Wall-Mounted Planter

The wall-mounted planter that my wife bought when we first moved in fell off its nail and smashed into at least a dozen pieces.  I decided to get a replacement rather than glue it together.

Unfortunately wall-mounted planters are not common, at least not those made for indoor use of a certain size and color.  So when I saw a white vase with rectangular base, I decided I'd figure out a way to hang it on the wall.  True it doesn't have drainage holes, but I figured this was a close as I was going to get.  Besides, the previous planter seemed to work out well.

White Vase -- 10" x 4" x 12"

 I shopped around for plate holders, shower caddies, and shelves, but I ended up making my own hanger from the heavy steel wire I saved from a turkey roasting pan, as shown below.

Wire Handles From a Turkey Roasting Pan

The wire is heavier than that of a standard wire coat hanger.  I could bend it properly only by first locking it into a vise.  I knew it would be strong enough to hold the planter.  What I ended up with is something that looks a lot like a plate holder.  But there is a very important extra piece of wire that I bent to clip onto the vase from behind the main piece of wire.  It prevents the vase from toppling away from the wall.  Since the wire is steel, and since it will be used in a bathroom, it will be important to paint it to keep it from rusting.

Wire Bracket For Mounting Rectangular Vase on the Wall

While I was taking pictures, I figured I'd include a shot of a miniature trellis I made from green-dyed bamboo.  I tied the four pieces together with green twisty-ties.  Our first cat's hindquarters can be seen in the upper left of the photo.

Green-Dyed Bamboo Trellis

Here's a shot of the finished result.  I chose to plant several cuttings of Golden Pathos, a plant that I've had in my living areas since the mid 1980s.  The plant is hardy and fast growing.  It will not only tolerate cramped root system, it actually prefers it that way.  Which is important, given that I don't want to repot this planter for a very long time.

There is a white plastic shield juttng out from the bottom of the planter.  I formed this from a large container of cat litter.  It has two purposes.  First, it prevents the wire from scratching the planter.  Second, it hides the wires so that my wife can't tell that I used scrap materials to make the hanger.

Now, actually, my wife's reaction was that it looks like a paper towel holder, especially with the white shield in place.  So I took it off, and she saw the wire, and she actually preferred it that way.  But I had put away the camera, so I don't have that picture handy.