-a-kind handmade pot looks in your home, you’ll be eager to go out and find another. But always the question remains: What to buy first, the plant or the pot?
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