What is a Cachepot?

These pretty blue and white china pots from Two’s Company are made to hold a plant. Some they call cachepots. Some they call planters. They are pretty much exactly the same thing.

Two’s Company Blue and White China Cachepots

• Set of 6
• 3 1/2″ wide x 2 3/4″ high
• Hand-painted porcelain

Blue and White Hand-Painted Porcelain Lotus Flower and Garden Scene Planters

• 8″ wide x 7 1/4″ high
• Hand-painted porcelain

Although the word is often used more loosely, it can be a cachepot if you can water the plant without the water running out onto the floor or furniture. This wicker basket has a plastic lining to keep water from flowing through. You could do something like this if you want to use a planter that has a hole it in without a saucer to catch the drips.

The word “cachepot” comes from the French word for hide. You can hide the plastic pot a houseplant comes in within a prettier container. That makes it easy to swap out your plants and let some spend some time outside while you bring in a different plant for a visit.

Set of Three Sagebrook Home Blue Willow Cachepots

• 6″ wide x 6″ high, 8″ wide x 8″ high and 10″ wide x 8″ high
• Hand-painted ceramic

Sagebrook Home Blue Willow Chinoiserie Landscape Blue and White China Cachepots on Amazon

Cachepots are ideal to hold orchids when they are blooming. A little moss tucked in helps keep a top-heavy orchid stable.

Two’s Company Ceramic Faux Bamboo Oval Cachepot with Handles

• 15″ long, 6 3/4″ wide x 7″ high
• Ceramic

Two’s Company Ceramic Faux Bamboo Oval Cachepot with Handles on Amazon

Two’s Company Hampton Faux Bamboo Fretwork Cachepot

• 7″  x 7 3/4″ wide x 7 3/4″ high
• Ceramic

Two’s Company Hampton Faux Bamboo Fretwork Cachepot on Amazon

An oval cachepot can hold a few potted plants.

Chinese Fishbowls are ideal to work as a cachepot. You can put something in the pot to support a plant at the right height for the pot. I have an upside down plastic bowl in mine to hold the plant up. It keeps the plants feet out of the water that drains through, too.

Cachepots on the porch look great and keep the porch cleaner.

They make stands to hold Chinese fishbowls. Some of them come with casters.

Any attractive bowl with high enough sides that can hold a potted plant can act as a cachepot.

More Jingdezhen Blue and White Chinoiserie Hexagon Porcelain Cachepots on Amazon >

These topiaries from Galt International are in blue and white china cachepots.

Galt International Preserved Boxwood Topiaries in Blue and White Ceramic Pots >

You can use a cachepot to arrange flowers, too.

How do they make those lavish flower arrangements? >