By this time in the year, I don't have much left in the garden. Even if I did, my decor takes a decided turn towards indoor treasures. I love trolling my basement shelves and cupboards looking to see what I can combine for a late October display.
My bowl of dried honey locust seedpods from our trees is a given at this season. This year I combined it with a flat-bottomed basket that I had forgotten all about, a tiny Raku teapot with a pair of wood-fired stoneware cups and a Japanese wire and paper lantern from the wonderful Indigo store in the Twin Cities.
I bought this bamboo tray (below) for a party Mark and I had to introduce our friends to each other when we got engaged in 1987. It holds a beautifully decorated gourd by Ramona Palzkill of Dodgeville, WI and a Japanese brass container.
The gourd is covered with a detailed drawing of a sunflower. If you lift it up you can hear the dried seeds rattle inside of it. I thought the Japanese box had a similar pumpkin-like feel to it. I looked at it at a local antiques mall for a year before I finally bought it. It wasn't that expensive but at this stage I keep trying not to add more things to our already full house. In this case, I'm glad I succumbed!
To see what gardeners around the world have put on display this Monday, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this weekly meme which I love.
