Monday, August 22, 2016

...swooning over Pottery Barn Halloween topiaries...



Oh roses for the flush of youth,
And laurel for the perfect prime;
But pluck an ivy branch for me
Grown old before my time.

Oh violets for the grave of youth,
And bay for those dead in their prime;
Give me the withered leaves I chose
Before in the old time.
~ Christina Rossetti

A little over a month ago, I placed my Pottery Barn Halloween 2016 order. The topiaries arrived today! I have been concerned ever since I received the shipping notification as the temperatures have been sweltering this week. How in the world would topiaries be shipped and arrive without being little dried up pieces of ivy?!? Turns out, they made it just fine. I quickly watered them after unpacking them and realized that, um, they’re pretty large. Right now, they’re hanging and sitting in my bathroom so that I don’t remind my fella that my gothy eyes are sometimes bigger than our gothy house! 

I *believe* that I will keep the bat topiary in the bathroom, which has taken on a bat theme after my fella stuck a few bat decals to my mirror a few years ago and along with the recent addition of the Pottery Barn flying bats wall frame. The spider may be heading to my work office since I’m not sure where I can *hide* him in the house where my step-kitty won’t eat him and/or my fella question my (large item) choices :p Just kidding! He’s actually my biggest enabler. 

Hmmm, I wonder if I could get him to hang (as in climb) the wall. 
Per the tracking notification, Schickenberg Nursery, a wholesale grower of ivy topiaries that specializes in unique frames, filled the order. Although Pottery Barn does not sell them, I learned that the nursery also sells witch and pumpkin topiaries. (If you follow the pumpkin link, the pumpkin is bottom right and somewhat difficult to see.)

I think they’re beautiful and so far, I believe they are indeed my favorite *Halloween* purchase of the season.

``whispers`` Thank you Pottery Barn for selling such awesome and lasting products.

14 comments:

  1. That is so cool!! You always find the neatest things!! <3

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  2. So the plants are actually alive? Very cool!

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    1. Yep! My job is not to kill them although ivy is apparently pretty hard to kill. Not sure about the moss.

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  3. Do you mist it with a water bottle? run water over it?

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    1. Per the very detailed instructions, I am supposed to submerge it in water for a few minutes until it bubbles every few days and most daily. It's supposed to be in temperatures of 55-70 which eliminates outdoors; however, it's English Ivy so it really should grow fine outside.

      For now I just moved the spider to our coffee table downstairs.

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    2. That would be MIST, not most daily :-/

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    3. hehe. I knew what you meant! i really like them. gonna have to check them out.

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  4. Oh boy!!! They're adorable ... and yeah, large. What the heck? I thought they were a lot smaller, too. I was tempted, but I couldn't figure out how I would move them to Texas in December. I'll have to make my own chickenwire frames and plant air-plants and succulents in them since that's what will grow in College Station.

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  5. LOVE, Love, Love these!!! I bought the Bat and the Halloween Cat. My shipping was incognito so not able to figure out where they came from. Thanks to your blog, now I know where to find the Pumpkin!! WooHoo!! One problem my topiaries came with is fungus gnats. They have killed the Ivy on my bat and I am trying to save the Ivy on the cat. I hope you have had better luck with your plants!

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    1. Okay, that helps a lot. I thought somehow we had fruit flies and they were attracted to the topiaries. It got so bad that I had to move them outdoors. I figured that now that I have the topiary cage structured, I would start fresh next year.

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  6. LOVE, Love, love these!!! I found them at Pottery Barn this year and was so excited! Years back they were sold at Smith & Hawken. I ordered the Bat and a small Cat. Mine arrived in great condition all the way to Minnesota!! The only problem is they came with Fungus Gnats. Those darn things killed my Bat Ivy but I'm still trying to save the Cat Ivy. I hope you've had better luck with your Spider and Bat. (The Adults look like fruit flies)

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    1. Unfortunately, I think that is what I had. I thought they were infested with fruit flies so I moved them out to the garden figuring VA summer sun would clear it up. Of course, that sun also dried them out a great deal too. I was hoping to start again next year. They're both still alive outdoors (today it was 85!) but looking a little rough.

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