This invention relates to a method and retainer device for holding a conventional flower pot, which is rested upon the ground, from tipping over accidentally. Conventional flower pots, which are made of plastic materials or clay or the like, that are filled with potting material or dirt and hold flowers or other plant materials, are prone to tipping over when subjected to wind or other relatively low, laterally applied forces. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a simple, inexpensive, device which holds a flower pot against falling over on its side.
Devices for stabilizing or holding a flower pot have been developed in the past. An example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,105 issued Nov. 17, 1998 to Ronald E. Loosen for “Nursery Pot Stabilizing Device.” That device involves a flower pot holder which has a base that is provided with openings. Hooks with upper ends that engage the holder base through its openings, extend into the ground to hold the pot in place upon the ground. However, a device of that sort is relatively expensive and cumbersome in use and is not useful with conventional flower pots. That is, it is not practical or sufficiently inexpensive for use with a substantial number of ordinary clay or plastic flower pots that are typically provided by retail plant sales establishments. Such conventional pots, containing plants, are commonly placed on the ground near homes, cemetery grave sites, and other places for temporary display of potted flowers.
Other more elaborate constructions have been used to hold a flower pot upon the ground and to prevent the pot from tipping over. Further examples of such devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,902,423 issued Mar. 21, 1933 to W. H. Seltzer for “Flower Holding Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,070 issued Jan. 18, 1994 to Jerald C. Shreckhise for a “Plant Growing Receptacle and Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,764 issued Nov. 25, 1958 to Delphis Fisher for a “Receptacle Holder”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,846,433 issued Feb. 23, 1932 to Percival F. Morley for a “Flower and Plant Holder”; French Patent No. 2,557,761, published Jul. 12, 1985, to Daniel Naas for a device for stabilizing flower pots; French Patent No. 2,481,881, published Nov. 13, 1981, to André Franclet, illustrating a flower pot retaining device for holding a pot upon the ground; French Patent No. 1,148,341, published Dec. 6, 1957, to M. Jean-Xavier Dagnaud for a holder for vases and pots.
Each of the devices disclosed in the foregoing patents are relatively expensive, particularly where a large number of them may be needed for temporarily holding a considerable number of flower pots at one time. These prior devices are formed to support a single-size pot. Since flower pots of different shapes and sizes are common, an inventory of retainers of different sizes would be needed for holding an assortment of different size pots. That is, the devices disclosed above, in general, lack the ability to hold pots of different sizes within a wide range of sizes. Hence, it would be desirable to have a simplified, very inexpensive, retainer which may be used on an assortment of different size and shape flower pots, within wide ranges of sizes, to securely hold a flower pot upon a ground surface against tipping over under the influence of wind or relatively small forces applied laterally against the pots or the portion of the plants that extend upwardly from the pots.