A unique Winter Flea Market Garden in Wisconsin
Walking into Lark Kulikowski ‘s Wisconsin garden is like walking into another world, a world of art in the garden,…lush, green and woodsy in summer and snowy white and blue in winter. In Lark’s garden The soil and earth are the canvas; the plants and flowers are the palette. It’s a whirl of blue glass and rusty metal and she created a sensation when first posting her photos on Flea Market Gardening!
Lark’s early Spring garden
Lark’s rusty junk garden
Lark says, “I was introduced to gardening by my parents when I was young child. We have always lived within a twenty mile radius, in southeastern Wisconsin. I absolutely love the change of seasons. My parents gardened their entire life. My Mom, 84, still gardens and lives across the street from me. My sister also is a gardener.”
My ‘blue bottle path’ in Spring
My Teapot Nesting House…
“As an older child I was not enthused about helping pick and weed. Years passed and I never realized how gardening would re-enter my life. My sister inspired me to get back into gardening and I became a very passionate gardener. Immediately after my first child, I was cloning my parents gardening style.”
In honor of these pesky squirrels, here is a beauty. This was taken from my kitchen window.
“I was canning, pickling and freezing everything I could and baking, cooking and crafting was part of my daily routine. Most was done because we were on a tight budget and I didn’t want my children getting chemicals in their diets. I found I could use my art background.”
Another use for bowling balls…Path edging. Whimsy in my garden. Are you smiling yet?
Gardening from the perspective of an artist
“The biggest thing I love about gardening is creating. I view my perennial beds as a painter would use a canvas. No, I do not share the design of my gardens with my husband. Would you allow someone else to help paint your picture? My vegetable beds have also become a way to show my creativity. Improvising through thrift shopping & using what I have on our property gives me great satisfaction.”
“My forever bell flowers”
‘Alliums’
“Here are some more of my ‘forever’ alliums (above), but these have their brown ‘seed pods’ showing all seasons here in Wisconsin. During gardening season these ‘Alliums are not so in your face…more hidden by foliage. This is about April in Wisconsin.”
“What can I say,” Lark says, “except, I am an avid Wisconsin gardener.”
“I visited our local John Deere dealer and asked if I could look through their dumpster. I found these very heavy plow tines. They make the PERFECT edging in my wild area. I buried the long neck of the tine, making a scalloped looking edge. They will NEVER corrode in my lifetime.”
Crystal blue and white
Using blue bottles in the garden
I lined a couple of my paths with these bottles that go through my gardens. In Winter as the sun shines through them sparkle in the snow. I get some huge smiles from many people who view the gardens.
“You may ask, “How did I get into using metal and glass in my garden art?” Some years back, I volunteered at our local recycling center. I worked in separating glass by color. Yes, you guessed it! That is where I started collecting blue bottles. Along with, aluminum and iron. Circles have always fascinated me…thus the birth of my rotating flower sculptures.”
“This is one of the paths going through my garden. I absolutely love this time of the year. Especially early morning sunrise when the fog is lifting, the dew is heavy and clinging to all the spider webs and the air is crisp. My early morning walk with my cup of coffee steaming in the cool morning air.”
“I love to recycle and create art. This sphere is made from barrel strappings and a blue glass ball. The Japanese Maple is a bonus.”
Sharing her garden craft
“The internet has opened many doors of opportunity. For Mother’s Day one year, my son created a website for me, Lark’s Perennials.
Gardening blogging has been a gift that keeps on giving. I have met so many wonderful people throughout the world and I would have never dreamed I would be using a computer daily. Flea Market Gardening is one of my favorite sites…so many creative people sharing.” ~~ Lark
Lark’s bell flowers in red
1 Comment
Hi from Alaska! I’m grateful for you sharing on how to make the dish flowers and I’m learning how to make them, and other up-cycled things for the garden. Your site has been so helpful in getting my creative juices flowing! Have decided to drill my plates. Some people in AK are catching on to re-purposed garden art and love it, but still for many others it’s “new” and they’ve not seen it before and are too afraid of them breaking to buy them. Also, not as many people have the pretty backyard gardens as down in the states. Folks don’t wanna work too hard on developing gardens because our summer season is so short they want to do other things. Its the time & effort factor. But this type of art goes right along with trends of vintage and “junking” and whimsical. People up here like it—but don’t know how to use it to get the effect. I hear them say all the time: “I just don’t know where I would put it.”