Garden Folklore: The Bottle Tree

I love a good story. I always have. The best time of the day was dinner time and hearing my dad retelling his time at work and he usually did not disappoint with an interesting and entertaining account of what his day was like. I always loved hearing the laughter and tales from when my parents and their friends got together or at family gatherings. I grew up with big storytellers and I have been fascinated with stories my entire life. I must get it from my mom since she is the writer in the family. Even now I bug Rick for a retelling of his day. I am totally intrigued about what people have to say and the way they like to explain their experiences. History is so much more interesting to me now as an adult because I get to read the narrative and not the boring textbook version. I adore fables, legends and folklore. I loved reading Aesop’s fables as a kid and enjoy reading them to my kids, although I don’t think they enjoy them as much as I do! I know most only have a smidgen of truth but I still love them regardless. I enjoy getting wrapped up in the mystery of it all and the legend of bottle trees in the garden does not disappoint. Bottle trees are the very essence of mysterious folklore.

Have you ever seen a bottle tree in someone’s yard or garden? My dad made me one for my birthday and I often get people stopping and commenting how much they like it. Rick made another one for our backyard and our son made one for his garden after hearing me talk about my discoveries about bottle trees during dinner and my parents have a number of them decorating their yard. When you see them, have you noticed the color of the bottles? Are they blue or green or clear? The blue bottles are the most sought after color although all bottle colors are used to make bottle trees.

Here in California, bottle trees are not as popular as other regions of the country and usually are for decorative purposes only but in the South, bottle trees are rooted in Southern tradition and culture.

So when did having bottles in the garden begin? It was originally believed that the tradition of having bottle trees began around the 9th century A.D. in the Kongo region of Africa. Bottle trees were a talisman for warding off evil spirits. The practice was brought over to the America’s with the Atlantic slave trade. Bottle trees began showing up in the Caribbean region and on Southern plantations during the slave trade era. This is why bottle trees are more of a Southern tradition than any other parts of the United States. Many slaves were able to continue their bottle tree tradition by using any material they could find. At that time Crepe Myrtle trees were popular for bottle trees because they were readily available and easy to hang the bottles from the branches. Some historians believe the Crepe Myrtle also was used because of the connection with slavery and the Bible. Crepe Myrtle has a recurring image of representing freedom and escape from slavery in the Old Testament. 

Many historians have done further research on the topic and have discovered the use of bottle trees as far back as 1600 B.C. in Egypt and Mesopotamia. During this time period, hollow glass bottles were just beginning to be made. It was during this time frame when the tales began of spirits living in the bottles. It was believed that roaming spirits were attracted to the beautiful bottles and entered the bottle at night. Once inside the bottle the spirit could not get out, thus trapping it. Once the sun rose in the morning the wandering spirit was destroyed by the sunlight. Historians believe that the bottle tree legend began because of the eerie sound that was made when the wind blew over the top of the bottles.

Cobalt blue is the most popular and preferred color of bottles because many believe in the healing powers of the color and the ability to ward off evil spirits. Blue is also associated with ghosts and spirits adding more superstition to the folklore leaving many to believe that the spirits are attracted to the color blue helping the bottles capture them. The color blue is so ingrained in Southern tradition that even porch ceilings are painted blue. It is believed that painting your porch ceiling blue will help ward off evil “haints” from entering your home because lost souls are unable to cross water. The blue ceiling porch resembles water thus protecting your home and bringing your home good luck.

I highly recommend making a bottle tree for your own garden. They are beautiful and add something interesting to the garden. They can be made in a number of ways, there is no right or wrong way to make them. You can use any bottle from wine bottles to beer bottles or any other bottle you can find from yard sales or thrift stores. I hope that seeing the bottle trees from our garden, our son Parker’s garden and from my parent’s garden that you are inspired to make your own bottle tree. Remember that any material can be used and each tree is completely unique and special.

Although the superstition has been lost for many years it is making a comeback as a garden decoration and conversation piece. And why not have one in the garden, just in case because we don’t need to have spirits roaming around our gardens at night.

I hope you had fun learning about bottle trees and the history/folklore that surrounds them. As I mentioned before, I love hearing these stories and retelling them, kind of like a campfire story. 

Happy desert gardening!

Joy Simper has a full time job as a home schooling stay at home mom. She is the one that holds the house and yard together and keeps the kids in line. She enjoys gardening, including seed starting and propagating plants.