Photos by Felder Rushing, author of Bottle Trees and the Whimsical Art of Garden Glass,
Before being introduced to America in 1600s, ancient bottle trees originated in the Middle East where, based on 3,000 year old Arabian folk tales (remember Aladdin and his lamp genie?), they were thought to capture bad spirits. Whether or not you buy into superstition, they are certainly interesting garden accessories.
The entrance to the children's garden at Shangri La Botanical Garden in Orange, TX, is … well, entrancing.
A gardener in Youngstown, Ohio, uses small bottle trees to add zest to a garden.
Felder Rushing, author of the definitive book on bottle trees and other garden glass art, uses a bottle tree as a tomato stake.
All we are doing is holding glass up to the sky where its colors can sing.
Felder's bottles look great in the winter, too.
Kay Cozens proudly displays her bottle tree in her garden near Lincolnshire, England.
