Hypertufa Planters

Last week I visited a quaint little shop near my home.  After my spring silk plant show I had taken in about four of my Easter looking plants to sell there on consignment.  I had sold two of the four and I took time to look around her little shop to see if there was something I couldn’t live without ~~ therefore handing her back the money she had just given me.   She has a few antique dishes, linens, old suitcases, tables and other vintage pieces many of us just love.  She also has a pretty good supply of temptations for gardeners..such as wind chimes made out of old silverware and garden totems such as this:

 

 

 

     (sorry, not sure where these pictures were from)

 

As I was leaving the store empty handed, I turned to look around the front porch area and there it was!  A darling planter already filled with flowers.  The container was adorned with pieces of a plate containing a rooster.  I went back in and told her I had to have it!  She told me she had made it out of concrete and peat moss.

 

 

 

Ironically over the weekend my daughter was looking through a Martha Stewart magazine with directions on making these planters!  She and I were very excited.  I couldn’t wait to get home so I could show her the one I had just traded for purchased. Here is a link to Martha’s magazine article.  It is from spring of last year.

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/268962/hypertufa-pots

 

 

 

and another link with more info

 

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/make-hypertufa-trough.aspx

 

A little history of Hypertufa

Hypertufa is a man made substitute for Tufa rock. Tufa is a spongy cellular rock found in limestone country and especially where water has been involved in the wearing and leaching out of the original materials to effect a porous spongy consistency. In many countries throughout the world this natural stone has for centuries been hollowed out and carved for tubs and planters and decorative stepping stones.

Hyper is a prefix meaning, over or beyond. Hypertufa is a mixture of cement, sand and peat moss. For hundreds of years tufa rock was used in Ireland and England to carve animal watering troughs. Then gardeners started using it to make stunning antique looking pots and urns for their back yard gardens. After the supply of tufa started to diminish folks looked for a way to make it. Since tufa was created with limestone deposits and plant matter, the formula of cement and peat moss and sand became a viable alternative.

 

 

 

 

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I like the thickness of the planter and just the overall look of it.

Back side showing more of the bits of a broken plate

 

 

I would love to hear if you have ever heard of hypertufa or better yet if you’ve ever made a planter.  The instructions say it’s easy…really?  I would love to make some.  Today we are in for record breaking weather ….97 degrees in the midwest in May!  Unheard of.  And to think…I have chosen today to go to the nursery and buy more flowers to plant!

 

Joining Marty for Tabletop Tuesday.at A Stroll Through Life

 

Enjoy whatever it is you have set out to do today,

Donna