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5 Healthy Hang Ups

 


Spider Grass and Hoya make great indoor plants. Photo - Angus & Celeste 
 

Hanging plants are all the rage. There is no excuse for getting the health and well-being benefits from greenery at eye level. 


The best thing is you don't need a garden to grow them. Create your own beautiful hanging garden of Babylon with these stunning pots – the plant within is up to you!

 

We love getting our plants up to eye level, decorating balconies, verandas and window frames. We’re usually in such a hurry to get them up, we forget completely about their pot. The plants are let down by the boring old black plastic pot we’ve bought them in! Give your plants the special treat by planting them in beautiful pots and see the difference it makes in and around your home.

 

1. Birdcages

Birdcages make beautiful receptacles for plants. And are so easy to hang. These French vintage style birdcages were purchased on EBay for $40. Line the bottom with coconut basket liner, fill with potting mix or in this case cheap pine bark to grow a little collection of bromeliads. Choose plants with cordlike or thin foliage such as rhipsalis or Orchid cactus, they can easily grow through the bars of the cage. We also like them planted up with Moth Orchids (Phalenopsis). 

 


Linda’s birdcages are much commented on when friends come round. Photo - Luisa Brimble

 

2. Retro hangers

Mother always said ‘if you hang onto something long enough it will come back into fashion’ and she was right! Knitted macramé hangers have escaped the ‘70s lock-up and look great with mistletoe cactus, orchid cactus or rhipsalis. cascading from them, either inside or outside in a tree. The ones here are Byron-Bay based Macramake, www.macramake.com. And you either buy them completed or DIY changing the coloured beds depending on your colour scheme – brilliant!



Macramé is in, make your own or buy a kit. Photo - Luisa Brimble

 

3. Porcelain hangers

We adore these bubbled, pleated and printed porcelain hanging pots from Australian Ceramic Design duo Keir Mac Donald and Asha Cato, Angus and Celeste. Hanging Jelly Planters are perfect for indoors or out, find a style and colour to match your colour scheme. Angus and Celeste say, “The 18th and 19th centuries saw elaborately shaped jellies as glorious table centrepieces.” Each planter comes with their super fine, high strength hanging system, in a colourful gift box. Each planter is made from high-fired coloured porcelain and is extremely durable. Designed to handle any of Australia's varied weather conditions and priced from $59. For more designs head to www.angusandceleste.com


These decorative jelly shaped ceramic pots come in plenty of shapes and sizes. Blue Chalksticks (Senecio and Cymbidium orchid). Photo - Angus & Celeste 

 

4. Homemade coconut pots

Cut of the top of a coconut and bingo, you have a pot. Since they hold only small amounts of soil, select plants such as pansy, native orchids, bromeliad, tillandsia, rhipsalis and hoya. This is a great kid’s project.


Homemade coconut pot with yellow pansy
 

5. Rattan baskets

This store-bought rattan hanger is plastic lined, making it a long lived option. We love it paired with the bright and cheerful Begonia ‘Dragon Wings’, which never seems out of flower and propagates from 10cm cuttings. It thrives drenched in full morning sun on our balcony. Baskets are priced around $20 from your local nursery.  



'Dragon Wings' Begonia in rattan hanger. Photo - Luisa Brimble