Iris Beauty in Spring

Spring is here! These beauties are poking through the cold ground. We have a cold snap this week. Covering strawberries in the potager and several vegetable seedlings. My lettuce, arugula, mustard, garlic, spinach ( even my spinach from last fall survived-crazy!), radish, kale, pansy ( I started those in January), oriental  and brassica leafy greens. I'm eager to eat from my potager. We should have a spring salad soon!

Sleeping Fairy

I took this picture of  a fairy statue that had the bottom broken, I tucked her inside a clay pot.  Actually the clay pot was broken ,too. I tend to keep things and find other uses around the potager. I love the movement in this statue. This little fairy looks so sweet and does not suffer from insomnia like me!Sometimes my insomnia starts with a "creative idea" that I have to write down in the middle of the night. After I write it in my notebook , I cannot fall asleep. I start thinking of all the things I need to do. It does not help to be married to someone that can fall asleep so easily. I blame my parents since it seems to be inherited. We all suffer from this problem. Well, it does help if you are a creative person since most often the best ideas are at moments when you wake up and jot them down on a piece of paper. I revisit them later in the day and often they are pretty good ideas....so I embrace my creative insomnia.To sleep and look so content like this little fairy would be something I would embrace,too!

Tropical Look in Midwest!

Banana Tree Easy to Grow in Zone 5 Garden

I picked up a  banana tree plant(Red Abyssinian Banana-Ensete Maurelii) a few years ago for my potager. I knew nothing about them and put one in the ground. It grew pretty large but you have to dig them up before winter comes.I did last year and wrapped it in newspaper. I cut the top growth off and placed it in the basement with my other elephant ears and bulbs. I pulled it out in spring and placed it in a planter with some soil. Well, it came back and started growing as soon as I put it in a pot  near a sunny window! It was amazing. It took off like a weed and once danger of frost was over, I placed it in the ground near my beach area outside. It was fun at night with tiki lights it felt like we were all in a tropical paradise!Tropical Garden take me away.... 

In Spring just put banana plant in ground

This year I will

get her in the ground earlier!

Morning Glory Wall Outdoor Studio

 My morning glory wall is not too pretty in the picture since I neglected it last year. I used to grow my spring vegetables in this area which meant it was neglected by the end of the summer. Well, this section of the potager is getting a face lift. It is my new project this spring. I started creating my decoupage glass
 candle holders and my work was a bit messy. I had flowers all over the eating area by the time I collected all the individual flowers I wanted for my project. This year, I will have a permanent outdoor studio. I will be able to keep my supplies near the trumpet vine wall and my new plum tree. I just need to figure out what type of floor I want in the studio.
 I built the trellis wall to enclose the area so there would be privacy and my messy projects would not be visible from the entrance to the yard. Once my lilac and blueberry bushes are larger the entire outdoor studio will be enclosed. The next few weeks this is my challenge. I wanted to explore cement casting so I have to figure out which flooring would work if I get too messy.

I miss sunshine that lingers for an entire day!

We just keep having cloudy weather and it seems to never end. I sure hope the 
  sun will come out soon here in the Midwest! I  am eager for spring and being able to 
 start creating again. Most of my natural art medium is grown in our potager. I've been trying to  experiment with dried materials but not too productive in the past week, therefore, I have been busy planning what I need to grow for dying, pressing, weaving, paper making and just what sounds interesting.
  This year I am growing most of it from seed. I hope to practice successive plantings so I am able to collect more art material. I hope,  my winter studio time will be more productive than this winter. Mostly it is my fault since I did not plan too well last spring. This spring I am ahead of the game. I've been sorting and organizing what, when , how and where to place everything.

Good Bye Winter!

It is March and I am busy starting all my cool season crops indoors. I am eager to get
my planters seeded  for spring salads. I just need to wait a few more weeks. I hope this "winter scene" is finally behind us and we can start our peas and cool season vegetables here soon. This year I designed an indoor light system, I am able to  start my cool season vegetable crops for an early spring harvest! Yesterday, I potted cabbage, broccoli, rapini and a variety of kale. I should be able to place them in the garden here in about 2-3 weeks. The days are getting longer and warmer. I  did start some Brussels sprouts in January.  I am keeping my fingers crossed in hope they will be ready by early May. Good Bye winter, I hope!