Greg: I love your ladder! What combos. Aren't you in Corona, CA? Since I'm only a hop, skip or jump away, I'd love to come over some weekend and drool over your plants. Can we set something up? For others interested in my tower, i was running out of space so I had the idea to go up. I have a small backyard with dogs so I don't have many plants in the back. I used a 4 foot piece of rebar picked up at the local Home Depot for under $4, & pounded it an inch or so in the dirt in the path next to my walkway. Used a big clay pot on the bottom, ( they are all clay pots) as the base, just pushed the pot down to the bottom of the rebar. The next pot, and all subsequent ones, I pushed the pot down the rebar and then leaned it to the right on top of the bottom pot, resting it on the edge. The next pot, pushed it through the hole down the pole so to speak and rested it on the left edge and so on until the top pot which ended up on the right. The tip of the rebar is barely visible to the left of the top pot. The biggest challenge was trying to figure out which succulents to use. I wanted to use two colors, purple and green. I tried to use some that were trailing, some that are short and squat and some that grow higher upright. I had to really pack the soil down hard so the plants would not fall out until they are really established. Finally covered the soil with shells and sea glass. They obviously need to be watered from the top down, sort of slowly so as to not lose any soil. I've included a picture of the whole tower. We have a lot of walkers on my street and when people stop to comment, they think the rebar is bent. For some, it's hard to convince otherwise. My next one will not be tilted pots. I'm going to just stack them and use succulents around the outside of each ring. If anyone else has done this, I'd like to see what plants you have used. Enjoy!

I've been ordering from Northstar Wrought Iron for a long time - great obelisks and pillars, and great quality for the money. All of their products are powder-coated, retaining their new appearance. This year, I ordered some of their pot rings and love them! Great for hanging on fences - adds height interest. Check 'em out www.northstarwroughtiron.com

Thanks for all the great ideas! I thought about putting a Christmas tree on my front porch however it would block a good bit of my dining room window. Not sure how that would look - I might just have to try it out. I usually just do candles in all of the front windows, lighted garland around the front door and a wreath. Pretty boring. I LOVE the sled and ice skate idea. How cute! I'm going to browse the Better Homes and Garden website now. I've always wanted to put lights in the front yard trees but never have attempted it. This might be my trial and error year! Lori

Yes I think they are something like coated rebar, but they are quite thick and solid spikes - you cannot bend these, they snap off...might be coated steel... I have lots of them, they are useful for staking canes of big rose bushes that flop about... I could have got 10 foot too, but it wouldn't go in the car, so my largest is 8 foot.. good for growing runner beans up as well... I wouldn't put a non clinger on them though...