Inside, I found this. Know what it is?
(Image from Southern Style by Mark Mayfield)
It's a bottle tree! :-) Most often you see them in gardens, although this one looks pretty awesome on this porch/veranda.
Bottle trees go way, way, way back. Some folks think the first bottle trees were created in Africa in the 9th Century A.D. Others believe their origin goes back much further...all the way to ancient cultures.
Why a bottle tree? Apparently, it was believed you could capture any roaming, up-to-no-good, nighttime spirits. Superstition has it, they would be lured into the bottles where the morning light would destroy them. There must have been a real problem with bad spirits back in the day. ;-) Remember the post I did a while back about porch ceilings in the south being painted, "haint blue" HERE? Update: You'll find more info on haint blue, including some Benjamin Moore haint blue colors, HERE.
Bottle trees are often made with lots of different colored bottles, but a favorite color to use are blue bottles. Bottle trees were often referred to as the "poor man's stained glass" or "garden earrings." They add whimsy to the garden and look really pretty when the sun shines on and through them.
Bottle trees can be made by taking an old tree branch and sticking the bottles onto the branches. Another way is to take a center rod or trunk and attach nails or rods.
(Image from Southern Living)
Want to know more about bottle trees? This site HERE has the largest collection of pictures and in-depth information I've found online about bottle trees. I wanted so badly to copy and share some of the amazing pics I found at the above site in this post...giving credit to the site, but I wasn't sure how the site owner would feel about that. So, I resisted...barely. If you'd like to see A LOT of great pics of bottle trees, click on the link above. You'll find more pics, HERE, too. Have fun! :-)
Update: Anne (Calamity Anne's Adventures) left a comment with a link to her bottle tree grove. :-) Click HERE to see Anne's progress. Bottle trees do take some time to create. I love that Anne asked her friends and family to save pretty bottles for her. If you think about it, a bottle tree can also be a memory tree, filled with the memories of all the places you found/collected your bottles or memories of the friends and family who gave them to you. :-) Thanks for the link, Anne!
Oh, if you get a chance, vote in the poll near the top of the sidebar. It's a poll to find out how many folks would be interested in an evening of shopping at A Classy Flea...an exclusive evening just for readers of BNOTP. :-)
See ya tonight for Met Monday!
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