Magnolia Square on a bittersweet day

Hello!

For those of you in Melbourne - isn't it an absolute cracker of a day!  I've missed sunshine sooooooo much.

It's been a bitter sweet day, not ready to tell you about the sad bit yet but I will later on this week.

For this post I'll focus on the sweet.

One of the things we did today was head to Magnolia Square to visit a friend of ours who has the most covetable product line!  The last time I posted about Magnolia Square, it was a beautiful Autumn day.  This time it is a beautiful early Spring day!  (well it's still winter technically but with the blue skies and warmth, it feels more like spring).  Magnolia Square is a curated market place for independent artists, designers and makers from around   Australia.  It's held at different locations at different times of the year.

Here are a few pics and I also asked some of my favourite exhibitors to tell me their favourite plant...

Dragonflies from Love AJ

Sam from Red Wagon loves growing lilies, she loves them so much she named her daughter for the flower.  I love Red Wagon and Miss Bok's classmates often get something red-wagony for their birthdays!

I love Makemeiconic - I often give gifts to friends leaving for distant shores to remind them of home

 

A skulk of foxes

Gorgeous acorns from Down to the Woods - Amber likes succulents best as she is convinced she has a black thumb... 

Gorgeous freckle ottoman from Down to the Woods!  Amber's garlands can be seen all over my home...more pics here.

Amber's garlands on my dresser

I bought this skirt from Heavenly Creatures for Miss Bok (6)!  She will adore it, I want it in my size, I'd definitely wear it!  Kelly from Heavenly Creatures loves peonies and fluffy hydrangeas.

Oh I LOVE http://www.vintageprints.com.au/  !  Last time I met up with Martine I came away with rather a lot of old prints!   I posted here what I did with some of them.  Martine is a succulent plant lover as well.

Master Bok (2)'s room

See all the framed prints on his book shelf?

This gorgeous book 'My Bed is a Boat' hangs above my bed!

And this 'K was once a little kite' sits on my dresser (with garlands from Down to the Woods)

 

I mentioned my friend B in a previous post.   She is one of my every day heroes - her newborn has had to go through traumatic heart surgery and a raft of procedures, I don't know how they are coping but her precious bundle is just about ready to come home and I am more than ready to meet her!  So when I saw these gorgeous bracelets from Little Lamb, I had to get one for sweet Y.  A little bunny one for her bunny guardian angel.  Caitlin from Little Lamb loves jasmine - a lady after my own heart!  Nothing like the smell of jasmine to prompt that joyous Spring feeling!

There were so many beautiful displays, I didn't get around to them all because my camera ran out of battery and Master Bok (2) was itching to go but really it was a beautiful hour spent browsing beautiful things and meeting the designers.

We also visited my favourite garden nursery, Bulleen Art & Garden to grab some organic soil that's on special there at the moment.

Back home, we pottered about the garden in the sunshine enjoying the company of our little family.

Discovered more peas (purple podded?  Golden?  Snow? Sugar snap?  No idea!) shooting

Long forgotten celery growing well

Potatoes starting to grow in the empty chook feed bags (you can see I've tried lots of different types over the last year!!)

Not sure what these are - some kind of pea and something else!

Has anyone noticed their strawberries putting on a burst of growth too?  I've got strawberries all over the garden largely unnoticed, but I'm starting to see them put on glossy leave now (yay!!)

Planting out the raspberry shoots - the tall one is an older one, the little ones and sideshoots planted out - lovely Tash from my local permaculture group had little raspberry runners she was giving away so I put my hand up for some!  The gardening community is so friendly, so generous and so lovely to be part of.

Our citrus are putting on a burst of growth!

 

Did you know that bay trees flower??  I had no idea!  The bay leaf tree growing in the pot has never flowered, but this one growing here has the most gorgeous flowers rather like the wattle/acacia blossoms. The much neglected mulberry is forming fruit already.  Love it - the most generous of trees I often think.

Almond blossoming

Plums blossoming

Lemon and limes fruiting 

Look where I found Florence...perched high up on the sunflower!

More plum blossom

Dwarf nectarine blossoming

Little lemon myrtle flowering

Blueberries in flower 

Hope you have all had a wonderful start to your weekend!  Magnolia Square is still on tomorrow so if you're in Melbourne head on down, it's in Ivanhoe this time around.