Pots 1 - Terracotta

I'm not generally a "thing"-oriented person. I prefer functional objects over decorative ones, and I like to keep a critical eye on the things I keep around me. However, I do have a fondness for pots, I have no idea why. So here is the first in an occasional series of posts about pots that I like, starting at the bottom, with the humble terracotta plant pot.

In some ways it is surprising that you can still find them in garden centres: they are buliker than the modern plastic equivalent, heavier, more expensive, more fragile, and not even frost-proof. Yet I find something satisfying in them. Their earthy origins, their weight in the hand, and the way they carry the tide marks from their history of plants they have cradled. Their porous nature helps prevent rot, and if you tap them they will sing their charges' need for water. And when they break, you can put the shards in the bottom of a different pot, for drainage.