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These little Thai pots are stopping people in their tracks here at the store. They make a perfect gift, either planted with a pretty succulent composition or unplanted to show off their graphical beauty.

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

ABOVE: The Thai pot at left holds a fuzzy kalanchoe that reminds us of squirrel paws and a haworthia whose markings echo the glaze.

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

ABOVE: The banded effect on this piece underscores the exuberant textures and colors of the succulents within.

Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

The two are beautiful together. Don’t you want to touch them? Come in and make your own composition in one to give to someone special on your list.

These exquisite Middle Kingdom Tiny Planters come from a husband-and-wife team. He apprenticed in 1000-year-old Imperial Chinese methods of porcelain craft in Jingdezhen, China’s porcelain capital. They make the most refined and chic little containers for succulents. Folks just can’t resist snapping up these mini house plants!

ABOVE: Their colors and classical shape go with almost any setting.

ABOVE: Middle Kingdom planters are simple and gracious and fit into tiny spots.

The white interiors make a natural harmony with the perfect tones of the exterior glazes. At the top you can see them planted up with a cute haworthia succulent, followed left to right by a sedum, a sempervivum, and a rhipsalis jungle cactus. We use a white pumice mulch over the gritty cactus mix and supply minute amounts of water periodically. The planters have no drainage, requiring watering restraint.

We carry an ever-changing collection of containers for your houseplants. We’ve got dozens of styles for you to choose from, in all sizes from tiny to enormous.

ABOVE: Our white pod planters evoke a myriad of natural associations. Egg? Nut? Chrysalis? Volcano? What do you see?

ABOVE: Every week brings a new assortment of beautiful containers. Come see what’s just come in!

These footed vessels strike just the right note. Landscape designer Shannon Lester’s company, Steel Life, in Oregon, is making sophisticated footed containers from salvaged metal. We just love them, and we are stocking them here in the store because we know you’ll love them too!

ABOVE: Subtly echoing classical forms, the Mezzo Mod Dish by Steel Life is a bright and elegant vessel with upcycled-steel  legs. It’s useful for compositions with succulents or assemblages of favored objects. The 10-inch-broad dish is inspired by a gold-panning tray.

ABOVE: A little larger than the 10-inch-wide Mezzo, the Basin Mod Dish and its friend the Loft Mod Dish at right are equally suited to creative indoor gardening and decorating. They measure 16-inches in diameter, the Basin at five-inches high and the Loft at 7.5 inches.

To the left, The Matchstick Planter’s dense bubinga wood legs impregnated with protective oils support a powder-coated aluminum bowl. The Tall, at left, measures 16.5 inches in depth and diameter, by 26 inches in height, while the Short has the same bowl dimensions but measures 20 inches in height.

The Shallow Root Vessel leaps upward on legs reminiscent of a moderne bridge. At 20-inches wide and 20-inches tall, it provides ample space for succulents and other lightly rooting plants.

These white pod containers are so fun to work with! They have a very appealing organic shape that reminds us of a barnacle or a seed pod. They come in three styles, and look all the better clustered together or strewn down the center of a table. Use them as vases, plant them with succulents, or fill them with tillandsias.

ABOVE: They look fantastic with this all-green collection of succulents for indoors. 

ABOVE: Here, we’ve filled the planter with brightly colored succulents that will tolerate indoor conditions. What a centerpiece!

So pretty for your party table!

Creating small succulent compositions like these is pretty easy. Come in to the shop and use our potting bench to create your own. The trick to keeping succulents happy in small containers like these that have no drainage is to water vary carefully. The succulents prefer to be on the dry side, but don’t allow them to go bone-dry. More importantly, it is easy to drown them by over-watering. Water once a week at most (maybe less) and add tiny amounts of water each time.

These pots are made from the roots of giant timber bamboo. Each one shows the character of the bamboo trunk. Bamboo is an endlessly renewable resource (as anyone who has grown it for a few years in their garden knows) so it is always fun to see it used in new and interesting ways. There is something very appealing about the rawness of the material mixed with the bright green of the plant.

ABOVE: This pot has been planted with Davallia trichomanoides, also known as squirrel’s foot fern. The furry rhizomes creep over the sides of the pots. The foliage is lacy and light and a nice bright green. This fern is among the most drought-tolerant and does beautifully in a bright, shady condition indoors or out.

ABOVE: These tillandsia air plants nestled into this vessel look like they’re boating away on an adventure!

ABOVE: The pots are so interesting in a group showing off their individuality. They’re a great container for orchids as well!

The Sky Planter by Boskke is the best hanging planter we’ve found. Defying gravity, the unique upside-down planter allows you to hang a little greenery at  home and at work, without sacrificing floor space.

ABOVE: This Boskke is planted with a rhipsalis, which is a type of cactus, if you can believe it.

ABOVE: Used properly, it will not drip water on the surface below. The Boskke Sky Planter’s unique reservoir feeds water gradually to the plant’s roots. 

Since the 1880s Bauer Pottery of Los Angeles has been making brightly colored pots that Californians adore.The quality is impeccable, and the shapes are perfect.

Bauer Pottery resisted the drive to take manufacturing overseas, and still manufactures here in California!

In her New York studio, ceramic artist Judy Jackson creates perfect, simple vessels. Her glazes are earthy-deep. Her pots have been a favorite for years here at the shop, and she just keeps adding new shapes, styles, and colors that we love.

ABOVE: Judy’s canoe shaped pot makes a beautiful centerpiece, filled with succulents or tillandsias.

ABOVE: This bonsai container is so elegant planted here with a bucarnia.

ABOVE: Judy’s pots create a gorgeous color palette.

Esther Studios creates some of our very favorite pottery. Esther pottery is created by landscape designer Steve Siegrist and his wife, sculptor Renee Lotenero, along with their son Ethan. They create each of the pots in their Los Angeles studio. Esther ceramics have inspired much interest from collectors.  The pots now come in four color ways, each inspired by the beauty of California. We get deliveries from them a few times a year, and often run out quickly.