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Spring arrives with its fair share of special occasions. From showers to family reunions, Easter to Mother’s Day, it seems every weekend calls for a celebration and, of course, there are the decorations and the gifts. What to get? Glad you asked. Our favorite decor for your door, mantle or wall has actually been leading a double life lately. A bountiful protea wreath adds a sense of luxury and organic authenticity to a room. However, when the parties over, a wreath makes a fabulous gift. Crafted with a bounty of spring flowers and foliage – blooming leucadendron, textural berzelia, lush grevillea and colorful protea, pincushions,telopea & banksia... all the ingredients necessary to create a cheerful welcome as well as a happy heart.

Spring is a popular time for fairs and sales of all kinds, and when garden opportunities arises, we always try to participate in a few of the local favorites. Last week, we ventured out to the UCR Botanic Gardens nestled in the foothills of the Box Springs Mountains on the east side of the University of California, Riverside Campus for their 44th annual spring plant sale. It’s the Gardens most popular event of the year and they always have a wide variety of plants for sale. Plants that attract hummingbirds and butterflies, drought tolerant and California Native plants as well as plants that are suitable for cut flowers use…like our Protea, of course. It’s a fabulous time of year to visit the UCR Botanic Gardens - not only to enjoy this living plant museum with more than 3,500 plant species from around the world, but to wander through the four miles of scenic trails or just relax on a bench and enjoy the beauty. Enjoy these photos…

With the spring equinox just days away, and April right around the corner, we decided to embrace the renewal and return to nature that the season brings with it; it feels particularly sweet after the cold, wet winter. So, stroll along with us as we joined our friends from UCCD Master Gardener Program of San Diego during their Spring Seminar. This year’s theme: Growing Together – Gardening for a Better Tomorrow. It was a fun-filled day to experience what’s new in gardening, get tips from the experts and explore the Garden Marketplace. One of the least-known treasure troves of information in San Diego County is that over 300 Master Gardeners provide home gardening and pest control information throughout the county, FREE to the public. Master Gardeners are volunteers trained and supervised by the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE). The mission of the UCCE is to conduct research on new pests and issues affecting the county, and to provide research based information t...

And I'm still rolling along! So sorry for my lack of posts lately, my little booth, and workshops are taking up a lot of my time, but it's all good. I found this little cart for outside the shop to put my plants in, I painted it up and am rather pleased with it. It may be a little early for some of these plants as it is still a little cold here, but I couldn't resist a splash of colour. A recent view of my booth. Spring must be in the air as I have been selling furniture at the moment, a little nest building going on. This is my new area at the front of the shop. The furniture painting workshops are proving very popular. These were taken at our last class. My niece had her baby a little girl called Emili Ann, she is just gorgeous, and we are all a little bit in love. I just wanted to let you know what I've been up to. Now I am off to see what you have all been up to. I hope you all have a wonderful week, love Linda x.

'Tussie Mussie's were introduced to England in the early 18th century. A small circular bouquet like a nosegay, but carries symbolic meaning, based upon the language of flowers, where specific flowers represent specific sentiments. They were commonly exchanged by lovers, who sent messages to one another.' Wikipedia. I have been making Tussie Mussies's  for Nanabelle's Vintage Tearoom's in Antrim, some of the materials I have used in my arrangements have the following meanings : Lavender - devotion, distrust, Geranium - gentility, coral or orange Rose - desire, passion, Rosemary - remembrance, Thyme - thriftiness, purple Violet - daydreaming. I find the whole subject fascinating, and love the thought of those 18th century lovers sending little coded messages to eachother. Except if everyone knew the language then everyone would know what they were saying. My home town of Antrim has been a little short of somewhere lovely to go and have a coffee or tea, but not an...