French Terracotta Pots - Set of 3

About the French Terracotta Pots - Set of 3

Hand-thrown French garden pots are fired at a lower temperature than anything sold in a garden centre today, which makes them lighter, softer in colour and considerably more porous. That porosity is the point: the clay breathes, roots stay aerated, and the pot dries out between waterings the way a plant in open ground would. It is also why they need bringing in before a hard frost.

Because they were thrown rather than pressed, no two are the same height and the rims are never perfectly round. Look at the inside for the spiral of the potter's fingers and at the base for the wire cut. The salt bloom that builds up on the outside over years is not damage — it is mineral left behind by everything that has been watered in them, and it is the reason old terracotta has a depth that new pots take a decade to acquire.

Sold here as a set of three in graduated sizes, which is how they were usually made and how they look best: nested on a step, or spaced along a windowsill with the tallest at the back. Raise them on feet so water never pools under the base, keep them dry through the winter, and resist the urge to scrub the bloom off.

Sold as a graduated set of three. Because they were hand-thrown, the sizes step unevenly and the set you receive will not be dimensionally identical to the one photographed — that is the nature of the product rather than a caveat. Terracotta is brittle and travels double-boxed; if a pot does arrive damaged, tell us straight away and we will sort it out.

If you intend to plant into them rather than use them as covers, line the base with an inch of coarse grit and choose plants that prefer to dry out between waterings — pelargoniums, succulents, herbs. Anything that wants constantly damp soil will keep the clay saturated, and saturated clay is what splits in the first hard frost of the year.