Spring Inspiration for April 🍃

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'April showers bring May flowers'... after we've done a LOT of work in the garden!

Working in the yard or garden is an activity that we garden lovers can really 'dig in' to in April. Whether you've got pots of herbs on your kitchen windowsill or a full herb, veggie, and flower garden in the back yard - or anything in between - enjoying the relaxing pastime of growing plants is inextricably linked to springtime. 

Even if you aren't a gardener or plant lover who loves having dirt under your fingernails, you can still bring the beauty of a garden into your home as Spring decor - with art, books, fabric printed with flowers, and faux foliage and florals.

I'm sharing some garden-inspired ideas for this month, along with something to help with your spring cleaning enthusiasm, and a few new publications to inspire you. I hope that you'll incorporate the garden aesthetic into your spring decorating and activities... enjoy!

decor:

plant a garden vignette!
My aunt Diane gifted Mom and I with this darling green enamel wagon for Christmas - and I knew exactly what I would do with it! It took me all of five minutes to fill a few small terra cotta pots with herbs, and pop them into the water-proof metal wagon. It's a perfect springtime decor accent that I can move from our kitchen island to the dining table easily, and can also clip herbs from while cooking.

(This model of wagon sold by CBM is now unavailable, but a lined wood crate or a small metal wheelbarrow could also be used.)

entertaining:
Create a special treat for your Easter guests by using a stemless wine glass as a charming mini cloche! Place it over a tiny terra cotta pot planted with an herb or small flowering plant for a 'take home' treat after your gathering.

Find three simple garden-inspired Spring tablescapes here

outdoor decor:
If you're planting a spring garden, or want a fun springtime accent on your front porch, I have an easy way to create a cute scarecrow using a tomato cage! Find it here

More Spring inspiration: 🍃Pinterest 🍃Instagram 

View ALL of my previous Easter content here

scent:
I am absolutely smitten with Mrs. Meyers' Basil scent cleaning solutions. They smell exactly like my basil plants, and just fit the spring and summer season so perfectly... plus they actually make me WANT to spring clean!

Find them on the Mrs. Meyers Clean Day website here   (along with many more scents and products)

reads:

I found exactly ONE copy of this 'Small Gardens' publication on the book shelf at my local Dollar Tree - back in early February. When I took it to the register, the cashier said she'd never seen it in the store before! I can't solve that mystery, but I can say that this issue is filled with really easy, affordable project ideas for making your yards, patios, and gardens beautiful for spring & summer living. 

In early 2025, Country Sampler's Farmhouse Style Magazine enquired about including my 'Posie Pails' project in their Spring 2026 issue - and I happily agreed. I've been honored to have five of my DIY home decor projects featured in CSFS since 2023!

Last fall, decisions were made by Annie's Publishing to merge Farmhouse Style magazine with the primitive style Country Sampler magazine, under a new name - Country Sampler Home magazine. That new publication debuted in late January - but in the end, my project wasn't included in the issue. But it's still on the blog! Find it here 


Country Sampler Home new magazine info here 

moments: 
Memories from the Garden... 

Being in the garden or yard, weeding, fertilizing, watering, pruning, and picking flowers or herbs is a meditational practice for me. I listen to the fountain, the windchimes, and the birds, feel the breeze and the sun, and watch the plants grow and bloom in season. I feel in touch with nature, calm and steady, when I am in any garden - pun not intended, but I am grounded there. It helps me center my mind, my spirit, and my body. In times like these, that's a blessing.

I often think about the women who have given me this love of gardening...

My maternal Grandmother, Margie, grew up gardening and really 'dug in' as a young bride in the 1930's. When I was a Lil' Debby and would visit her, she would give me tasks in the astoundingly large round garden in her Southern California backyard: I was to pick radishes, carrots, scallions, and lettuce to make a green salad for dinner, or pluck all of the weeds between the plants. She taught me how to pinch and deadhead! I know she did it to keep me busy when I wasn't playing house in her Shasta camping trailer in their yard, but she also instilled in me a love of plants and spending time in the garden that has lasted my entire life. 

My stepdad's mother, Grandma Fritzie, had a much smaller garden in Northern California, but was a pro at canning what she grew. Growing up on a huge farm and orchard, she worked with her five sisters to grow everything that their large family ate! The small outdoor 'service porch' / shed off of her carport held deep shelves packed with canned food, seeds, and garden tools... and it smelled like rich, loamy soil even on hot days. She made the best sweet lemonade, and would serve it to me as a reward for helping her weed her garden when I visited. I had the joy of taking all of my kids to see her when they were very young, and she served them her sweet lemonade under the backyard trees. It was a truly 'full circle' moment for me.  

Sweet Fran, she of the 'Tree of Life' Christmas ornaments that I have shared here on the blog, started out as a client whom I decorated for, and became a bit of a 'substitute' Grandma to me as an adult. And oh, Fran loved her flowers... roses, peonies, and other bright happy blooms flanking her Washington state home in both front and back yards. We didn't spend a lot of time IN her garden, because I was usually at her home in December and January for holiday decor installation and removal, but she shared photos of her lovely plants with me each year. Fran was raised on her family's asparagus farm in Washington, and loved having her hands in the dirt! I miss her very much... and I'm pretty sure she's busy planting flowers in the gardens in Heaven.

I've had several gardens as an adult - mine tend to be herbs and flowers rather than vegetables. I worked for three years at a huge plant nursery & home center in Washington, and learned more about plants than I ever thought possible. My job there was as a visual display designer, but I had to understand how to combine plants in displays based on their growing conditions, so I took the horticulture classes offered by our senior staff and guest speakers, like Ciscoe Morris, Gaarde Swanson, and Debra Prinzing. SO much of that education has stayed with me over the past 20 years, making me a much better gardener.

I am so thankful for every person who has helped me grow my love of gardening over my lifetime... it is truly a gift that keeps giving. 


blessing:
May this season bring you renewed and refreshed hope, energy, and joy... and may your spirit also bloom in a garden. Happy Spring!

🍃~ Deb

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