Something New for Your
Wisconsin Garden!

Welcome...I'm Jerry Swanson.

Thanks for your visit...and after you read my
Bottle Tree Story, please take a moment to look at
my Bottle Tree Creations!

I believe my iron interpretations of the Bottle Tree
would make an interesting accent to your garden!

And even better...
The Bottle Tree comes with a charming story
you can re-tell when someone asks
"What are the bottles for?"

So...If you have a few minutes...

These Cobalt Blue Bottles are on sale!

This is my NEW Hanging Bottle Tree Planter!

A few years ago, I was contemplating what to do with all the blue bottles I have been collecting over the years.  (Many of those bottles were from friends...given because they knew of my fondness for blue.) 

So...a gardener's thinking...
"How can I use THAT in my gardens?"

My first idea was to put up a post, with PVC tubes anchored to the post...something like an artificial Christmas tree.  I would then put my blue bottles over the ends.  I thought they would look nice in the sunlight.  Never having seen anything like this...I thought I had a new and novel idea for a garden accent.

Of course...after doing some Internet research...I discovered someone else had a similar idea...
about 1000 years ago!

My research revealed delightful bits of information about the bottle tree.  I found trees in Africa and Australia called Bottle Trees.  I even ordered one from a tree grower...mine is about 12 inches high, so it may be a while before it looks like these below. 

I also found a great children's book, The Glass Bottle Tree, by Evelyn Coleman and illustrated by Gail Gordon Carter, about the Bottle Tree tradition.  Charming!   

But, it was the varied traditions and stories of the glass bottle tree beliefs which inspired me to make my own bottle tree.  I had found a cool way to use my blue bottles!  So inspired, I decided to offer my Bottle Trees to other Wisconsin Gardeners.  OK...so...I'm partial to Wisconsin!

So...below you will find a pretty fair compilation of the beliefs concerning the roots of the bottle tree.

I hope you find the story as interesting as I do! 

Thanks for listening...and taking the time to visit!

                                                               Jerry

The Bottle Tree Story

The roots of the Bottle Tree are in the middle of 9th century Africa...the Congo.

In Africa, the Congo Tree Altar is a tradition of honoring deceased relatives with graveside memorials. The grieving family would surround the grave with plates.  The plates might be leaning against something, attached to sticks, or hung from nearby trees by string. The plates were thought to resemble mushrooms, calling on a old Congo pun: “matondo”/”tondo”...the Congo word for “mushroom” is similar to their word “to love”. 

Of course, the traditions followed the people, and during the slave trade, the people found themselves in the southern United States.  Over time, traditions changed as the stories were passed from generation to generation. 

In one variation of the belief, bottles were hung from trees by strings, in hopes that any devilish spirits lurking near the house would be attracted to the colorful bottles shining in the dusk.  The spirits would become mesmerized by the play of the sunlight through the colors of the glass, and become trapped inside the bottles.  The bottles were periodically corked and thrown into the river to wash away the unwanted spirits.  In another variation of this theme, the spirits are also trapped in the bottles, but are said to be destroyed when the sun comes out the next morning.

Sometimes the bottles, made then of hand-blown glass,  were hung by strings, but usually they were put on the tips of a tree.  Cedar trees were most-often used...their up-turned branches pointed heaven-ward and were just right for the placement of the bottles.

Although bottles of many colors were used, blue was thought to be an especially potent spirit repellant.  This is why you can still find homes in the south with blue-painted doors and window frames.  It was thought blue, the color of sky and water, has the power to repel or overcome evil.  Blue is also the color of dreams, spirituality, of distance, and the heavenly realm.  

Whatever color bottle was used, it was the bright colors of the bottle trees which were used to attract and trap the spirits.

Some who believed the tradition, used the bottle trees to attract and trap devilish spirits or ancestral spirits, who were just as feared as the overtly evil ones. This was due to the age-old belief that familial ghosts might return to their living families and take the living back to the land of the dead.

So...I say...

"When a soft wind blows, you can hear the moans
of the trapped spirits whistling on the breeze.
The way the spirits get free is if a bottle breaks,
so take care around the Bottle Tree!"

Eight New Tree Styles for 2010!

Available in Amber and Light Green Glass
Bath is Crackled Glass...It Sparkles!