I have always thought that no Southern garden is complete without a bottle tree.  Brightly colored bottles shimmering in the sunlight.

I never thought much about bottle trees keeping  spirits away until I read Because of Winn Dixie.  Kate DiCamillo Newberry Award winning story of Opal and her orphaned dog Winn Dixie.  It is a children’s book, but if you have never read this wonderful book, I highly recommend that you read it. (As usual, the book is better than the movie.)  Gloria Dump has bottles hanging from her trees “to keep the ghosts away.”  The “ghosts” are all the things she did wrong.  Sorry, I digress.  Just read the book.

Miss Jane has more than one bottle tree in her garden.  I like them.  I love them.

Chihuly glass sculptures on display at the Dallas Arboretum last year reminded me of elaborate bottle trees.

To read a history of bottle trees and see some amazing bottle tree images go to www.felderrushing.net.  It is a most interesting website.

For years, I have been wanting to add some brightly colored glass bottles to a “tree” in our yard.

On the recent visit to the First Monday Trades Days, this was my treasure – a bottle tree.  It is made of iron, and needs many more bottles, but I am happy to have this new addition to our garden.

Blessings to you and yours,