It’s the day after Epiphany, and Christmas is officially over. The trees are down, ornaments packed away, and I’ve done the seasonal turnover in the kitchen cabinets. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to skip winter and move right into spring. Let’s avert our gaze from the sprinkling of snow outside and look at a table set with Sarah’s Garden, a Wedgwood pattern named after founder Josiah Wedgwood’s wife, Sarah.

Wedgwood produced the pattern from 1997 through 2006, and though it’s discontinued, the design is described on their website.

The English Country Garden is an image ingrained in the British identity and serves as inspiration for Sarah’s Garden. This earthenware whimsical dinnerware pattern is characterised by motifs and borders in delicate pastel shades reminiscent of floral herbs like lavender and thyme.

It was one of the first patterns I began collecting. The serving pieces are particularly beautiful; the oval casserole is one of my most loved tureens.

Its lid features plums (prunus domestic) and

pears, the same fruit that adorns the large blue mug—perfect for soup, latte or hot chocolate.

When the pattern debuted in 1997, it was one of the few to have salad plates in different colours. Here, I’ve set them with Hartley Greens Pierced Creamware.

But I often combined them with Villeroy & Boch’s Country Heritage (discontinued in 2010)…

…and Mikasa’s English Countryside (still active).

Of the plates, I have only the salad. The serving pieces caught and held my attention throughout the almost thirty years I’ve owned the pattern. There is a pleasing harmony in the four colours of blue, green, terracotta and pale, creamy yellow combined with the variety of botanical species so beautifully rendered.

Some pieces, such as the storage jars, have a recipe included.

The green jar, which features pears on the front, gives an old-fashioned recipe for Pears poached in perry. I had to look that one up and discovered that Perry is a fermented pear juice, not called cider, as that term refers only to apples. But it’s the same principle.

The smaller blue jar has a recipe for Apple and cinnamon scones. Yum!

I used the pieces in the kitchen refresh this year, as I did in 2020.

When I was placing the large platter, I noticed the brown transferware bowl containing the pears for the first time (only took a couple of decades…) and then noted that all the pieces had an element of brown edging.

That got me thinking that combining Sarah’s Garden with Wedgwood’s Williamsburg Aviary pattern or other brown transferware might be fun. Don’t you love it when you see something you’ve owned for aeons in a whole new way?

Back to our present table. I initially set this for Entertablement—Much Depends on Dinner and baked the Backyard Bugs Pound Cakes to go with it.

After all the sweetness and chocolate excess of Christmas, I think some plain pound cake might be in order.

I have grandkids visiting this afternoon, so I think I’ll get cracking—get out the butter and eggs so they can come to room temperature. The smell of freshly baked pound cake will make everyone feel welcome.

One last look at our Sarah’s Garden table.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and I wish you all the best for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.