While cleaning up the “remains” from my Holiday Home Shows… I’m finally taking down shelves… and I’m finding that my neglected orchids have apparently been doing just fine without me! With my dining room window covered with shelves, my plants unfortunately get “wedged” in between the shelves & window and get very little attention for quite awhile! So imagine my surprise today when I found several of my orchid plants sending up new flower spikes already!!! So I’ve watered, cleaned, propped ’em up… and I’m now looking forward to some fresh new orchid blooms coming soon!!!

After cleaning out my garden (in the wet & drippy snow)… my cousin Kim stopped over and we spent the day planting HUNDREDS of Spring bulbs!!! It was a whole lot of work to have my garden look pretty much the same… digging holes, dropping bulbs, filling them back in & covering it all with leaves?! But come next Spring… fingers crossed… we should see a huge floral explosion of color!!! Thanks so much Kim!

Sure, we had a long string of beautiful Fall days… but I “had to wait” until it snowed today to tackle cleaning out my front garden. Cutting, cleaning & creating several “trash can floral arrangements” along the way. Would have been a lot warmer & drier if I had done it sooner!!! Maybe next year???

I’ve been busy setting up shelves all over the place for this weekend’s HOLIDAY HOME SHOW… including in the dining room where several of my orchids live. So they’ve been enjoying some new lighting & clean space to spread-out more! At least until the shelves get covered with pottery in a couple days!!! Pack ’em tight… make room for the POTTERY!!!

With sun streaming through the window, it looks like a great time for a Monstera Monday!

More morning dahlia magic! It’s so impressive, albeit a bit confusing… that all of these dahlias are blooming at the same time on the same plant?! I’m so glad that I planted these back in the Spring, as the pay-off is great now. And I’m totally loving how the dahlia flowers just seem to change appearance every day! This plant has been blooming great… but I have three other dahlia plants that have yet to make a single flower?! Not sure why… same garden area, same sun, same watering, etc. Fingers still crossed… but better luck next year!

Looks like my cousin Kim’s backyard is still in full bloom… including the wall pocket vases she’s installed on the side of her large tree! While they may not have drainage holes, you can still plant in them if you add a layer of pebbles in the bottom & be cautious while watering! Plus, it doesn’t hurt any that Kim has a green thumb!!!

Working in the basement trying to prep, price & pack three kilns worth of pottery for my next two shows!!! A lot to do… plus I might be miSTAKEn… but these still need to be prepped for this weekend! High STAKEs to get them done in time… HA!… any guesses?… new for Art In The “Garden”… hint, hint…

Crazy cool flowers growing in my garden right now… thanks to my Peoria friends Rosene & Gerry! I planted these several years ago from little spin-offs of their mother plant. It took awhile, but these Bear’s Breeches are looking really cool now! Even better… I have three more little spin-offs that I’m nursing through now. Hoping they take hold soon… and look as cool as these next year?!