Lotsa pots and a Very Big Tree

[bixaorellana]

Monday, after a birthday lunch with friends, we visited a wonderland of a pottery shop then went to Santa Maria del Tule to see the stoutest tree in the world.

First the pottery shop, which made me feel like a child in a fairy tale, with the leaning towers of pots and the fantasy figures creating a maze that went back, back, back for close to an acre. One thing that made it delightful was the smell -- the clean scent of terra cotta, particularly pleasant in a section where huge pots were kept filled with water to cure them.

[bixaorellana]

[bixaorellana]

And now on to El Tule. Full disclosure: these photos weren't taken Monday, but on a gorgeous Sunday last month. Still, they do show the charms of this little town which is full of restaurants catering to the visitors attracted by the tree, as well as a small crafts market and public gardens groomed to a fare-the-well. Really, the combination of the perfect weather, the gardens, and the topiary dotted here and there made me think that Eduardo Manos de Tijeras might be just around the corner.

Among the many whimsical things for sale were these chia pets ~

The church is not tiny. The tree is BIG ~




Another fun thing to purchase ~




Topiary ~

[Deleted]

Oooh, I'd like a clay goat!

[bixaorellana]

[bixaorellana]

Aren't they wonderful, Lizzy? I got a chicken head like the one in the penultimate pic of the pottery shop, but mine has super upper & lower combs.

[Deleted]

That tree is stunning. A Montezuman cypress or ahuehuete. Never heard of it, but I'm more than impressed.

[bixaorellana]

We wandered through the craft market. There my friend discovered this amusing wrinkle on the old huipil -- a pre-hispanic garment honoring favorite contemporary futbol teams.

That's it -- just a couple more of the low-key but fun things to do here.

[bixaorellana]

Feb 4, 2015 23:04:02 GMT @lizzyfaire said:

That tree is stunning. A Montezuman cypress or ahuehuete. Never heard of it, but I'm more than impressed.

It's truly amazing. Unfortunately, thinking or saying its local name can start up an earworm in French.

[fumobici]

Amazing! Both the pottery and the tree, well the *place* really.

But OK, what's with the Asian ideograms on the fence?

[mickthecactus]

Love the pot shop but that tree! Wow. It would really look nice against my new garden wall........

[htmb]

Nice photos, Bixa. I especially like the yellow flower shot at the pot place. What is that?
I would have enjoyed seeing all those pots, too, and the tree is incredible. It's hard to imagine its at least 2000 years old.

[cheerypeabrain]

OoooOOoOOoOOOooOOoOOooOOOOOo-OO-OOO--oOOoOOooOOoOOooOOooohhhhhhhhhhhh.....that tree is AMAZING! absolutely breathtaking! I expect it comes from Lothlórien.....

I like the pots...BUT THE TREE!

[mich64]

What a fun day this must have been Bixa! The tree is amazing, I have gone back over the photos many times in awe of all the contours, roots and knots.

All that pottery! Did you buy anything? I am marvelling on how many things there were to choose from!

I enjoyed the turtle and frog chia pets! I will have to visit the garden centres this spring to see if I can find some.

[Deleted]

That's a really amazing tree.

I'm a bit surprised that in such a big pot place there was no place to see the pot workshop.

[lugg]

Wow that tree is indeed amazing. I don't think I have seen this thread before, really enjoyable, those terracotta pots are fabulous too.

[kerouac2]

Nice to see this thread again. I remembered the pots but had forgotten the tree!

[bixaorellana]

Thank you all for your kind comments, both the two recent ones and all the old ones which, appallingly, I did not answer!
That is so strange, as looking up the page I even remember the comments & would have sworn I answered Fumobici's about the Asian writing, for instance.

Anyway, working forward ~

Judging by the anti branch-cutting and fence-jumping notice in Spanish & the mangled, truncated English notice, I guess the Asian writing must be prohibiting the same misbehavior.

Mick, you could have one of those trees against your garden wall as long as you kept it in a pot. I know I mentioned somewhere that I have a potted one given to me when I moved into this house over six years ago. It's still no more than four feet tall including the pot.*

Htmb, I don't know what that flower is, nor do I remember ever seeing one like it.

Ha ha, Cheery ~ maybe this is the true Middle Earth?

Mich, the only thing I bought, as far as I can remember, was one of those chicken heads to hang on the wall. Mine has better combs than the one in the photo. It's been on the east wall of my patio ever since.

Deleted Kerouac, I think those pots are from this state, but suspect they're made closer to the source of the clay.

Thanks, Lugg. It's pouring here right now and I'm thinking how fabulous it would be to have some of those big pots as water butts.

Kerouac, I came across what I suspect is a spam post listing big trees across the world & decided to give this thread new life, especially as I won't be going anywhere for a while.

* I darted out just as the rain started to grab this picture of my own little ahuehuete ~
                     

[casimira]

I know I never saw this thread because I surely would have remembered it. Thank you Lugg for dredging it up for those of us who missed it.

Astonishing, the number of pots!

Bixa, you just know I would have gone nuts here. And, frustrated that I would have no means of getting any for my very own.

I think I console myself in knowing I don't have much luck with unglazed Mexican pottery used outdoors here.

With all our moisture here they have a tendency to crumble after just a few years They must nor fire them at as high a temperature as the Italian terra cotta.

The glazed one's have a longer life span.

THAT TREE!!!  (it must be hell for the parents of children who visit to explain to them that they can't climb all over it as any child is prone to do.
Thank god for the fence protecting it!)

Sorry I missed this when you originally posted it but now that all of our travels are limited, these overlooked reports
serve as though you were just there and all the more delightful to hap upon them.

[mickthecactus]

I may have missed it but what species?

[questa]

Reply 1 No. 5 White pendulous flowers. Are these datura? Used by some for tripping but get the dose wrong and it's fatal.


For those who have Read the Lord of the Rings will have immediately recognised that this is not a tree but an Ent, standing there in sorrow waiting for his Ent-wife to return. description is so close, pity the movies cut the Ents out of the story.

[bjd]

Questa, I think those white flowers you mention are a brugmansia. I like them a lot but indeed they can be toxic.

[casimira]

Questa, that's a Brugmansia, otherwise known as Angel Trumpet. It's often confused with the Datura as they have similar botanical properties.

They bloom nocturnally (on a lunar cycle) and have an exquisite fragrance. There are many different colors of them available.

I have peach colored, yellow, and a white double blossomed variety.

And, yes, they have psychotropic hallucinogenic properties that can prove fatal. The main toxin is a tropane alkaloid.

[mickthecactus]

I grew them in pots for years at the old house. A bit too tender for our climate.

[casimira]

They get quite huge here, almost tree like in stature. (reminds me that I really need to give one of mine a good pruning back).

My friend down the street has some white ones planted on her patio which surrounds her pond and in the evening when they bloom they are quite spectacular as the white blooms really stand out and as it gets darker outside the area becomes quite magical.

[kerouac2]

Jun 17, 2020 13:14:53 GMT questa said:

pity the movies cut the Ents out of the story.

Uh, did you actually see the movies? The Ents, particularly Treebeard, are very much there.

[bixaorellana]

I just love that this forum has so many knowledgeable gardeners! 💚

Casimira, you are so right about Mexican pots having a tendency to crumble. I sigh with frustration thinking about all those super tough Italian terra cotta pots so easily available in the US. (are they still?)
Thanks for the kind words and the great botanical information.

Mick, I don't think you missed it. I think I forgot to include the information. *shame* Anyway, this is a particularly good wikipedia entry on Taxodium mucronatum.

[casimira]

Bixa, I can't recall the last time I purchased terra cotta flower pot so, I'm going to say that yes, the vast majority of them are the Italian made ones.

I have a couple of Mexican ornamental pots but I don't use them for growing plants. They are scattered in a couple of places for decorative features.

I would love to have a rooster like the one you describe.

[questa]

Jun 17, 2020 14:54:28 GMT kerouac2 said:

Uh, did you actually see the movies? The Ents, particularly Treebeard, are very much there.

That makes me happy, then. I have not seen the movies...read the books in the sixties and have the BBC sound tapes but have my own images. I had been told the Ents were excluded, thanks for the update.

[kerouac2]