A trip to the local greenhouse is always a great cure for the Winter blues and Spring fever!
I love walking through the greenhouse, soaking up all the green plants and smelling the wet soil from a recent watering.
It’s exciting to see the bright colors of pansies and other flowers starting to show up when things are still brown and gray outside.
Hope you are finding ways to get inspired these days to get through spring fever!
Terri
Trips to the greenhouse are a pick-me-up during the winter months when everything is dormant and gray outside, but they also provide inspiration for my drawing, illustration and surface pattern design projects.
Here are a few color palettes I’m working with these days using tiny plants on display at the local greenhouse.
Since I can’t bring all of them home on every visit, I try to bring home pictures to use for reference for new illustrations in my sketchbook.
My plan next is to draw these sketches digitally and turn them into a new collection of surface patterns! So fun!
Terri
It’s always refreshing to take a trip to the local greenhouse in winter to soak up all the green plants growing indoors while it’s cold and snowy outside. I love noticing all the different hues of green and the shapes and textures.
On this trip, we brought how some succulents to add to our houseplant collection. They sure are popular right now, aren’t they? I’m hoping they like the dry climate in our house, especially in winter.
My regular trips to the greenhouse not only serve as a pick-me-up but also give me inspiration for my drawing, illustration and surface pattern design projects. Stay tuned for a couple new pages from my sketchbook!
Terri
I spent a couple days last week helping at the greenhouse where my mom works. They had 20,000 Easter lilies that needed to be planted in 2 days. Yes, 20,000!
Put a handful of soil into the container, place the lily bulb in the container with the tip facing up, fill with soil, place five containers into a flat and move to a palette. Repeat!
There were 10 of us planting non-stop, along with two other people helping replenish our supplies and moving the palettes of lilies into the coolers.
After we finished planting 20,000 Easter lilies, we planted spring tulips and daffodils for a few hours.
On breaks, I wandered around the greenhouse, admiring all they do, especially the fresh-cut room full of lovelies.
It was an exhausting couple days, so it took me a day to recover. And then I was ready to plant more bulbs in our own yard, this time daffodils and anemones.
We’ve enjoyed some beautiful fall days lately so we’ve been tending to our gardens and soaking up as much sunshine and fresh air as possible.
What a fulfilling weekend!
Terri
I always love visiting the greenhouse where my mom works.
She’s been nurturing poinsettias lately to get them ready for the holiday season. They have tables after tables, rooms after rooms of them!
We had fun bringing home a few houseplants, including a palm tree which will live in our family room.
We brought home a terrarium which will live on our kitchen table. I also brought home an ivy to live in my office. It’s amazing what a difference a few plants can make throughout our house. It just makes me feel happier!
We haven’t had any houseplants since we adopted cats 12 years ago because one of them used to dig in the dirt. So far, so good, she hasn’t paid much interest to the new palm tree.
I’m looking forward to filling the house with more greenery once these new plants get settled in their new spots. It feels like the perfect time since all the leaves are dropping outside and plants are going dormant for the cold, darker winter months ahead.
Terri
My mom works part-time at a wholesale greenhouse, and she gave us a tour last weekend.
It was amazing to see so many beautiful plants in these huge buildings.
They have three levels of plants growing, from these huge tables to two levels hanging above.
I loved seeing all the beautiful flowers in full bloom.
Here are a couple of my favorites, including these elegant red hydrangeas,
and these cool blue hydrangeas.
I love any variety of daisies.
How about a carpet of purple flowers.
My mom treated us with this cool moss in a rock planter.
By way of contrast, here’s the scene we woke up to this morning, April 20!
If Spring would ever start up again around here, our outdoor gardens might have a chance to continue coming back to life.
Terri's Notebook 