What is a Garden Cloche?
A garden cloche is an alternate name for a bell jar. Typically, the bell jar is rounded glass with no bottom that can be set over collectibles to display them. In gardening, the garden cloche was once solely made of glass but now may be made of many clear materials. It is placed over young plants to protect them from insects or harsh weather. The original cloche designs had a bell shape, which is no surprise because the word cloche is a direct translation from the French for the term bell. Usually when the term garden cloche is used, it infers outdoor usage of the cloche, and not the decorative uses of the bell jar that became popular a few centuries back. Some people do suggest use of the cloche for indoor decoration, but use as coverings for plants to protect them may be far more popular. Certainly the styles today may far differ from earlier bell jar designs, and garden cloches can be made to cover numerous plants, or merely to protect one.
