I always love when this little guy pops-up in my front garden!
A fun Jack-In-The-Pulpit flower blooming on a graceful stem.

For anyone who might be in the Central Illinois area this weekend… a quick POP-UP SALE near Peoria! I will bringing some pottery down to share with my “first art fair friends ever” as they host their Annual Plant Sale! Their gardens are AMAZING… and they have been splitting, dividing, propagating & germinating just to have LOTS of plants to sell. Lots of homegrown perennials, annuals, succulents, garden accents… and some of my POTTERY too!!! If you’re in the area, be sure to swing by!!!

2314 Skyway Road, Bartonville, Illinois 61607… 9:00am-4:00pm…
right by the Peoria International Airport!

Celebrating EARTH DAY with a bunch of little green sprouts in my dining room window! Lots of zinnia seedlings… looks like I might need to do some thinning out before they get too big?! And some dahlia sprouts in the larger containers. Can’t wait for warmer weather & warmer nights so I can get these planted outside so they can really start to flourish! Hoping for some great flowers in the front yard gardens this summer!

Morning light on fresh clematis sprouts in the back courtyard. Spring has sprung!

While I haven’t started my new “zinnia seed project” yet… my cousin Kim reminded me that it was also time to start my dahlia tubers indoors. Since I didn’t do a good job of digging out & saving the ones from last summer… I had to buy some new ones. So here are the three varieties I’m trying this time around. Can’t wait for them to start growing… can’t wait for warmer days… can’t wait for Summer Blooms!!!

So every year I see lots of zinnias in other people’s gardens… admiring from afar… and wishing that I had planted some sooner! Well this year, I’m going to go for it. First I bought some seed packets. But then a wonderful care package showed up in my mail!!! My best gardening buddy Rosene has set me up with these wonderful little packets of zinnia seeds. So many varieties, so many possibilities! Now I just need to figure out when to plant them inside… so they’re growing well when it’s time to finally transplant them outside! And then to keep my fingers crossed!

Although we’re still dealing with cold temperatures, snow flurries & freezing rain… seemingly changing on a daily basis… it is encouraging to see little sprouts of my variegated iris working their way through in the garden. Spring is coming!!!

As part of our final class of the Fall session, my Intermediate Wheel class did a fun “trading-exchanging-stealing game”… with a category theme of handmade flower pot with a plant in it. Some people were “racing” with the kiln and weren’t quite able to get a plant, but we were pleased their flower pots at least made it out of the kiln in time! Always a fun way to end a great session with fun students!!!

And, in case you’re wondering… I came home with the beautiful red flower pot with a red anthurium flowering in it from Darcy… perfect for the holidays!

Looks like Rosene has her first bloom of the season on her Thanksgiving Cactus… about a week early! Mine is already blooming beautifully right now too! Come to the HOLIDAY HOME SHOW this weekend and you can see my blooms… and perhaps buy a new flower pot for your indoor garden too?! I’m convinced that houseplants prefer handmade pottery flower pots… with drainage holes!!!

Sad, but true... I think this is the final dahlia of the season! I saw it blooming yesterday out in my garden. But when I saw a few little snowflakes this evening, I thought I would bring it inside to enjoy it a little longer. Perfect as a single bloom in one of my stamped & soda-fired ikebana vases!