A winter project that I'm not yet calling a success...

Once I've got my mind set on making something I jump in and figure out a way to make it happen, sink or swim. Back in my furniture-thrifting days I found a wooden side table with legs I loved, but the top was toast. I had a vision, I saw the top covered in metal. I couldn't afford to get it done professionally, so I bought a roll of galvanized flashing (like this), some tiny nails, and borrowed a pair of tin snips. The whole project seemed quite doable to me, after all I was simply following my vision. A friend saw what I was up to and called me fearless (years before I wrote the book), then proceeded to list all the things that could go wrong. The finished project was hardly perfect, but it was close enough to what I'd imagined and I proudly used that table for years. I share that story because I was thinking of it when I started on the project I'm writing about today...

 I bought this terracotta hanging planter at Flora Grubb last November.

I had the idea that I could turn it into a version of this fabulous hanging planter...

Where did I find that wonderful bit of container artistry? I wish I could tell you. I've always collected images I find inspiring. Back in the day I tore them from magazines, then along came Pinterest, and then of course Instagram. I've also taken to just right-clicking and saving images to a file. That's what I did with that one, although I also saved a bit of "how to" text: "My water filled clay pitcher with epiphytic mosses and ferns (Davallia sp. and Campyloneurum angustifolium), Rhipsalis campos-portoana and a mini phylaenopsis. To help the mosses find a better hold, I put an old nylon stock over the pitcher." So that's what I did too...

I thought for sure I could find an old nylon stocking I could use for this project (which I tackled in early February), but no! I was actually kind of thrilled that I didn't have any of those torture hosiery left in my drawers, I had to (gasp) go buy a pair, thankfully there was a good color match on clearance.

The next step was to take a few orchid cuttings. 

I can't find the name of this one, but it's an Andy's Orchids purchase from the NWFG Fest. That's what I cut from it on the far left in the above photo.

Scaphyglottis-amethystinum (center cutting)

Bulbophyllum saurocephalum (far right cutting)

I soaked and teased Pyrrosia piloselloides off the stick I bought it on (yes, again, from Andy's Orchids).

And worked a piece of Pteris vittata (from my outing to Raintree Tropical) free from the soil it was growing in. Since I saw this fern growing on the side of a fountain, and in several other less hospitable places around the nursery I was fairly confident it would be happy as part of this project.

Next, I took advantage of the holes used for hanging the pot and threaded string thru them. On the outside the string helps to stabilize the plants I’d be attaching to the pot. The thread will eventually disintegrate, but hopefully the plants will have grown to become attached to the container and the moss by then. I also put a cork plug in the drainage hole to help the container retain water.

I worked the roots of the pteris (along with a bit of soil) under the nylon and string.

Same for the orchid cuttings.

Next, I covered the pot with moss, working in the Pyrrosia bits and securing it all with more string.

When I shared a photo of the completed project on Instagram someone asked if I used a moss “slurry.” In hindsight this probably would have been a better idea, resulting in a smoother cover of green, but I wanted an instant moss covering. Unfortunately the pieces I used aren’t all aging in the same way. Live and learn.

Here you can see the different moss types.

And here’s the finished container. I planted pieces of a nepenthes inside the pot, these were unrooted cuttings so I wasn’t sure how they’d do, but since I was experimenting...

I cut the fern back right away once the pieces started to dry. Poor thing went through a bit of a shock getting most of its root mass cut away. Thankfully it started pushing out a new frond a couple weeks later.

After a few weeks hanging in the basement, it’s outside now and doing great (I couldn’t resist adding a couple tillandsia).

Another view…

It’s hanging with several other plants in the branches of the Metepanax delavayi.

Where is it? Right there…

It’s been freakishly dry here for the last month so I’m aiming the garden hose at it and hoping the plants and the moss are all growing and connecting and that this improvised project ends up being a success.

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.