Junque Fever!

Spring can’t be far away! Seed catalogs are arriving in the mail and the annual issue of Flea Market Gardens has hit the magazine stands!

Time to start planning “June’s Junque” gardens and putting together a wish list of fabulously junky, rusty treasures to prospect for at the Sparks, Kansas Antiques and Collectibles Flea Market the first weekend in May.

Flea Market Gardens magazine is chockfull of eye-catching and whimsical outdoor decorating ideas. That’s where I first saw glass garden totems and was inspired to try creating them. I’m not an “artsy-craftsy” person, but I can glue colorful pieces of glass together.

Yesterday, I strolled around the yard, mentally decorating my junque gardens, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Skies were sunny, the breeze gentle and the temp a balmy 71 degrees. I remembered a year ago when we were digging out after “Snowmageddon!”  (posted 2/6/2014)—13 inches of blowing, drifting snow. That’s Kansas! 

Here are a couple of my junque gardens in their forlorn winter nakedness, stripped of most of the colorful bottles, glass totems and other cool junque.

In winter, the old funnels, sans hanging plants, become on-deck circles for birds waiting their turn at the feeders. Unless the hungry birds happen to be blue jays or woodpeckers. They don’t wait; they storm the feeders and run off everybody else. Not much activity at the feeders on such a nice day.

Later this spring, I’ll share my Sparks treasures and June’s Junque gardens!