Abstract: Thin-walled plastic flower pots are stacked upside down with a plurality of stacks arranged in a preset spaced manner and a loading tray having a number of cavities spaced the same as the stacks of pots formed to receive and hold a pot from each of the stacks is used to lift the pots off the stacks. Each cavity has a horizontal rib located near the bottom for grasping and lifting off the topmost pot in each stack when the tray is placed with the open end of the cavity over each of the corresponding stacks of pots and then pushed gently onto the stacks of flower pots and then lifted off. The flower pots have means for providing a gap between the bottoms of each successive stacked flower pot so that the rib of the cavity grasps the flower pot in the gap between the bottom of the topmost flower pot in the stack and the next lower flower pot.

Abstract: A thin relatively stiff but somewhat resilient sheet of plastic material is formed into a series of aligned, identically-shaped and dimensioned cavities for holding thin-walled plastic flower pots with the cavities having ribs formed on their inside surfaces and hand-access cutouts in their side walls. As an added feature, a skirt or flange for lifting and carrying the tray is provided and suitable drain holes may also be provided.

Abstract: A thin mesh is embedded in a relatively rigid molded plastic sheet which has cushioning and insulating characteristics with cutlines formed through the plastic to the mesh so that the sheet is separated into hingedly attached sections which can then be folded as desired to make containers or packages or the like. As an additional feature the plastic can be eliminated over certain areas on both sides of the mesh to provide a see-through opening.