Old Garden Cloches

I adore all things related to gardening. There is such a pleasure to going through seed catalogs when they start arriving in January. Watching local garden centers start to get ready for spring is delightful. Walking into a greenhouse when they are being seeded and seedlings transplanted into fresh soil has an odor that is equally as heady as that of fully bloomed oriental lilies, peonies or roses. A few years ago I sold my greenhouse business to a husband and wife team that always wanted to run this type of business. I had two 100 foot greenhouses I wholesaled from. I also had a 50 foot retail greenhouse attached to retail store. So early January into spring was always busy. When a greenhouse door was opened with fresh seedlings sitting on benches that sight was magical to me.

After selling the property I missed it but did not give up my love for gardening. My new husband built me a greenhouse and turned his backyard over to me. With the help of my nephew Caleb the bones were created for a spot for me to garden.

Gardening is not just reserved for plant stock. There is a whole world of tools, pottery, glass, crockery, baskets, sundials, cement items, rock and stone, books and of course the list goes on. I love this whole aspect of gardening...especially the antique and vintage items. They are lovely to look and also fun to just ponder and think about. So today I share with you a few of my garden cloches....also referred to as garden bell jars. There are many forms for all sorts of uses as well as materials used to form them.


This is an antique french glass cloche. These have great form and color. Cloches were placed over seedlings in the early spring that would protect them from chills and winds. They allowed a farmer to plant a bit earlier to get a jump on the season. The old glass has a green tint and is just beautiful. Very often you will see these without glass knobs on the top. I have learned that french farmers would have long rows of these in their fields. The hot sun would often burn the young seedlings and the knob being in the center was where the heat concentrated....so the farmer would take a stick of some sort and walk up and down the rows knocking the tops of. This cloche still has its top but it is rough to touch.

This antique glass bell jar has a different form as the other one pictured...it is wider and lower to the ground...I have stored some old canoes and Indian dolls under it (I also collect old souvenir mailers from the Adirondacks).

In the background is a square cloche which I believe is English. This is much smaller than the other two pictured. It is sitting amongst some of the examples I have of old metal flower frogs...I guess by this time you have realized I collect many things. I have come to find most collectors are not limited to one thing...most collectors are actually collectors of collections!

This cloche is an early 1990's Wolff pottery rhubarb forcer, one or two I display in my garden. This piece is actually signed and dated by Guy Wolff. While not vintage or antique it is a wonderful piece...I love it...The photo above is of my tomato bed last year.

I hope my entry has explained a little bit about the history of cloches. Aren't they wonderful...so great to look at and think about...

Spring is just around the corner...Yippee!!!!!

Elizabeth