We are living more and more outside our homes now, taking advantage of our backyards, patios, decks and porches as alternative living spaces. We hope this CreekTreeUSA blog will provide information about products that enhance that outdoors’ experience, as well as articles on our outdoor neighbors like hummingbirds, birds, butterflies and other creatures that use our outdoor garden habitat products. We will continue adding articles that will help you learn about their natural habitats and how to welcome them into your back yard and garden.
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In anticipation of their move to bigger digs, The Greenery held their first 3 day auction from 2/17-2/19. Previous auctions there were for 2 days, but Scott wanted a longer one to clear out a lot of inventory, thinking it’s better to sell it than move it. And sell it they did … $600 – $800 trees went for less than half their retail cost, shrubs were similarly auctioned off. Flowers, iron yard art, trellises, … they all went … and a $3500 dollar antique wagon went for about $1000. Boulders, stack rock, patio rock pallets went at up to 70% discounts. Besides the items we knew we wanted, we won a great 5 foot stone firepit that will set off our patio, plus a 6 year old mountain laurel with great shape at substantial savings. If you live in the Metroplex or Ellis County, don’t miss their next auction (June?) if you’re doing or re-doing your landscaping.
But it wasn’t all fun, Friday was chilly, but Saturday wound up being blustery and rainy, we had to get out the rain boots and ponchos, wading through puddles all day, but the auctions went on anyway. Both the Greenery personnel and their customers faced the weather and kept the bids going, from about 9 AM until after 7 PM that night (I hear some bidders had to use the flashlights on their iPhones to see what they were bidding on). Scott and son Bruce, plus Charlie, Chino, Juan and the others all made it worth while, and the CiCi’s catering lunch on Saturday, with free coffee, hot chocolate and snacks all day, every day really helped.
Sunday turned off sunny and bright, with a lot of the puddles dissipating during the morning, so when the auction started up again at noon, everyone was in high spirits and ready to bid some more.
All during the weekend sale, Deborah and Cassie (Scott’s wife and daughter) kept the back office running smoothly. If you won an auction, within just a few minutes you could pay off and be gone, or you could let your auction goodies accumulate, and check out when you were ready to leave. All in all, they processed well over 1100 lots during the 3 days.
Now all this was just getting ready for The Greenery’s move this month to a new location, just across Highway 77 from the old place, where they’d been for 25 years. Twice the acreage for twice the selection, and a new office custom designed for The Greenery. Must be over 3500 square feet in the office, with the walls displaying possibilities in decor. The Greenery will be continuing their landscaping and consulting services from there. And there’s more! A separate building will house The Studio, a jewelry and gift shop with fantastic hand picked items for you. The Studio has been located on Highway 77 just east of The Greenery for years.
Now they just finished this great auction, but come March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day no less!), The Greenery starts hosting their Grand Opening Sale at their new location. So if you weren’t able to take advantage of the auction, don’t dare miss this sale if you’re looking for landscaping bargains. This is a family run, family oriented business, and they’ll treat you right. Take a look at their web site at The Greenery, Red Oak Texas.
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When the first firepots/flamepots/firelites came out they were immediate hits. Besides being decorative and attractive, they created an ambiance, enhancing the mood of any event. Indoors or out, from romantic encounters to party time, or just a relaxing few moments by yourself, these ceramic or glass or metal adornments added a comfortable aura with their warmth and attention-getting fascination.
The primary fuel, liquid fuel gel, for the current crop of firepots/flamepots/firelites underwent a voluntary recall in the fall of 2011, not for any problem with the fuel gel itself, but because some users (43 cases we understand) did not refrain from trying to refill the fuel cup while it was still burning, resulting in spot fires and burns. Liquid fuel gel is no longer on the market. Several alternatives have been developed to work better and safer. We’ll first give you a list of the alternatives, then go into a longer description after that.
- Bird Brain Solid Fuel Gel – comes in a 6 pack of single use cans with a metal ring adapter, was developed by Bird Brain and Sterno, the adapter replaces the stainless steel cup.
- Windflame Insert Kit – uses a can, shield, and wick assembly to replace the cup, uses bottled liquid bio-alcohol as the fuel
- Pacific Decor 2 Hour Fuel Can – Single use can of solid fuel gel, drop it into the stainless steel fuel cup provided with the firepot, light it and it burns for about 2 hours
- patioglo – TBA
As always with ANY type of fuel, observe and heed label warnings and directions for safe and efficient use of the product.
All of these were a long time coming, as the developers wanted to ensure their offering was acceptable to CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), and each took their own path to that end. All of them are deemed Green energy fuels, clean burning with no soot or cleanup, and no hazardous fumes. And all, in some way, are safer than the circumstances than resulted in the voluntary recall.
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The Bird Brain Solid Fuel Gel was developed by them and Sterno, and is manufactured by Sterno. The flame burns higher than the familiar Sterno, but at a lower temperature, to preserve the ambience of the liquid fuel gel. The fuel is sold as a 6-pack of the gel, plus a ring adapter and a can removal tool.
The ring adapter replaces the fuel cup, and does not fit their firepots with the smaller 2 inch diameter cups or the larger 3 inch cups. The inner flanges are bent down and made to conform to the inside of the firepot. The single use can is opened, placed in the ring adapter, and lit. The single use cans burn for about 90 minutes each, depending on conditions of course, so the retail six-pack will burn a little longer than the liquid gel 32 oz. bottle did, and pricing is about the same.
The ring adapter fits the Bird Brain 2.5 inch firepots cup hole snugly, with very little wiggle room. For the Windflame and patioglo firepots with their 2.75 inch holes, this method will also work, though with an extra 1/8 inch on either side there is a little more wiggle room, but the fuel gel can is steady when placed in it, so this is a usable fuel for most of those firepots as well as the Bird Brain’s.
Bird Brain is supposed to have the resolution for the smaller 2 inch diameters sometime in January, but so far nothing has been announced.
The 6 packs are available in our CreekTreeUSA store.
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Windflame has gone in a completely different direction.
The stainless steel cup still comes with the firepot, at least for now, but you also get the first incarnation of their “WindFlame FlameGuard Technology”.
FlameGuard consists of a metal canister, metal shield and material wick. Rather than gel, you use a Bio-alcohol Liquid Fuel, such as is pictured lower left. You charge the canister with the fuel, insert the wick into the shield, then screw the cowl onto the canister and replace the cup. Lighting the wick produces an impressive flame up to six inches, though we haven’t tried it that high. Flame height can be adjusted by trimming the wick down or pulling a bit more out of the shield.
Because the flame has to be put out and the FlameGuard cooled before the canister can be recharged, this gets around the problem that the liquid gel fuel had with users trying to fill a flaming fuel cup.
It’s currently suggested that the cup can be used as a snuffer.
The fuel currently recommended until Windflame gets their own brand on the market is purefuels Premium Bio-Alcohol Fuel which is used primarily used in decorative fireplaces. Pricing on this is competitive with the other methods.
This method can probably be used with any of the firepots whose diameter will accept the canister and whose height is higher than about 4-5 inches.
CreekTreeUSA carries the fuel in our store, and the Insert Kit comes with the Windflame Firepots, arrangements can be made for other brands.
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This is a 2 Hour Single Use Gel from Pacific Decor, the 3.2 x 2.2 inch can sits in the stainless steel cup instead of on any kind of adapter, it’s 3.2 inch height is just about the right size for most firepot’s stainless steel cup. This is too large for the Bird Brain 2 inch cups, so you can’t use it there. It comes in regular and also citronella which can be used outside to help deter hungry mosquitoes and the like.
Pricing may be slightly higher than the others, but the convenience would outweigh that, plus each can burns about 25% longer than the Bird Brain Solid Fuel Gel. Pacific Decor touts this as:
- Mesmerizing, robust, high dancing Yellow Flames
- Odorless, smokeless, non-toxic, ,Clean burning
- Environmentally friendly, disposable no refill can
- Convenience of no pouring, no mess, no clean up
- Safety as a single use can eliminates refill hazards
- Flamepot stays much cooler and flame burns cooler
2/9/2012 – The VP Ops at Pacific Decor graciously sent us a sample can for their product and we checked it against Bird Brain, Windflame and patioglo firepots. The diameter fit was really good, a little wiggle room but not enough to matter. The depth wasn’t a problem either, the top of the gel can came even with the lip of the stainless cup, + or – 1/10 inch. That’s fine, it doesn’t obscure the flame or sit so high the can is obvious. We have these on order, and expect a supply in about 10 days.
The Pacific Decor is our recommendation for the time being until/unless something better comes along.
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Still haven’t figured out what to get that one person that stalls your imagination as to the Christmas gift? Kitras Art Glass items are hand blown in Fergus, Ontario, Canada by artisans using centuries old techniques to create the most beautiful suncatchers, oil lamps, witch balls, gazing balls, even wine stoppers! Appreciated by everyone that sees them, these fine works in glass can be seen in our shop at the Kitras department at CreektreeUSA.
The most impressive glass is the Tree Of Enchantment line, you can’t believe how these can be created!
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Spoke yesterday with the WindFlame representative, finally with some good news. They are offering a different method to fuel their firepots, which should work for those with openings of 2.7 inches (about 2-5/8 inches) or larger, up to several inches, and should work equally well with both WindFlame and patioglo firepots. For the time being they are getting away from gel, and will be using a canister with liquid bio-ethanol that comes in a bottle utilizing a flame arrester. This method resolves problem that the liquid gel had, as this makes it impossible to refill the canister while it’s burning.
The mechanism consists of the canister itself, a cowl that covers the canister and a fiberglass wick. After the wick is in place, the filled canister screws into the cowl and the whole thing slips into the reservoir opening. Lighting the wick gives much the same ambience as the old liquid fuel gel, displaying a slow, lazy 6 inch flame, and burns at a temperature low enough for the firepot. The bio-ethanol burns with no smoke, soot or odor, and a filled canister will burn for almost 2 hours.
The fuel, wicks and canister sets can be sold separately, as well as new purchases coming with them. WindFlame says we should have the canister sets this week. We have a bio-ethanol supply on order which should be here this week, and we’ll try to make them available immediately for all our customers with WidFlame or patioglo pots.
WindFlame has two other fueling methods in the works also. The first is an innovative reservoir with a fiberglass insert to control any spillage and negate the dangers of refilling. A video can be seen on the WindFlame site at their gallery page. The second method is a single use solid gel similar to other manufacturers. Both of these are supposed to be available around year end.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on developments and availability on this topic, so check back often.
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We are going to use the products Model Number to help identify which firepots have a fuel gel solution available. The model number shows on the products description listing to the right of the picture, at the bottom. On the Category Index and Search Index pages, the Model Number is just above the picture.
The Model Number also indicates the manufacturer: if it includes BRB- it’s a Bird Brain Firepot, if WF- it’s WindFlame, and if MG- it’s a Marshall Gardens patioglo. If the model number has an LG- prefix, no specific solution has been provided for fueling it, though in the case of the WindFlame and patioglo you might choose to try the Bird Brain Solid Gel 6 Pack (see our blog post on this here).
If the prefix is LG-BRB-, this indicates a Bird Brain Firepot that the reservoir opening is too small (the 2 inch opening, as a Loki model) or too large (like the Dragonfly). You’re going to have to wait until the first of 2012 (no definite date yet) to use your small ones. As for the larger ones, no resolution has been forthcoming yet.
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We’ve been spending a lot of time lately on the topic of Liquid Fuel Gel, it’s recall, and the available substitutes. At this point, the only Firepots that have been addressed are the larger Bird Brain Firepots, those that have a reservoir diameter of 2.5 inches. The Solid Fuel Gel 6 Packs (which have been approved by the CPSC) include a ring adapter to replace the stainless steel reservoir, and will accept the 3.35 ounce Sterno fuel gel cans. The ring adapter fits snugly, and so does the fuel gel can. This appears to be a viable resolution for these 2.5 inch opening Firepots. Bird Brain Firepots with the smaller 2 inch reservoir openings are going to be handled the same way, I’ve been told, but the 6 pack kits won’t be available until after the first of the year. The Solid Fuel Gel 6 Packs can be seen here.
This Solid Gel Fuel Gel does not work as well for the WindFlame and patioglo firepots (these manufacturers are working on their own solutions) because the reservoir openings in them are 2.75 inches, .25 inches larger. The ring adapter will fit into the opening but when you bend the flanges into place, the extra .25 inches of diameter allows some play in the positioning, not much, but a little. And when the Solid Fuel Gel can is put into the ring adapter, you can tilt the can just a bit. Not dangerously, I think, but it’s not the same snug fit as the 2.5 inch Bird Brain Firepots have.
Please see our blog on identifying which firepots are which, and how they are coming with their resolutions by clicking here.
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Well, folks, we took delivery on our first shipment of the new solid gel from Sterno/Bird Brain, and it looks just as advertised. One thing that was not mentioned before, frankly we didn’t even think about it, is that this can only be used outdoors, according to the package warnings. But we have never used one inside anyway, so it doesn’t make a lot of difference. If you want to read more about the new solid gel, click here.
Other news:
* These single-use cans won’t work with the smaller 2 inch reservoir Firepots (like the Loki model), and it will be after the first of the year before they have something worked out on that.
* Bird Brain will no longer have the liquid gel available in ANY type of container.
* Future shipments of the larger firepots will not include a reservoir, but will include a metal ring adapter like the one included in the 6 pack of solid fuel gel.
* Bird Brain tells us there is no reason these ring adapters will not fit any brand of firepot, as long as the reservoir hole is 2.5 inches in diameter. Will have to check and see if the WindFlame and patioglo firepots can use this as well as the Bird Brain Firepots.
And that’s about all we can tell you right now. To email us with questions or comments, click here. Please make sure you enter your return email address correctly or we can’t respond.
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We’ve received confirmation that Fedex will be delivering this today, and we’ll be checking it in and shipping the back orders as soon as it gets in. This 6-pack of fuel comes with a ring adapter and removal tool for the single use cans that can be used in Firepots with 2.5 inch receptacle holes. Details and pics can be seen at our store here:. After not being able to use our Firepots for so long, it will be great to relax with one burning close at hand.
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All of you Firepot owners out there that can’t find liquid fuel gel for your fire pot can take heart. It’s been reported to us that it looks like Bird Brain now has a replacement coming out so you can start using your firepots again. They’ve teamed with Sterno and come up with a solid gel in a single-use can. If you remember, the problem wasn’t with the gel, it was that some people insisted on trying to refill the fuel reservoir while the flame was still burning, resulting in flash fires and burns.
So Bird Brain/Sterno got rid of the need to refill the reservoir. The single use cans burn for about 90 minutes each, depending on conditions of course, so the retail six-pack will burn a little longer than the liquid gel 32 oz. bottle did, and pricing is about the same. This solid fuel gel has been formulated to burn cooler and with higher flames than the regular cooking sterno, preserving the ambience of the firepots. It also pops and crackles some, but not as much as the liquid did.
As we said, the solid gel is sold in a retail six-pack and includes an adapter ring and a removal tool. The adapter ring fits all the Bird Brain standard 2.5 inch reservoir firepots, and replaces the reservoir, it’s no longer needed. After the gel has burned out, the removal tool can be used to take out the empty can, and the firepot is ready to be charged with another can.
We’re supposed to get our first shipment in sometime around 11/18, so we can get these out to our customers in plenty of time for Christmas. Want to read more? Click on the image above to see our listing.
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Spent part of last Friday afternoon and most of the day Saturday at The Greenery in Red Oak, Texas. Scott Green holds several auctions a year there, and we figured now was the time to add some more trees to our landscape; native types that would attract birds, not to mention butterflies and hummingbirds (Nancy’s favorites). Our visit to the auction last summer was very productive, and we wanted some good plants at a reasonable cost.
So the planters are coming out today, Thursday, to set out a Mexican Plum, a multi-trunk Texas Red Bud, another Desert Willow (Art’s Seedless this time), a 100 gallon Live Oak, a 45 gallon Autumn Blaze Maple, and a huge boxed Shumard Red Oak. As you must know, we really got some deals on these, prices below wholesale for the most part. Plus we bid on some pallets of stone for bed edging, and a pallet of medium river rock, to upgrade the base of our hidden fountain, so those are coming today as well.
There were dozens and dozens of bidders attending, and it didn’t hurt that The Greenery provided free pizza for lunch, catered by Cici’s. And there was free drinks all day long, plus coffee in the morning to wake up on. Scott is the auctioneer, and counts on his years of experience as a licensed auctioneer to keep the proceedings lively and moving briskly, aided by son Bruce and Charlie, one of the staff experts on plants and landscaping. It’s a casual, festive atmosphere, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and a half of bidding.
Besides trees of several kinds and many sizes and rock pallets for any need, The Greenery also offered shrubs of all kinds (especially hollies and yuccas), bedding plants, decorative plants, iron landscaping decor, even an antique Amish wagon. All told, they sold well over 600 lots, many of the lots being multiple items.
I understand The Greenery is moving to larger acreage across the highway (Highway 77, right at the Waxahachie/Red Oak line) after the first of the year. Don’t know yet if their spring auction will be before or after the move, but make plans now to attend. Like I said, there are several auctions at The Greenery yearly, so if you’re looking at needing a mass of plants and other landscape items, you can save a bundle at one of their auctions.
Besides their normal huge selection of plants and outdoor decor, The Greenery also offers professional design and consulting services for their customers.
Nancy’s already told me we’ll be at the spring auction.
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