Spoke Pockette came to fruition when multi-disciplinary creative Julia Klee allowed her out of control hobby to go wild.

A lover of nature and creator of song since childhood, natural imagery would often make its way into her music. It took a life and career firmly planted in Chicago for her calling to take root. Julia began experiencing homesickness for the bucolic scenery near her childhood home in Ohio.

Influenced by Chicago’s burgeoning urban agriculture movement, in 2011 she joined a community garden project in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. From there on out, she planted a garden in every place she lived, until relocating to Berwyn in 2016.

Through participating in local community groups and reading every urban homesteading book she could get her hands on, Julia learned about the importance of native plants and rewilding urban land.

Julia wondered about the potential of her Berwyn lawn to become a magical place for pollinators and native species while still having a visual appeal to those unfamiliar or skeptical about the significance of prairie restoration.

Inspired by the work of Rachel Carson, Akira Miyazaki and Hugh Wilson, she converted a former vegetable garden into a small patch of native trees. Her side garden was then converted into a cut flower garden in order to fund the purchase of native vegetation that could be propagated. The goal is to make visible a practical way to transform lawns and overlooked places into tranquil natural landscapes.

With a dual career as a vocalist and wedding day hairstylist, her understanding of shape, structure and movement became the bridge for pursuing the medium of flowers. She’s working towards a full time career of protecting and celebrating the natural wonders in our own backyards.