In the bleak midwinter,
frosty wind made moan
The earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone…-Christina Rosetti
Nothing like being an English major- these words came to mind when I started thinking of what to write for a “You Can Grow That” post- what can you grow this time of year? yes, the houseplants, the Christmas cactus, the amaryllis and the paperwhites. But outside? Sigh.
I could flip through my seed catalogs, place post-it notes, sketch diagrams of my new bed in the front of the house where the junipers used to be, but I am mostly just sitting and looking out the windows, these days. And the view from my desk is a happy little bottle tree.
I got the idea from a craptastic garden we visited in Idaho- I guess you could say a bottle tree seed was planted there.
It used to be an unhappy cherry tree, that died. Alas. (another benefit to being an English major, I get to use words like alas, and nobody is surprised) I trimmed it back to stubs, and placed blue wine bottles on it.
It won’t last forever- the roots are decomposing underground, and at some point it will tip over. That’s fine. Until then, I have something to catch my eye when I look out my window this winter. And an excuse to buy blue bottles of wine.
Strawberry Fields for Breakfast 
Jan 04, 2013 @ 20:56:12
I like it…I want one!
Jan 05, 2013 @ 04:42:04
go for it! I like the way the light catches the glass, when I am at my desk and get distracted, I have something shiny to look at.
Jan 05, 2013 @ 17:28:20
I like this blue bottle tree idea. At the moment my garden is brown and green with a few white spots, no not snow but the old toilet we placed in the garden with herbs planted in them and two fleece bags over my camelia’s. I am longing for more colour but winter is far from over, as impatient as I am this blue bottle tree might give some satisfaction, or maybe the wine will.