I wrote the following back in 2012 after I’d made a few planters using Birch bark and a few plants:

Rainy Days and Mondays… Tuesdays…  Wednesdays…

“I found a few treasures while we were out Morel Mushroom hunting over Memorial Day weekend… among them some awesome Birch bark!  I brought it home, unloaded it, cleaned it up and stored it in a corner of the shop.

At the time, I thought it would come in handy on a rainy day when I had to be cooped up inside again.  Little did I know then… with all the rain we’ve had over the past several days, “someday” just came a whole lot sooner than I expected!”

I also used some of the smaller Birch bark to hold pens and some of my paint brushes.

The planters were simple to make.  I just removed any rotted wood that was inside the circular bark and then recycled old plastic containers that were the right size to fit down in the bottom of the Birch bark.  I filled them with potting soil and then added the plants.  Wella!  Done!  And… for a few months… whenever they became crowded, I just removed some of the foliage, watered the remaining plants and left them to grow again!

Eventually I took a few of the planters out to my garden and planted them in a garden border where they would receive more sunshine.  I carefully removed the plastic container, dug a hole down in the dirt, snuggled the whole planter – bark and all – down in the hole and just watered them in.

Since then the Sedum plants have spilled over and crept into the space around the planter just as I wanted.  The Birch bark will eventually rot away but I’ve enjoyed them in the garden border for over three years now already.

With fall fast approaching and the holidays just around the corner after that, I think I’ll go exploring again while the weather’s still nice to find more Birch bark.

This time, I think I might get creative and try my hand at making natural centerpieces for the Thanksgiving or Christmas table using Birch, a few dried flowers and other natural “treasures”!