Say you find the cutest mug or basket that would look lovely with a crocheted plant inside, or you’re crocheting a plant as a gift and don’t have time to make the pot too… How can you ‘plant’ your crocheted plant securely so it’ll look good in a non-crocheted container?

I’ve been asked this many times over the decade since I published my first potted plant patterns, so I thought it was about time I document and share my preferred method with you.

In this tutorial, you’ll make a ball of crocheted ‘soil’ and stitch your crocheted plant to the ball. You can then ‘transplant’ your crocheted plant into a decorative container of your choice!

The online version of this tutorial includes the basic recipe for making a soil ball of any size. As I like to reward people who choose to donate for my donationware patterns, the PDF version also includes special bonus content: the full crochet patterns for two sizes of pot (1.5″/4cm and 2.25″/6cm diameter), and additional tutorial photos.

As always, though, the basic pattern is free for you to use, and you need only donate if you’d like to thank me for my time in creating it, or if you’d like the easy-to-print PDF version.

I hope you’ll enjoy this tutorial, and find it useful next time you’re making a PlanetJune potted plant pattern 😀

Go to the Soil Ball for ‘planting’ Crocheted Plants tutorial >>

I’ve just got back from a holiday visiting family in England, Jersey and France. The weather and time of year meant everyone’s gardens were in full bloom and the bird feeders were busy, so I took the opportunity to practice some garden wildlife photography.

After the photography workshop I took a few months ago, I’ve been trying to pay more attention to composition, depth of field, etc, to improve my skill level. This is especially challenging when it comes to wildlife photography – wild creatures don’t tend to sit around and wait while you try to get the best angle and compose the perfect shot!

The galleries below showcase my favourite bird and butterfly sets from the 1200+ photos I took over the past couple of weeks, and I hope you’ll take a couple of minutes to relax and enjoy them…

Click into each gallery to see the full-size photos.

Butterflies

Birds

I consider some of these photos to be among the best I’ve ever taken – do you agree? Even a humble house sparrow can be quite enchanting when posing for a photo.

Although the subject matter of these photos isn’t as exotic as my African photos, my safari experiences have changed me – these days, I’d much prefer to watch and photograph wild animals and birds in their natural habitats instead of caged animals in zoos.

I’ve really missed practicing this hobby – it’s so relaxing to get out into nature and watch and wait for something interesting to photograph! When I have my own garden again (we’re currently renting until our new house is built) I’m planning to make a native wildflower meadow so I can attract pollinators (birds, bees and butterflies) and other local wildlife to visit my back yard. Isn’t that a lovely idea?!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my photos, and that you’ll remember to take time to look out for your local wildlife too…