Spring Indeed

Coming this week is one of my favorite perennials, Dicentra spectaballis Alba, White Bleeding Heart. Truly, the first promise of Spring. This woodland wonder is a sight to behold. Dangling delicately from long pendulous, leafless stems are small white hearts that open. The pink is equally as beautiful yet a smidge more common. These silent beauties seek shade and rich moist soils, but not soggy. Available in gallons this week, this special perennial will please and delight you for years to come. $8.95 a 6" container

Yellow Lavender

The name itself seems to be a dichotomy, a yellow lavender? How can this be? Welcome Lavadula viridis, Yellow Flowered Lavender. This little charmer can grow into a monster if left to ramble. Short, dense flower spikes with creamy yellow to greenish top bracts and pine scented green foliage and attracts butterflies and bees. For the gardener who wants the unusual, or the weird and the wonderful, Bountiful Home's Nursery is starting to fill up with hard to find plant material and unusual specimens. Visit soon before this Ornamental Herb/ Tender Perennial sells out for the season. Great in containers...Full sun, avoid over watering and protect from hard winters. $4.95 4"pot. Welcome Spring!

My Friend the Weed Lady

Many of you know the story and the iconic woman behind the business and the house. Thirty five years ago, Joan Searle was ahead of her time, making a business off gleaning and gathering weeds then spinning them into wondrous wares to sell and to be cherished for decades to come. Daily I am reminded that Bountiful Home and Nursery exists in the shadow of this creative woman. It was here, at the shop, when I was 14 yrs. old that I learned to appreciate the beauties of nature, the sound of trickling water and the flicker of crickets legs on the porch. This shop was a delight to the eyes and senses.

Joanie, as I call her today, is still a favorite in the shop, proudly perched on the window seat sipping tea or dispensing kind words to the shoppers who are surprised to see her. To me she is a friend and teacher, a creative mind and heart, an artist, decorator, gardener and lover of birds. She is an example I enjoy on a regular basis...Lucky me! So today, before the shop opens and I get wrapped into the business of the day.....I'd like to say, " Thank you" to Joanie.... my friend. Isn't she lovely?

Marshmallows are Here

Last year "Swallow" Vintage Pantry and Gourmet Foods opened in the kitchen of the Bountiful Home. Happy Birthday Girls! But what you might not know is that the girls have cultivated quite a following of certain foodie items. So if you are reading this and are hungry....you might want to leave the room...hahahaha but better yet...read on!! Returning this Spring for its second Oscar nod is Butter Baked Goods Flavored Marshmallows. 4 flavors arrived and are selling fast for Easter and to those who love a good s'more! Raspberry, Passion Fruit, Chocolate and Toasted Coconut are here to tempt you. $8.95 a bag. More vintage inspired kitchen products and yummy foods, jams and honeys arrive this month. Stop by for a taste!

Spring is Coming

After a brief hiatus, of inventory and painting, cleaning and dreaming, I'm back and ready to keep you posted on all the happenings with Bountiful Home and Swallow Gourmet Foods. The days will grow longer this Sunday and the Spring light will fall harder upon us. Soon the Nursery will spring open and the unique and hard to find plants will start trickling in....So stay tuned. In the mean time there lots of eye candy inside the shop. This sweet little Sparrow Time Piece is cast iron with roman numerals and retails at $24.95 .

Dr. Dandelion Soap in Lavender and Peppermint Scents ($5.95) have just arrived and Mistral French Milled Soaps have returned with some new scents for Spring. South Seas, Grapefruit/ Red Currant, Blackberry, Lilac of May and Verbena are among the favorites for me. Bars are retailing at 7.95.

A Winter Morning Walk

I entered the shop this morning to find several new nose prints smudged onto the window of the doorway. I smiled, thinking, "I hope they enjoyed the simple and quiet view" that is now in the entry way of the shop. This curious space is a delight and a thorn in my side at the same time. The foyer sets the scene, the face and the feeling for the shop.
But it was the garden that I experienced as I approached the front door that stopped me. Talk about a mood setter! Tender green shoots were forcing their little heads surface side to glance back at me. Towering over them were the remnents of the Mother plant from last season, now needing a strong and swift pruning. I pinched myself to think that this is Winter and not a Spring blast! I dropped my bag inside and headed into the garden with a steamy cup of joe and my thoughts. Wandering down into the side garden I was encounraged at the specimens that wintered and looked great. The shockingly bright orange Heuchera Marmalde paired with the leafless branches of the Barberry now hanging heavy with little red berries stopped me. There is color all around me. The lime green trumpets of the Daphe boast bright yellow centers. Old Hydrangeas planted years before now weather any type of sun or shade are forceing brilliant new growth and promise a bumper crop of blossoms this season. And yes, even the weeds that visit my garden are showing color.
In these short winter days, as the light falls low in your garden, get out into your plot of soil and look.....listen....even sit still and enjoy it. You will find life stretching forth. A little clean up and weed pulling and you'll be ahead of the game once the Nurseries start to fill up. Do some arm chair gardening and dream! Dream about setting the mood.... a simple, quiet view, or a brave new face to the world.

The 3/50 Project

Hi All, Its been a while since I last wrote.... The shop has been brisk with shoppers and keeping up with it all is consuming. Recently, Its come to my attention that theres a movement to save the Brick and Mortars our Nation is built on. Its called the 3/50 project. Basically what you do is choose (3) independently owned businesses you would miss if they disappeared. Stop in and say Hello. Pick up something that brings you a smile. Your purchases keep those businesses around. (50) If half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more then $42.6 billion in revenue. * Imagine the positive impact if 3/4 of the employed population did that!! (68) For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays local. Spend it online and Nothing....absolutely Nothing, comes home! (1) The number of people it takes to start a trend....YOU! Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy. For more detail info check out http://www.the350project.net/