So my DH went to Mahoney's to get the pot. Now they said the pot was $175 instead of the $100 it was yesterday. The guy said he quoted incorrectly, and the manager confirmed.

The really odd thing was the manager said someone had called this morning about the price of the pot, and was quoted $175. She said "his wife called this morning, and we told her the price." That was not me. Did someone else have his eye on my pot?

Well, DH really liked the pot too, so he wasn't about to leave without it and paid the higher price.

At first I thought about all the different ways I could bargain for the difference, until I got home and looked at the pot more closely.

It is made of cast iron, with a glazed surface. It must weigh 60 pounds. It may rust, but it will never break. So my fear of the pot itself cracking from fluctuating temperature was put to rest, and I understood that I will have this pot the rest of my life, whether I planned on it or not. Considering that fact, we may leave instructions to our children to put our remains in it when we die. It's big enough for an extended family.

idabean

LOL, Marie - that's quite a story.

With cast iron, do you NOT have to worry at all about hard freezes, even if the soil is really wet? Personally, although it's probably overly cautious, for the first several years I'd probably use annuals, and let the soil dry out really well in winter, covering it with something to keep the rain out.

I love Cody's suggestions - especially for dark foliage plants - they combine so well with chartreuse tones. (I have some nice huge-leaved Ligularia dentata 'Dark Beauty' that would fit the bill, if you'd like one.)

Hi Nan,
I think the glaze could crack, but not the pot. And I love her suggestions, t00. I've never seen 'dark beauty' but I'd love one. Last year, I just added a second "britt Marie Crawford" around some golden Hakone grass.

The staff at Manhoney's told Roger that the pot had been at the Brighton Store for 5 years, and they couldn't understand why it hadn't sold. Well, it cost 699 originally, that's why. If it had been at Stonegate in Lincoln it would have sold.

good to hear from you.
Marie

Ideabean, being completely container-challenged (except for houseplants), I am trying to envision a 4 foot tall lime green pot and what it looks like where ever you place it and with whatever on earth would be growing in it. Sorry I have nothing useful to offer the thread, but when you figure it out I'd love to see a picture how you end up using this pot!

See the image of Sargent's painting "The Daughters of Edward Boit" - you can always pose your kids & grandkids around your new pot :)
Here's a link - sorry it is so long --
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aworldtowin.net/images/images380/SargentDaughters.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aworldtowin.net/reviews/AmericansinParis.html&h=381&w=380&sz=21&tbnid=H0wy6O4LxGMGzM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522daughters%2Bof%2BEdward%2BBoit%2522%2Bimage&usg=__BUIKp8yRe0ZQ6voiptnZTx5qGQQ=&ei=TkWFS5-KD5Xd8QbdieTDAg&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&ved=0CAkQ9QEwAA

Off topic, but ...

A really cool site we use at work is tinyurl.com. It allows you to input a long URL (web address) and generates a short one that basically just points to the original. The tinyurl it generated from the long one above is http://tinyurl.com/ylaqym4 - pretty cool, no? (OK, I admit it - I'm a complete fool for technology).

I LOVE that Seargent, by the way, thanks for sharing it, along with the droll suggestion. I can just see Marie and her DH posing by the pot! LOL ..

Here is a link that might be useful: tiny url to The Daughters of Edward Boit

You could put the pot where it isn't surrounded by green - against a building or fence or on pavement like a patio or steps to make it really pop. I like the dark leafed plant idea, and silver leaves would work also. A single color of flower like red (with dark leafed plants) purple, orange or yellow with chartreuse, green or silver leafed plants might look really nice.

(Thanks, Carol & DtD - I love John singer Sargent's paintings!)

Love all the ideas, including the singer painting. That just came up recently, though I can't remember in what context.

In my imagination I have been moving the pot. I like nhbabs point. I don't have a fence, but there's no reason one can't be put up as a backdrop. Very very old colonial, so this particular pot wouldn't look so good in front.

S0 many ideas, so heavy a pot.

No one has come forward yet to admit they were going to try and buy my pot right from under my nose.

More ideas welcome.

I really have to post a picture of this pot.

Marie

Oh, yes, please post a photo if you can.

In the meantime, here is a blog post on pots in the landscape. Though the material and color are different than yours, the shape may be similar, and she makes some good points about placement & how texture can contrast even when color is similar. I found this post by coincidence while 'reading' a great eye candy blog, Paradis Express, http://paradisexpress.blogspot.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Dirt Simple

And here are 2 more on urns & their plantings from the same author.

http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/?p=7406
http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/?p=7369

Thanks, NHBabs, the article on planting colored pots was interesting; I really liked her thoughts on the yellow pots. Although I have some bright blue glazed pots and have been very happy with dark, red foliage plants in them - in particular, a tender red grass and purple sweet potato vines look so good with the blue glaze that I keep replanting with those. Deborah Silver suggests light green and white - which also looks good. It may depend on the surrounding vegetation and hard surfaces, or maybe is more a personal preference. Or both...