Gina, hypertufa is very easy - make your shape, put a bottom on it and pour it. I have seen some great designs in planters, made using this method. If you go this route, let us know how it turns out.

Hmmm...a wooden ladderback chair with a hole cut out in the middle with a pot in it, or big ceramic frog, or a watering can. Sounds like you'll have fun doing this.
Christi

Kay and Christi,

Thanks! That hypertufa is unbelievably cool! my kids are going to look at me like "Oh joy, another of Mom's strange arts-and-crafts projects". But I'll show them!

I will get some suggestions from Garden Bunny on what it should look like, and put some of those little frogs that sit on the edge of a pot.

Gina

We want pictures as you go!!!!

I used a snappot as my planter for my backyard post. If your post is 5"x5" or under, it should work just fine for yours.

You have the perfect need to do a garage sale tour. Start early is the rule. It is there waiting for you to find it. Saturday mornings are best.

And if you live near Mt. Dora... it could be there too...

If your willing to brave a junk yard they can be the perfect place to find unique things for the garden. There's one near where I live that has the neatest things but there are a lot of trees and weeds growing in and around the place and the last time I was there I had to quickly leave due to the mosquitos. I really want to go back and get some of the large gears they have laying around and there was a huge iron parrots cage that would make the neatest arbor if I can afford to buy it.

This planter will be sitting on wood, concrete, the ground? Maybe something copper with that green patina of age would go well with your set-up (if you aren't already set on making a hypertufa thing?)

Karalynn, that sounds cool. Don't pay what they ask for at first, negotiate.

They said that the cost of the cage was going to be determined by the weight of it. And judging by the size of it and the thickness of the bars that could be a bit expensive. I asked them if I could just buy the top of the cage but they didn't want to split it up. Once the weather cools down some I'll go back and see if the cage is still there and if they'll be more willing to barter.

I have a really neat idea in my head for some decorative fencing. They had a bunch of these large old heavy metal grates that would work well as fence panels that I thought would look fantastic with some of the big gears they had laying around welded to them. Maybe with a thin vine with brightly colored flowers crawling acoss it. It would look even better flanking an arbor made from the bird cage.

I really shouldn't go to places like that junk yard. I always come away with so many ideas going through my head!