Ramble On Rose

Flora of Costa Rica

2012-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

I have been very bad about blogging lately, and part of my excuse is that I recently went on vacation to the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica. (This, by the way, is a great way to beat the winter blahs; I highly recommend it.)

Guanacaste is in the northwestern portion of Costa Rica, along the Pacific Ocean. It's an arid environment--not the rainforest ecosystem found in the central and eastern parts of the country. If you look at the mountain in this photo, you'll see how, especially now in the dry season, this region resembles a more savanna- or even desert-type landscape.

But at the resort where we stayed, I found lush, manicured landscapes.

I honestly couldn't tell what a lot of these plants were, but cannas and palm trees were everywhere, as was a green, well-groomed lawn.

You can see the contrast between the indigenous (mountain) landscape the "gardened" landscape in the foreground. As someone who cultivates plants native to my corner of the world, this was a little disconcerting.

But I have to admit I enjoyed being surrounded by vibrant, colorful, and yes, non-native landscaping. And it was just plain fun to see plants that grow as annuals in Illinois to be flourishing happily outdoors in January!

We also had a chance to see the "transitional" forest at a nearby volcano, where it wasn't a full-on rainforest but it was wetter than the coastal area. It was wonderful to experience different landscapes, and the variety of birds and butterflies was astounding.

If you have the chance, I recommend you see this beautiful country. I would love to see the rainforest areas, but don't overlook the more arid Pacific side!

Gardening Resolutions 2012

2011-12-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

I did a so-so job on my gardening resolutions in 2011...what have I resolved to do in the garden in 2012?

1. Give it time and space.

I have been gardening at this house for 6 years, and in that time I've planted voraciously: natives, non-natives, garden classics, rare specimens, passalongs, impulse purchases, and everything in between. I've used an increasing amount of forethought as I have come to better understand the conditions.

But it's time to let the garden breathe. Let all those plants adjust, and then evaluate. Constantly cramming more in will not make this the garden I want it to be. Sure, lots of spaces need to be filled, but first I must step back and see what is thriving, what is struggling, and where something different should be added.

I know I want a couple more hostas and heucheras in my back shade border, and I want to add wild gingers (Asarum canadense) to form a groundcover in the misfit border. But aside from those, I have no plans about new ornamentals. (The veggie garden will of course get new seedlings, and is exempt from this resolution.) I need to work with what I have, which brings me to my next resolution...

2. Divide and conquer.

Sedges, zizias, toad lilies, and more are out of control! All that plunking of plants has resulted in some great successes that are now overgrown. I tried this fall to divide the sedges and zizias in the rain garden, but they were so bushy that I couldn't find the crowns of individual plants. Rather than destroy half the garden, I decided to wait until spring, when new growth gives away their exact locations.

Dividing what is already thriving will leave me with free plants (yeah!), and plants that have proven they can survive in my conditions. Now, if I moved a water-loving zizia to a dry, shady spot, it would struggle. But if I can squeeze divisions in blank spots similar to their original microclimate, that could make for a lush, happy garden that displays some unification in plants and style. What a thought! And speaking of style, resolution 3 is...

3. Plant decent containers.

Two years ago I made the effort to grow interesting containers, but in 2011 I reverted to my lazy ways. I plopped some coleus seedlings in pots with tender Habranthus bulbs, which failed miserably in the low light.

Not again! It's not that difficult to follow the thriller, filler, spiller recipe. I will likely grow coleus again for the filler, and I'm searching for sweet potato vine seeds to grow my own spillers. Just a little more effort in the annual section of a local garden center and I too will have beautiful containers again!

What about you? Are you making any resolutions, gardening or otherwise? Here's wishing you a very happy, healthy New Year!

Resolutions Redux

2011-12-29T11:24:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm saying this, but a new year is just about to arrive! Having been caught up in Christmas hoopla, I haven't had much time to think about gardening lately (other than noticing the increasing stream of seed catalogs arriving in my mailbox and making a mental note to peruse them more closely in the near future).

But before the year ends, I want to look back on my gardening resolutions for 2011. How did I do? Let's see...

(Look closely and you'll see a little fence holding back these goldenrods.)

1. Define the borders.

Eh, I sort of accomplished this one. I finally added wire fencing to demarcate my front border. Despite its dainty size, I think the fence helps to more clearly separate the garden from the lawn. And I like the curvy pattern too.

Unfortunately I did nothing to define the border on the south side of my back yard. It's as rag-tag as ever; in fact it may be worse because a bunch of the plants here really took off (yellow coneflower, I'm looking at you!). I'm of course happy the plants are doing so well--prairie/savannah natives are flourishing happily in this part sun border. But in 2012, really, seriously, I've got to get some large rocks and properly separate this part of the garden from the ever-creeping lawn grass.

2. Fix this other %@!$# border.

As I've stated many times, the north border in the back yard has confounded me for years now. Terrible soil, low sunlight, and distance from the hose create the perfect storm of garden mediocrity in this area. So I resolved to do something about it! I planted lots of lovely tulips (Rembrandt's Favorite, Negrita, and Dordogne). Then I got tired of having to labor through this hellish mix of clay and lava rocks, so in the fall I planted Darwin tulips (Ad Rem and Jaap Groot) so they will (hopefully) return for multiple years.

I also planted some savannah natives which will (hopefully) be able to withstand the challenging conditions. Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia), brown-eyed susans (Rudbeckia subtomentosa), and Callirhoe bushii were added in the hope that they can light up the place with a mix of blue, yellow, and bright pink. The harebells bloomed delicate bobbing flowers with ferny foliage...I have high hopes they can repeat this in their sophomore year. Even the Rudbeckias bloomed a little...

...and I moved some pale purple coneflowers (Echinacea pallida) here from a too-shady spot where they had languished. But transplanting didn't go well. Maybe I'll see them again, maybe not.

Either way, this was another half-accomplished resolution, but more on that later...

3. Clean up the composting operation.

Done! In late summer my extremely helpful husband turned the wooden skid from my Troy Bilt snow blower into a large compost bin. It's open at the top but wide enough to essentially have two piles; one to add to while the first one decomposes. Wire surrounds the framing to let in air and moisture but keep the leaves and kitchen scraps from falling out. It's even got a little door to scoop out the finished compost. Despite my lack of photographic evidence, I promise you it's great!

So that's kind of 1 1/2-for-3...not great but not terrible. It mirrors my .500 record last year. But what about resolutions for 2012? More coming soon...

Do you fake it?

2011-12-19T17:45:00.000-08:00

(Christmas tree with aloe houseplant nearby)

This time of year, I always feel a little conflicted about Christmas trees, particularly our Christmas tree.

As a gardener and all-around plant nerd, I feel rather guilty about cutting down a living tree. And we don't just buy one that was already cut down and is being sold by the Boy Scouts or some other charitable organization. We actually go out and cut down a tree (albeit from a Christmas tree farm, not some unspoiled forest). Even though it's from a tree farm, I always think "this tree might have made it one more year, adding more oxygen into the atmosphere and providing a sheltered spot for birds to rest on its branches."

At the same time, as a gardener and all-around plant nerd, I love having a real Christmas tree. The smell of pine is intoxicating as it fills the house, and I get to lovingly water my temporary houseplant every day. A plastic tree just isn't the same, and a petroleum-based fake tree kind of epitomizes all that is wrong with the over-commercialization and insincerity of 21st-century Christmas.

As someone who cares about the environment, how can I cut down a perfectly lovely, living tree that was sequestering carbon and providing oxygen? Conversely, as someone who cares about the environment, how can I support buying and owning yet one more plastic thing that will eventually end up in a disgusting landfill?

So do you fake it with a Christmas tree, or do you get the real thing? Am I reading too much into Christmas tree options? Either way, it certainly looks nice...

It's Official

2011-12-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

The 2012 gardening season has begun, and 2011 hasn't even ended! But I received my first seed catalog today, and with that I'll start scheming and dreaming of what to grow next year.

Already I'm planning on ordering more tomato plants from Seed Savers Exchange and skipping the bell peppers, which have barely produced multiple peppers, much less a decent crop. I'm hoping for a rebound in the carrot crop, and I'll still devote a ridiculous amount of precious real estate to broccoli, the home grown version of which is just incomparable.

Seed catalogs lead to reflections on the past growing season and hope for the next. What could be more perfect at this time of year?!

Wildflower Wednesday: A Look Back

2011-10-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

As the cold rains of late fall descend on northern Illinois, the garden is entering its yearly sleep. The last of the goldenrods are finishing their blooms, at least from what I can tell in the dark by the time I get home.

So for Wildflower Wednesday, I thought I'd take a look back at this year in native plants...

...in early spring I was enjoying shade wildflowers, particularly woodland phlox (P. divaricata), and the rare beauty, yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima).

By early summer (although I missed WW in June), my garden sported prairie phlox (P. pilosa), prairie smoke (Geum triflorum), and lanceleaf coreopsis (C. lanceolata), among others.

The unique, bobbing flowerheads of the prairie smoke made an exceptional combo with the airy blue plumes of another native, Camassia scilloides.

Midsummer was a great time for wildflowers, with native bee balms (Monarda fistulosa) making an incredible comeback from what I assumed was certain death from powdery mildew.

They were joined by the 2011 MVP, purple hyssops, plus yellow coneflowers (Ratbida pinnata) and the classic Echinacea coneflowers.

Asters and goldenrods then picked up where these wildflowers left off. Elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) had a wonderful second year in my garden. Unfortunately, some native stalwarts struggled this year, such as Joe-Pye Weed and zig-zag goldenrod (S. flexicaulis).

Despite those troubles (and the massacre of my purple prairie clovers by rabbits), native plants again thrived in this year's crazy weather and slow-to-start-summer. The zizias and numerous sedges will need to be divided next year. Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), which are beautiful clumping grasses, have settled in nicely.

And in the rain garden, cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and obedient plants (Physostegia virginiana) flourished vigorously.

The natives in my garden have attracted bees, butterflies, and dragonflies. They helped absorb pounding rains while surviving droughts. They brought beauty and biodiversity to this little slice of Suburban Wasteland all year, and I can't wait to see them again next year!

For more wildflowers this Wednesday, see Gail at Clay and Limestone.

MVP 2011

2011-10-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! The World Series is underway, and again the White Sox are nowhere to be found, although I can't say I'm surprised. They had a tough year with a lot of ups and downs. It was not unlike this year in the garden, which saw bumper lettuce harvests, crippling mini-droughts, destructive downpours, and a lovely indian summer, to name just a few happenings.

As I enjoy the garden's final act, I can't help but reflect on the performances of individual plants and their success (or failure) as a team. And so it's time to name this year's MVP, Most Valuable Plant.

To be considered for the MVP award, a plant must make a lasting contribution to the garden, both through its own beauty/productivity and by enhancing that of others.

It must truly be a team player and make the entire garden look good, but still be able to carry the team when other, less stellar, plants are struggling.

The cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) were definite contenders. They bloomed bright crimson for weeks on end, really acting as the standouts in a very robust rain garden.

But their performance was really limited to this one area of the garden, so they didn't quite make the MVP cut.

The native bee balms (Mondarda fistulosa) turned in an incredible performance. After three years of being bench-warmers, with nothing notable about them except for their preponderance for powdery mildew, these uniquely shaped flowers bloomed vigorously and became a new favorite of the bumblebees. But I think that "Comeback Player of the Year" would be a more accurate award than MVP.

The yellow coneflowers (Ratbida pinnata) had a break-out year, bringing bright yellow to a backyard border full of prairie plants. They were so vigorous, however, that they almost obscured the nodding wild onions (Allium cernuum) and rattlesnake masters (Eryngium yuccifolium). An MVP can't be overbearing; they won't be winning it this year, but will hopefully be in the running again soon.

One perennial contender (pun intended) had a surprisingly dismal year: Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatoruim maculatum). This towering favorite typically dominates the midsummer with dusty lavender flowers that are a magnet for bees and butterflies. But this year its normally robust flowers were dull and short-lived, leaving a distinct absence in the garden.

Yet into this void stepped some unlikely heroes, the purple hyssops. Both the species Agastache foeniculum and the cultivar 'Blue Fortune' started blooming in July and the are just now, in October, finishing up.

Like their rookie year last year, the hyssops made great teammates with the 'David' phloxes, creating a complementary mix of textures, shapes, and colors. The bright white of the phloxes stood out beautifully against the hyssops, but once those faded the purple spikes of flowers kept this swath of the garden colorful through late summer.

They were constantly visited by bees, mostly bumblebees.

These plants had, shall we say, eagerly re-seeded last year. As a result I removed many seedlings this spring and it left me a little irritated. I figured the seedlings that remained would definitely not flower in their first year, but I was wrong. Just as the established plants finished blooming, the younger generation took over.

And the 'Blue Fortune' cultivars were planted only last fall, but you wouldn't know it by their robust showing.

They carried much of the front garden through nearly half the gardening season; they stepped in when another player went down; they helped support pollinators; and with their unique shape and spicy anise scent they made a multi-faceted contribution.

For all these accomplishments, I say congratulations Purple Hyssops, you are the 2011 MVP!

October Bloom Day: Coda

2011-10-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

After a beautiful indian summer, we've now settled into classic crisp fall days. The garden is in its last act. Taking center stage are the short's asters (Symphyotrichum shortii)...

...which are being enjoyed by the remaining bumblebees as well as by me.

Elm-leaved goldenrods (Solidago ulmifolia) are still blooming, although their sparkler-like yellow blooms are starting to fade. Behind it are some blurry big-leaved asters (Eurybia macrophylla), which have had a banner year. They started blooming back around July and they're just now finishing and going to seed. I'm hoping the new ones I planted this spring make great strides next year and I'll have a mass of these plants very soon.

Late-season non-natives are in their final flourishes as well, such as these toad lilies, Tricyrtis 'Tojen', passalongs from Mr. McGregor's Daughter...

...and of course it wouldn't be fall without a mum!

To see more of what's blooming visit Carol at May Dreams Garden!

Veggie Garden Wrap-Up: 2011

2011-10-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I closed up shop in the vegetable garden as an impending frost threatened. Now of course it's sunny and in the 70s all week.

Although I'm aggravated about the green beans and vine-ripened tomatoes that might have been, it was a good time to call it a season. Now as I'm reflecting on how vegetable growing went this year, I think the entire operation is summed up by one word: decent.

Decent, not great, not horrible. The tomato yield was good, and I really enjoyed both varieties, Amish Paste and Hungarian Heart (pictured above). The former is great for making sauce, and the latter has a good texture for slicing. I've also used it for homemade salsa, which has been delicious. The fungal leaf spot that swamped the plants late in the season was an unwelcome development, but it was controllable and, thanks to shall we say challenging weather conditions, not all that surprising.

(Super Chilis...mis-labeled in an earlier post.)

The hot peppers were equally decent. The yields weren't as great as last year, but last year was much drier. Some of the jalepenos turned out to be duds (no spiciness) which confused me to no end. But oh well, I've got some frozen Bulgarian Carrot Peppers for the winter months and Super Chili peppers drying to make homemade crushed red pepper.

Broccoli and green beans were decent...barely. Broccoli plants, I have learned, are humungous and only a small percentage of those enormous plants is the edible part. So in a small garden like mine, it's difficult to have enough room to grow the number of plants needed for a truly fulfilling harvest. This is disappointing because my family loves broccoli. But for that reason I'll keep growing it and harvesting what I can.

The Kentucky Wonder green beans were delicious, but these heirlooms are clearly not mildew resistant. They struggled with powdery mildew early on, and that really slowed down the yield even after I got it under control with my 1-to-3 milk/water solution. Next year I will probably try another variety.

My exceptions to the "decent" label are lettuce (fantastic), and carrots and bell peppers (terrible).

The cool, moist conditions early in the season were perfect for my four varieties of lettuce (Lolla Rossa, Tom Thumb, Rough D'Hiver, and Wine Country Mesclun [courtesy of Renee's Garden]). I had more lettuce than I knew what to do with by June, which is a problem I'm happy to have.

On the contrary, bell peppers were a bust yet again. Every year I've grown bell peppers they don't start producing until September, by which time there isn't enough sun to get them to ripen. I honestly think next year I will skip them altogether.

Almost more frustratingly, I only harvested a measly five carrots. I tried two different varieties and my multiple sowings just failed miserably. The first sowing produced my only harvest, and all subsequent sowings resulted in wimpy, weak seedlings that never matured, if they even sprouted at all. I think the excessive heat had something to do with the poor germination and growth, which leads me to another lesson I've learned...

...starting seeds indoors is the best way for me to get good harvests. Mid-season sowings of broccoli, lettuce, kale, and those carrots all petered out due to the vagaries of summer weather and my neglect. I really tried to keep seedlings watered, but it seems that only when they're growing in my living room in a self-watering seedling kit will they get the attention they need to thrive and reach maturity. These vegetables that can survive cooler early fall temperatures don't like to germinate in the heat of summer. Throw in crazy, pounding rains and it's a recipe for disaster. The only issue is, will I make time to start seeds again in the summer? I thought about it this year and didn't make it happen.

(The seed starting kit that made it all possible.)

So there it is! Vegetable growing in 2011 was...decent. I'm already pondering what varieties to grow next year, what to bring back from this year, and how to finally get a quality mulch for the vegetable bed.

How was vegetable gardening for you in this year of wild weather? Can you agree it was decent?

Wildflower Wednesday: Fall Classic

2011-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

It's unmistakeably fall around Chicagoland, and in terms of native plants that means it's time for asters and goldenrods.

My two species of goldenrod are in their full glory. Pictured above is elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia), a very underrated species that deserves much more attention by the gardening public at large.Elm-leaved goldenrod grows in part shade and mine have been admirably drought tolerant. They're reached about 2' tall but are not aggressive, weedy-looking, or otherwise poorly behaved. I love their arching flower stalks; they remind me of comets gracefully crossing the night sky.

And they look great with shade-tolerant ex-asters, big-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla). These have been blooming for about six weeks and are finally starting to slow down. Together they've made a wonderful combination in dry shade.

Smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)...

...and Short's aster (S. shortii) are also blooming, and as you can see they share an extremely similar lavender hue.Short's aster is another little-known-but-should-be-better-known wildflower. Like the elm-leaved goldenrod, they're happy in part shade and dry conditions. True to their name they only reach about 2' tall so they don't flop like many taller asters (although in today's rain mine did admittedly droop a bit). I was hoping to get a little more crossover in the bloom times between the Short's aster and my yellow coneflowers (Ratbida pinnata), but these are late bloomers so no luck. Still, they're bringing badly needed blooms to the fall garden!

All of the wildflowers seen here are hardy for zones 4-ish to 8-ish. For more wonderful wildflowers this Wednesday, visit Gail at Clay and Limestone.

Winding Down

2011-09-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

The first taste of autumn has definitely arrived. In classic backwards fashion, I spent the recent weeks of sweltering weather working feverishly in the garden every change I got. Now that the temperatures have cooled and a crisp breeze has arrived, I am finding myself much less motivated to work and much more content to just enjoy the garden. Enjoy, for example, the coreopsis that is now in full glory (C. tripteris).

The fungal leaf spot that was overrunning my tomatoes has required near-daily spraying of my 3-1 water and milk solution (as you can see in the above photo of a milk-soaked leaf). But it hardly counts as work. Really, I'd be standing there puttering in the veggie bed anyway, thinking about how some plants turned out to be duds this year (green beans, most of the carrots, bell peppers yet again) and some have been rock stars (tomatoes although they take forever to ripen, chili peppers, lettuce earlier this summer). And I've enjoyed how the milk solution has won itself pride of place as an antifungal treatment in my garden. It's made stunning progress on the leaf spot in just a few days, earlier in the season it saved my green beans from total annihilation, and it stopped the powdery mildew long enough to allow my monardas to bloom for the first time ever! Once they stopped blooming and I stopped paying attention to spraying (or rather, turned my attention to fungi infections in the veggie garden), the monardas were promptly engulfed in those damned white spots. If you're looking for a simple, organic way to control mildew and fungus, you really can't beat three parts water to one part milk.

I'm definitely pleased that the hyacinth bean vines are finally blooming, even though they're not really vining up the front porch poles. They're making a late-season effort and they're lovely. I know now these vines just aren't right for this location because they clearly don't get enough sun early in the season. In my unrequited pursuit of vines on these ugly white poles, I have decided to try morning glories next year.

I'm eagerly watching as the goldenrods bloom in tiny burst by tiny burst of yellow. These elm-leaved goldenrods (Solidago ulmifolia) were gorgeous in their first year, and their robust height and arching sprays of buds seem to promise more of the same this year. The zig-zag goldenrod (S. flexicaulis) is a little pummeled from rain, but it's still got plenty of flower buds.

These harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) are barely 6" tall with delicate, almost ferny foliage. It's hard to appreciate them by this solitary flower, which is one of the last ones left. I added five to my Border of Misfit Plants, and they've re-bloomed all year in the terrible soil and unpredictable sun patterns. I am happily enjoying this rare success in my most problematic border and hoping they keep it up next year.Soon, I will have to stop just enjoying and return to the important activities of fall. Spring bulbs are already on order and will require much digging in the garden and potting more for forcing. The inevitable frost will lead to extensive clean-up and composting of vegetables and other spent plants (the ones that just look ugly, with no real "winter interest"). Containers will have to be emptied and cleaned. But until then, it's nice to take a look around and enjoy before it all goes away.

(Belated) Wildflower Wednesday: Why a Rain Garden is Great

2011-08-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

A lot of native wildflowers are in bloom here, which is a welcome change from some years where this time of summer is rather dull.

Tall coreopsis (C. tripteris) is finally blooming (a little later than usual)...

...this 2-year-seedling Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) is looking good (unfortunately its parent plant is having a tough go of things this year)...

...'Blue Fortune' agastaches are blooming profusely...

...and the big-leaved asters (Eurybia macrophylla) have been putting on a show for a few weeks now. These are always the first asters to bloom, well ahead of the traditional flowering time we associate with asters.

But the wildflower stars right now are undoubtedly the blooming rain garden plants, cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) and obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana).

Despite a brief period of drought, the rain garden plants have shown their resiliency. We've had periodic torrential downpours, and the extensive root systems of these forbs and sedges are clearly holding, or at least reaching, this moisture well after the rains have passed.

Even a new blue lobelia (L. siphilitica) is blooming (which is good since the blue lobelia in my front garden is really suffering, I think from being physically pounded by flooding rains multiple times).

I haven't witnessed any hummingbirds at the cardinal flowers this year, but that'll happen when you're gone all day five days a week. I like to think that in my absence that hummingbird I saw last year (and maybe its friends) are nectaring at the beautiful red blooms!

I may be a little tardy with this post, but I didn't want to miss Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone!

August Bloom Day

2011-08-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's the middle of August already?! Neither can I, but I'm pleased that I can share many blooms at this point of the year, when often my garden is past its prime.

Maybe it was the weird weather earlier this season, with a slow start to summer, but the Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) is just now reaching its peak.

The 'David' phloxes and hyssops (Agastache foeniculum) are also in full glory in my front border.

In the rain garden, the cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) and obedient plants (Physostegia virginiana) are making an interesting color combo.

Normally I'm not the biggest fan of reds and pinks together, but honestly I don't mind it here in this naturalistic-style planting.

My fears about the yellow coneflowers out-competing the nodding wild onion were clearly unfounded: the Allium cernuum is doing just fine!

The first asters blooming here are the big-leaved asters (Eurybia macrophylla), with a bottlebrush grass (Hystrix patula) making a cameo "bloom"...

...and even a random 'Sunfire' coreopsis is making a re-blooming appearance!

So the unusual year that is 2011 continues...to see more stop by May Dreams Garden where Carol most graciously hosts Bloom Day every 15th!

Also blooming:
Hostas
Cilantro
Dill
Borage
Unnamed Rudbeckia
Bellflowers (Campanula)
Oregano
Yellow coneflowers (Ratbida pinnata)
Purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)
Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

The Year of Slavic Vegetables

2011-08-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

When choosing some vegetable varieties this year I inadvertently developed a bit of a Slavic theme...'Hungarian Heart' tomatoes and 'Bulgarian Carrot Pepper' hot peppers.

I didn't know that Hungary and Bulgaria were sources of tomatoes and peppers, which I associate with South and Central America in terms of provenance.

I'm guessing these of course originated in the New World and the particular varieties were developed in Eastern Europe, eventually making their way back across the pond. The 'Hungarian Heart' tomatoes are indeed heirlooms I ordered from Seed Savers Exchange. The Bulgarian peppers were found in a nondescript container at my local garden center, and I can't say if they're an heirloom or not.

Regardless of where they came from, I'm very pleased with both plants thus far. The peppers are very spicy--much hotter than a jalepeno but not to the level of a habanero. (I am growing jalapenos and chili peppers as well in the container 'o fire, but I unfortunately had to pass on habaneros this year after doing some serious digestive damage with last year's chocolate habaneros!) I look forward to making my own crushed red pepper with the dried Bulgarian Carrot Peppers, which have been producing profusely over the past few weeks.

The first 'Hungarian Heart' just ripened, so I have yet to weigh in on their taste. But the one I have so far is enormous...and in fact shaped like a heart! I'm hoping it will create a delicious base for homemade salsa...not exactly a Slavic food but hey, it's a multicultural garden over here!

After such a lousy spring and slow, dreary start to summer I feared it would be a terrible year for tomatoes and peppers. But with the exception of the bell peppers (which have never once grown well here), my plants are doing extremely well so far. Maybe Eastern European vegetables are accustomed to such weather? I don't really know. And what about the non-Slavic types, like the 'Amish Paste'? Oh well, no reason to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth!

Wildflower Wednesday: Well Worth the Wait

2011-07-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

How's that title for some alliteration?? Well, that's how I feel right now. My midsummer natives are taking their time to bloom, but their eventual arrival has been sweet.

In fact, these bee balm (Monarda fistulosa) have been three years in the making! They're finally blooming after a few years of struggling with powdery mildew. I'm so glad I refrained from pulling them out in a fit of frustration! The bumblebees are happy about it too.

Ready for more alliterative effects? It's also the season of purple plants for pollinators:

This species hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) had a wonderful year last year and they have seeded prolifically, which is fine with me. Before realizing I had lots of little seedlings, I also added some 'Blue Fortune':

Also rewarding me after a couple years of patience are purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea).

I know, I know, these are some of the easiest and most popular flowers to grow, but for some reason they've struggled here. But now it's coneflowers-a-plenty around here, with the yellow ones (Ratbida pinnata) going crazy as well.

Soon there will be more wildflowers in full bloom, such as my cardinal flower, Joe-Pye weed, asters and goldenrods. All well worth the wait as well, I'm sure!

To see more wildflowers, visit Gail at Clay and Limestone, the most gracious host of Wildflower Wednesday!

Where's the Chard?

2011-07-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hey, did anyone else not get their Swiss Chard seeds from One Seed Chicago? I was so excited that chard won, and through what must be some snafu, my seeds never arrived! I voted for chard and even tried to spread the word through this blog! So it is a sad irony they never got here. But, if anyone has a suggestion on who to contact at One Seed Chicago and/or NeighborSpace, please leave me a comment. I'd like to try a fall crop if I can get them.

July Bloom Day--Happy to be Here

2011-07-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

It was a wild week that saw intense, hurricane-force winds wreak havoc across the Chicagoland area, and at my house we lost power for three days. Now that the electricity has been restored it is a relief to be home and posting for Bloom Day, hosted monthly by Carol at May Dreams Garden. So without further ado...

There are lots of umbels blooming in my front garden right now, namely these cilantros which have bolted and the 'Moonshine' yarrows still going strong in the background.

Hyssops (Agastache foeniculum) are starting to bloom...

...as the native monardas (M. fistulosa). Finally! I guess my threats to them last year made an impression.

I have no idea how or when these got here...they're some type of Rudbeckia I think, but which kind? Possibly the classic Black-Eyed Susan (R. hirta), but I honestly don't know!

These Candy Oh! roses from Proven Winners were a free trial last year...I've done no spraying or maintenance and they seem fine. I don't love their really small blooms but they're bringing some color to a forgotten spot on the side of the house.

There is a sea of salvia nemorosa 'Plumosa' mixing with prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)...

...and daylilies...

...including this great wine-colored passalong from Mr. McGregor's Daughter. Unfortunately it's languishing in a rather dry spot (although everything is languishing in dry conditions, but that's another story).

In the rain garden swamp milkweed (Ascelpias incarnata) is blooming...

...but the most interesting plants in the whole garden right now are these yellow coneflowers (Ratbida pinnata):

I planted these last fall and they've exploded! Pretty much all the blurry greenery behind these flowers are more yellow coneflowers. I can't wait until they're all in full bloom; it should be gorgeous. On the downside, I think they've crowded out all my nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum), which are conspicuously absent after a lovely show last year.

I've included this picture to give you a sense of how tall these flowers are. That fence? It's four-and-a-half feet high. As you can see the yellow coneflowers clear it by about six inches. I had no idea these would get so tall and robust! I now need to figure out how to balance them so they don't choke out anything else!

For those of you in the Chicago area, I hope your gardens came through this week unscathed. It's shaping up to be quite the challenging year for gardening, between the cold, rainy spring, severe storms, and now weeks of hot drought (the rain Monday fell so fast it didn't make much of a difference). It's time for tough plants to act as such!

Also blooming, not pictured:
Coral bells
Big-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

PS-Yes I know I'm a little early with this post but it's Friday tomorrow, and I didn't want to risk missing Bloom Day due to weekend laziness. I hope you understand.

Botanicide

2011-07-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

This is a crime scene.

These are the grisly photos of plant homicide, and the victims are purple prairie clovers (Dalea purpurea).

The identity of the murderer (or murderers)? Rabbits, at least one. We've had a minimum of one rabbit take up residence in our yard and it was spotted at the scene of the crime (multiple times). Whether there are additional accomplices has not been determined, but what I do know is that rather than enjoying these rare prairie beauties that should look like this (while starting to bloom)...

...and in combo with the yellow and pink of yarrows and remaining columbines...

...I'm stuck with this sad, sorry sight of decapitated stems:

The only silver lining to this cloud is that I'm pretty confident that the tulip murderer from this spring was the very same rabbit (or rabbits). And, I will now diligently research what products can prevent rabbit damage and go on the offensive. Especially next spring when these are sprouting.

The Best $20 I Ever Spent

2011-07-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

It may not look like much, but the APS40 Seed Starting Kit from Gardener's Supply Company revolutionized seed growing around here. It consists of a water reservoir, moisture wicking mat, a styrofoam pegboard and seed cells, and of course a plastic cover to retain moisture before seed germination.

Historically I've had problems with watering seedlings. Either I water too much and they end up damping off, or I water too little and they dry up. What's worse, whether I'm watering well or not, the force of even a small stream of water from a watering can often damages delicate seedling stems, which for me has led to the loss of many healthy seedlings that just got flattened and never recovered.

So I thought to myself this past winter that I would finally invest in a seed growing kit that was self-watering. I chose the APS 40 after much research because the water wicking mat was supposed to keep soil moist for five days (which to me sounded like a long time between refillings).

When it first arrived I was wary that the styrofoam pieces would be cheap and flimsy. So far this year, through two rounds of seedlings, they've held up remarkably well with no real cracking or flaking of little pieces to speak of. As for the water refilling timetable, five days was a massive underestimate! There were times my APS 40 went for two full weeks (i.e., 14 days not 10) before I had to refill the reservoir with water, all the while keeping the soilless mix evenly and thoroughly moist. To ensure it works, you've got to follow the directions closely and be sure the mix is well connected with the mat to keep the water wicking up. But if I could make this work successfully, I'm confident that just about anyone can do it.

My other reservation was that popping the seedlings out of the styrofoam cells would be difficult. Getting seedlings out of plastic trays has always been my bugbear with transplanting. In all honesty, I was flabbergasted at how easy it was to get the seedlings out. A little push from the bottom side and they came right out, with a perfectly intact root system. This feature was quite possibly the best part of the entire system.

To show you how crappy our spring and early summer weather has been, I am just now packing away my APS40, and it's July 3rd! About a week ago I finally transplanted my last basils and coleus plants, which had to wait as long as they did because of dreary, cool weather through much of early June. Clean up of the seed starting kit was the proverbial breeze: I rinsed the reservoir, pegboard and seedling cells, and I soaked the water wicking mat (per the directions) in some bleach water and it's now drying on my porch, waiting to be packed away with the other clean, dry components.

If you've struggled with seedling issues like damping off, forgetting to water them, crushing them while transplanting, or just general frustration at how much babying they need, I highly recommend you shell out $20 for an APS 40 (or APS 24 if you start fewer seeds). Gardener's Supply also sells replacement parts in case those styrofoam pieces turn out to be flimsy. (However, I skipped their seed starting soil mix because seriously, I can get perfectly good soilless mix for a fraction of the price with no shipping cost at my local garden center.) If you're thinking of starting cool-season vegetables in your air conditioned house for a fall crop, you would be wise to consider it!

As you can probably judge by the title of this post, I bought the APS 40 with my own money and received no inducement or compensation from Gardener's Supply Company to write this review.

June Bloom Day--Full Stride

2011-06-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

A hectic week means a late post for Bloom Day, which is hosted each month by Carol of May Dreams Garden. But this is quite possibly my favorite month, and I'm happy to share some of what's blooming here. So without further ado...

Prairie phlox (P. pilosa), or as Gail from Clay and Limestone refers to them, Practically Perfect Pink Phlox.

Unknown pollinator on a sand coreopsis (C. lanceolata).

Peonies before rain damage...they're still OK now but looking a little worse for the wear after some intense rainstorms recently.

'Moonshine' yarrows are day-glow yellow.

Sand coreopsis, salvia and a peony.

Also blooming but not pictured:
Yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integgerima)
Coral bells
Alumroot (Heuchura richardsonii)
Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)
Nectaroscordums (N. siculum)

Rain Gardens 104: Maintenance

2011-06-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

You have a functioning rain garden! You've chosen the site, dug the garden and planted it with region-appropriate, flood/drought-tolerant natives! Now what?

Well, there is a small amount of maintenance involved. As with any garden, in the first year when the plants are new you will probably have to water. No, the irony of watering a rain garden is not lost on me. But unless you get regular rains at least once a week or so for the entire spring, summer and fall, you will probably need to water at least a little bit to make sure the plants are established. Like any other garden, observe your plants to know when watering is needed. Are their leaves drooping? Do they look dried out? If so, it's time to water.

Once the garden is established, you can expect the normal type of maintenance you would with most perennials: weeding and dividing. I do my best to mulch my rain garden because it helps cut down on weeds, but with so much moisture in the soil you can bet that weeds will grow. Be prepared.

Also, if your rain garden plants are really happy they can end up looking like this:

out of control! They can get floppy, rambly, and generally unkempt looking if you let them (this is a reality of many native plants...they often do not have the prim habits of their more cultivated cousins).

If this happens you should be pleased that your plants are doing so well, and then you should do whatever you need to make your rain garden more aesthetically pleasing. That can mean dividing sedges, zizias, etc. until they're in smaller and more manageable clumps; it can mean removing overzealous plants like Physostegia; it can mean cutting back things that are getting out of hand. This year a couple really hard downpours knocked over a bunch of my zizias, so I just cut off the broken stems and flowers. The foliage still looks nice and there is no reason for undue messiness. The roots are still absorbing plenty of rain water.

However, you shouldn't be shocked or uncomfortable with a "naturalistic" look if you're growing a rain garden with native plants. It's going to happen. So keep it looking "pretty" naturalistic. For example, I like this:

Lastly, be aware that mulch floats. As I mentioned before, mulch helps cut down on weeds and I think it just makes gardens (rain or otherwise) look nicer. But yes it will float around when the garden is full of water, and after large rains you will need to clear it off plants and redistribute it. This really isn't difficult or time-consuming, just something to be aware of.

And that's it! Now you know how to create a beautiful, ecologically friendly rain garden! Please don't hesitate to leave further questions in the comments, and see the previous posts for more info:

Rain Gardens 101: How to Choose a Site
Rain Gardens 102: How to Dig the Garden
Rain Gardens 103: The Plants

Designing with Natives: Spring Bloomers

2011-06-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

This is a simple yet serendipitous pairing: Camassia (C. scilloides) with prairie smoke (Geum triflorum).

The camassia (in the background) has the classic "bare ankles" problem: its flowers are on stalks above a little clump of wimpy basal foliage that just lays there. But put prairie smoke around it and the ferny leaves and interesting flowers/seed heads will perfectly cover the blank spots!

You can see the prairie smoke a little better here. These plants only get to about 10-12" tall, so it's like the camassia is just a head taller than the prairie smoke.

I wish I had planted these closer together, and hopefully the prairie smoke will need dividing in a year or so and then I can surround some of the camassias farther back with more of them. I also like the mix of the icy blue and rich pink flowers. These photos are from a couple weeks ago and now the Geum is moving into the "smoke" phase. But what a nice coincidence this pairing has been in my south border! If you're in the temperate zones 4-ish to 8-ish, give this duo a try!

Rain Gardens 103: The Plants

2011-06-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

I sincerely apologize for how long it's taken me to make this post!! I intended to complete my little "how to create a rain garden" series in a couple of weeks, and it took me well over a month! Ah well, the important part is that we're continuing now...

So you've selected a rain garden site and done the actual digging of the garden...now it's time for the fun part: the plants!

As in all gardens, rain or otherwise, the adage "right plant, right site" should be observed. All your plants will have to be able to tolerate repeated flooding as well as periods of dryness, unless your rain garden site is really swampy. For this reason it is generally recommended that rain gardens use native plants (meaning those native to your region).

Face it--at some point you'll probably be experiencing some degree of drought, and deep-rooted natives are usually better equipped to handle dry conditions as well as soak up intense amounts of water. On top of these qualities, native North American plants also host numerous pollinators and other forms of wildlife, including butterflies and birds.

So without further ado, here are recommendations for rain garden plants for sunny sites and shadier sites, all of which are hardy in approximately zones 4 to 8. I grow a number of these in my rain garden, and others I have researched as part of various article assignments. I've included flowers and sedges and one grass species. Sedges are really better suited to rain garden conditions and they sort of take the stylistic place of ornamental grasses in these settings.

Rain Garden Plants for Sun

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea): Great plant! Host for swallowtail butterflies, will get very robust with lots of water and full sun.

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata): Lovely pink color, really needs full sun. As a milkweed it's also a monarch host plant.

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae): Can be floppy, consider using on the berm.

Blue Flag Iris (I. virginica): Beautiful classic purple iris flowers. Needs full sun; mine are being dwarfed by larger plants and struggling. I suggest planting them when you first start the garden to avoid this situation.

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale): Good late-season yellow color after most plants are done flowering. Does not actually cause sneezing.

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana): Beautiful, distinctively shaped pink flowers. Inaccurately named; not obedient at all. Will spread prodigiously in moist conditions; this is good if you need to fill space, otherwise be prepared to fight back.

Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum): Reaches 5-7 tall with spikes of white flowers; grow it in the center of the rain garden so other surrounding plants will complement it.

Porcupine Sedge (Carex hystericina): Very robust in full sun.

Muskingum Sedge (C. muskingumensis): Can reach up to 3' tall; also takes partial shade.

Fox Sedge (C. stipata): Very interesting, spiky-looking inflorescences.

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis): Beautiful soft texture, consider growing on the berm or a spot that is not the wettest in the rain garden.

Rain Garden Plants for Shade

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis): Great red color and wonderful for hummingbirds. I have actually witnessed a hummingbird at mine here, in total suburban wasteland.

Great Blue Lobelia (L. siphilitica): Gorgeous blue, not as tall as cardinal flower.

Pink Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua): Unique purplish flower; rare plant.

Graceful Sedge (C. gracilima): Up to 2' tall, arching habit.

Bur Sedge (C. grayi): Distinctive inflorescences.

Pennsylvania Sedge (C. pensylvanica): Good for the berm, not the soggiest spot. Will spread slowly over time.

Astilbe (genus Astilbe): Please note: this is not a native plant, but a moisture-tolerant shade plant! I do not grow astilbes in my rain garden but they were once recommended to me as a potential choice by a reputable source in the midst of an interview. Since shade flowers are in short supply for these conditions, I figured it was worth mentioning, native or not.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures of all these plants, but for good photos and more information please see Illinois Wildflowers. They have a section on wetland wildflowers, as well as prairie ones (some of which are included in the list for sun here), and grasses and sedges. Although it is named "Illinois," the plants on this website are native to much of the Midwest and Eastern U.S.

So to Recap:
Remember, there are lots of other options out there, depending on where you garden! Always consult local sources for what is native to your area, and evaluate your particular site conditions for the appropriate plants. These are suggestions only!

Next up...rain garden maintenance!

Wildflower Wednesday: Wildflowers for Shade

2011-05-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

There is more to shade gardening than hostas! In fact there are a number of North American native flowers for shady areas. On this Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone, I would like to share some shade wildflower successes from my zone 5 garden.

This is woodland phlox (P. divaricata). These have been blooming their heads off for a couple weeks now and they absolutely light up this shady border. They haven't spread to groundcover status as much as I would have hoped, but the flowers are so pretty I'm thinking of planting more to help connect the blobs I currently have. If you have shade that is at least sort of reliably moist, you should not miss out on these lovelies!

Heucheras are like the designer clothes of the plant world. Every season there is a new color and pattern that's all the rage. Now don't get me wrong, I like designer heucheras just as much as everyone else! I'm looking to add some 'Citronelle' or 'Lime Rickey' to this border. But I've also discovered the pleasures of native H. richardsonii.

You can see the foliage here; the words I think of are ruffly and textured. They're pure green and so mix well with everything. Their flower spikes get to about 2 feet tall with white flowers. Sorry for the blurry picture...I always struggle to photograph heuchera flower stalks. They like soil on the moist side so mine have struggled occasionally in this dry shade (nothing has stayed dry this spring so that's not a problem this year). Here they are co-mingling with columbine and lily of the valley.

Native columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) are a stalwart of the part sun/part shade garden. I cannot get enough of these plants. After they've flowered I really enjoy the bobbing seedheads and clover-like foliage too.

What are these little cloudlets of yellow? They're yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima). These are some of the most underrated, unknown natives but you can see in the above photo that they play nice with spring classics like bleeding hearts...

...and with other natives like shooting starts (Dodecatheon meadia). Unlike ephemerals, taenidia keeps its foliage all year and its flowers last for months at a time. It's a member of the carrot family so I would assume it's a host plant for swallowtail butterflies (although I've never seen any on my plants). It's dealt with deep shade and extremely dry conditions and my plants have gotten better every year (in fact this year I added three more).

Since the flowers are so delicate and small I think they look best in drifts and definitely need to mixed with other more robust plants to fill in around them. The past few years my mix of taenidia and big-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla) has worked really well. The large aster leaves are a backdrop for the taenidia flowers, and once they're done the asters start blooming. If you have shade in zones 4 to 8 I have two words for you: grow taenidia!

Fore more wildflowers check out Clay and Limestone! This is a wonderful time to see the last of the ephemerals and early season wildflowers all around the country!

May Bloom Day: Slow-Motion Spring

2011-05-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

After a beautiful week of summer temperatures we're back to chilly, cloudy, early spring weather. A lot of plants have been in slow motion thanks to the delayed onset of spring, but nevertheless here's what's blooming...

...bleeding heart with a bumblebee and the first tentative blooms of yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima)...

...I had to search under the foliage to find the flowers of these wild ginger (Asarum canadense). Definitely worth it! They're unique little blooms with red reflexed petals. These flowers lay on the ground sheltered under the large leaves.

Woodland phlox (P. divaricata) is blooming for the first time! I had kind of failed to get this groundcover happily established and spreading, but since the clumps are blooming that means they get to stay at least another year. Maybe it's a sign of good things to come from these plants!

Also making a strong performance is the prairie smoke (Geum triflorum). These buds are not fully in bloom yet but they're still so cool to see bobbing above the foliage. I can't wait for them to make it to the seed-head stage, which creates the real "smoke" looking part of their name.

All of my zizias (Z. aurea) are now in bloom. These water-loving plants have been very happy with all the rain this spring.

And what would May be without tulips? After a rocky start, my border of tulips has been lovely with a mix of yellow, purple and orange. I'm growing (foreground to back) 'Dordogne', 'Negrita', 'Rembrandt's Favorite', one 'El Cid' which returned from last year, and an un-named yellow variety.

The 'Dordognes' are a little more orange than I would have liked, but when you look close you can see gorgeous brush strokes of pink and apricot:

Even the inside of these tulips is artistic:

To enjoy more flowers visit Carol at May Dreams Garden, who hosts Garden Blogger's Bloom Day every month.

Also blooming but not pictured: hellebores, variegated Solomon's seal, violets, un-named tulips.

How Not to Plant Tulips

2011-05-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

Like this...in a long line rather than in a concentrated clump.

These tulips came with the house, so I am not actually responsible for this (although admittedly I haven't done anything about it for five years, so maybe I'm an accessory to plant design-acide).

But no longer! This is the year I dig these up and move them to the bed where I have massed tulips (and plan to mass more Darwin varieties so I don't have to do this every fall). But how should I move them? Or more specifically, when?

I would prefer to dig them up now once they've finished flowering because I know where they are. If I wait until the fall their foliage will be long gone and I'll be digging blindly.

Of course I could mark them with plant markers, but then I'll have marker sticks randomly around my garden all year. And they could get ruined by fall anyway. If the severe storms we had earlier this week happen with any sort of frequency I wouldn't be at all surprised to have plant markers washed away.

Has anyone out there successfully moved tulips post-flowering? Will I kill the bulbs if I do that? Feel free to leave suggestions!

Pictured at left, front to back: 'Dordogne', 'Negrita', 'Rembrandt's Favorite', one 'El Cid' and an un-named yellow variety.

Tulip Trials

2011-05-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

My Mother's Day present from the gardening gods was tulips...

...which all seemed to bloom almost simultaneously this weekend. It's not a moment too soon because I've been craving these flowers all spring and yet they've been plagued with issues!

Squirrels (or some other rodent culprit) have been decapitating my tulips just as they're on the verge of blooming! Look below the blurry-too-close-up yellow blooms in this picture and you'll see the evidence:

Stems bereft of their flower heads, which are being severed in the night just as the buds are about to open.

I am confident it's not deer because they're not around in my neighborhood (and if errant ones were to wander through it would be big news and immediately known.) In the previous five years I've grown tulips here I've never seen any damage like this and it's downright heartbreaking! But I have hope that my Tabasco topdressing will keep the killers away from the 'Dordognes', which will be blooming later than these varieties:

This is 'Rembrandt's Favorite' with solid purple 'Negrita'. I was so excited about this combo, and mixing it with the stately yellow perennial tulips in this bed (they must be Darwins).

Unfortunately the 'Negritas' are suffering some discolorations, which is rather taking away from the effect. I'm not sure if this is environmental (i.e., frost damage or poor soil), or if I should be aggravated with John Scheepers and stick to bulb-buying with Brent & Becky's.

One 'El Cid' from last year returned, and perfectly placed between the pure yellows and the bi-color Rembrandts.

I struggled mightily to dig trenches in this border with its terrible soil and remnant lava rocks, and last October I swore I would never plant tulips here again. But they would look so out of place in my other borders, and I have to say I've been really enjoying playing with color combos the last couple years. I know they're like annuals that take tons of extra labor...

...and they don't really flow well with look and feel of the rest of my garden...

...but I really loved those 'Ad Rems' I saw at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show and thought maybe next year...

Wildflower Week: Waking Up

2011-04-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

All month I've been looking forward to Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone, since things are finally starting to happen in the garden. But then Gail went and declared this to be Wildflower Week! Even better! So here is my Wildflower Wednesday/Week post:

What are these crumpled, not-yet-unfurled leaves? They're the greatest groundcover to grace my garden: wild ginger (Asarum canadense). These are passalongs from Mr. McGregor's Daughter (who also posted about this plant recently).

I have issues with groundcovers. I've tried woodland phlox (P. divaricata), lamium, and sweet alyssum in the sunny front border. But nothing takes! Instead I end up with blotches of plants or, in the case of the alyssum that I attempted to grow from seed, nothing at all. Not so with wild ginger! I have these planted in what is definitely the most challenging spots in my garden: dry shade between a box elder and silver maple where they fight against not only tree roots but the remnants of lava rocks that were piled 3" deep by the previous owners. Despite all the loads I've hauled out of these borders, there are still rocks worked well down into the soil thanks to years of downright stupid landscaping.

And yet these wild ginger are thriving! I initially received a few clumps (which I neglected to water and afflicted with some of the worst transplanting treatment one can give to plants). Over the past year, and now again this spring, they've started spreading and are almost reaching the stage where one could call a plant a true groundcover. Their thick, hunter green, heart-shaped leaves are a lovely backdrop, and I've been amazed at their drought tolerance. I'm planning to add many more clumps (assuming I have to given how well they're doing already).

If you have groundcover issues and need something for dry shade, look no further: wild ginger! (There is a European variety as well but I've never grown it and can't attest to its attributes.)

In other wildflower happenings, the pasque flowers are looking a little wilted from the cold and rainy weather, but their foliage is starting to unfurl and the second plant (not pictured) is in bud too. I'm absolutely loving these flowers and I'm considering planting more in place of crocuses. The fuzziness on the foliage is also suggesting to me that these really are the North American species, Anemone patens multifida. It's hard to tell because they're so similar to the European variety.

A golden alexander (Zizia aurea) is also about to bloom! Late April is a little early for these to flower, but hey, this plant is obviously loving life. My other zizias are well short of the flowering stage, but given all the moisture we've had lately I hope they're getting charged up for a great spring.

Pennsylvania sedges (Carex pensylvanica) in the rain garden are in full "bloom," looking like miniature yellow feather dusters.

And lastly, one of my prairie smoke plants (Geum triflorum) is budding, just the littlest bit. I'm afraid these plants are not getting enough sun in their current location, but since they're only in their second year I'm not going to make a judgement on moving them quite yet.

So much else is up and growing that it's much too much to name here. Despite spring's reluctance to show up, the garden is moving ahead anyway!

Rain Gardens 102: How to Dig the Garden

2011-04-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Follow-on to the previous post: Prairie Rose brought up a very good point in the comments that rain gardens should not be sited near septic tanks. If you're in a rural area and connected to one, plan your rain garden away from the septic system!

So you've chosen your site and you're ready to make your rain garden happen. How do you do it?

First, before you dig call your local utilities! In Illinois this means calling JULIE at 811. All other states, whatever your service is make sure to find it and call.

Once you've gotten the all-clear that you won't be cutting off the neighborhood's cable and inciting an angry mob, plan out your design similar to that of any new garden. One rule of thumb is that the total size of the rain garden should be 10-30% of the area providing runoff. So if your roof is 1800 square feet, the rain garden should be about 450 square feet.

That's pretty big, but by all means go for it if you have the space. Remember, however, a rain garden that is not made to these specifications will still work just fine.

Now for the Hard Part
Mark out your design with a hose, twine or flour, and if the spot is covered with grass decide how you will remove it. If it's a relatively small space you can smother the grass with black and white newspaper and mulch for a couple weeks and then dig up the sod. Honestly, I've dug up smothered grass and non-smothered grass and I think it's equally difficult.

If you're planning a large rain garden (like that 450-square-foot one) you may want to consider renting a sod cutter or finding some burly helpers to do the sod removal. In the event you can't locate a sod cutter or burly individuals, digging a small rain garden is totally achievable for one person. I am a complete wimp in terms of physical strength, and I managed it for a 6'x4'x1' space. Tailor your plans to what you want to handle. Taking on too much is just not enjoyable, and frustration and physical pain is not what this is about.

A look at the ugly but necessary process of digging (I was interrupted by rain before this picture).

How deep to dig? Plan on 6-12" deep. I have seen recommendations for digging a rain garden only 3" deep, and if it's an extended bed this makes sense. Sure, a 15'-long rain garden at 1' deep would certainly absorb a large amount of water, but it also means you're installing a full-on pond in your yard.

Conversely, a rain garden that is shorter and narrower yet still 8-12" deep will effectively absorb a lot of water without taking up so much space. The choice is really up to you depending on your site characteristics and the amount of real estate you want to dedicate.

As you're digging, take some of the excavated dirt and pile it around the edges of the rain garden to make a berm. This will help prevent overflow. You can leave a space for outflow if you're concerned the rain garden will be very full. Just be sure the slope of the berm is gentle, around 45 degrees or even more gradual. My berm is steep and it has resulted in mulch erosion. It's not the end of the world but it's messy and could have been avoided.

To increase absorption, you can amend your soil with sand and/or compost. Some guidelines are 30% soil, 30% sand and 30% compost (yes that only totals 90% but you get the idea). Again, I added nothing to my clay soil and it absorbs just fine. Don't feel you must amend the soil unless the drainage is very poor and could become a problem with mosquitoes (see the previous post for info about drainage needs). You shouldn't need to enrich the soil for the plants because they'll be tough ones that can handle drastic changes in moisture (more on that in another post). If you are amending the soil, do it once you've dug the garden so you can get it all worked in before planting.

Getting the Water There
Directing a downspout into the rain garden is ideal. There are a few ways to do this: One is to get a simple plastic or metal downspout extension and aim it towards the rain garden. I prefer plastic because it can be lengthened, shortened and/or curved to fit the needs of the site.

You can also bury the extension if it's more than a few feet and might look unsightly. Just dig a trench for it and throw the dirt back on top, making sure that the extension reaches the rain garden itself. Voila!

If the rain garden is really far from a downspout or the garden is long, consider adding a little pathway of river rocks from the downspout into the garden. It's a little more labor with moving some rocks, but they look pretty and will convey water at a distance that might not be feasible with a downspout extension. If the burly helpers from the previous step are still in the picture, have them haul the rocks.

So, to recap:
1. Call your local utilities.
2. Mark out the garden shape and remove the grass.
3. Dig approximately 6" deep, less if the garden is large, more if it's small.
4. Use excavated dirt to make a gently sloping berm.
5. Add sand and/or compost if needed to increase absorption.
6. Aim a downspout into or towards the garden.

Next up...the fun part! Choosing rain garden plants!

For further reading: Here is a helpful page on rain garden construction from the Low Impact Development Center.

April GBBD: Real Blooms!

2011-04-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Things have finally started to bloom! Like most gardens in April mine has daffodils...

...and this lovely hellebore (passalong from Mr. McGregor's Daughter).

The pasque flowers (Anemone patens) are huddling together for warmth. In typical Chicago fashion, April has taken a turn back to cold and windy weather.

The inflorescences on these Pennsylvania sedges (Carex pensylvanica) are "blooming." I'm happy to see these doing so well and even spreading a little along the berm of the rain garden. The ones in the basin and along the other berm are not as vigorous; a consequence of less-than-ideal siting for these sedges which prefer dry shade. Now that I know they're thriving in this location, I think I might add a couple more because that side of the rain garden needs stabilization, and if there's something that wants to grow in that mostly-very-dry-occasionally-flooded-shade, then be my guest!

And the forsythia is making a valiant attempt at blooming. Trapped in dry shade, this shrub is doomed to a lackluster existence since it grows directly on top of the electric and cable lines (this is why you should call the utility people before digging!!). But it's doing the best it can with what it's got.

New foliage and buds are everywhere, and it's both exciting and nerve-wracking to see what made it through a long, cold winter. If the weather would just stabilize a little, I would have my lettuce and broccoli seedlings in the veggie garden since they're exploding out of the seed starting tray. Hopefully this weekend it'll happen!

For more Bloom Day posts see Carol at May Dreams Garden!

Take it Down a Notch!

2011-04-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

My pasque flowers are blooming! (And right on time with their name, seeing as Easter [Pasqua in Italian] is right around the corner.)

I had to take these pictures in this harsh light because they close up at night and flower again in full sun. I think only one of my two plants made it, but so what? Look how cute they are! Totally worth the two-year wait!

I am fairly certain these are Anemone patens multifida, the variety native to North America, but quite honestly it might be Anemone patens patens, the Eurasian variety. Even Illinois Wildflowers finds they're difficult to tell apart, and the foliage of mine looks a little different than the pictures on IW.

Even if this isn't the native variety (which was bought at a native plant sale, I might add, so the error wouldn't exactly be mine), they're still adorable and I'm happy to have the blooms. This brings me to some thoughts on the recent backlash against native plants and those who grow them. There was a recent article in the New York Times that defends gardening with non-native species and kind of compares native plant enthusiasts to the Minutemen and other gun-toting militias along the border with Mexico. On Chicago Garden Mr. Brown Thumb claims that, prior to meeting some friendly garden bloggers, he was offended by native plant proponents and went so far as to say: "It is unfortunate that the native plant movement attracts self-righteous extremists, but it is a reality."

Who are these people meeting?? Who are these native plant gardeners who are bludgeoning people over the head with native plant ideology? I've met some dedicated native plant lovers but I've never been made to feel guilty for growing some bearded irises and peonies. Now, I'm sure native plant zealots are out there because there are zealots all over the place. But really? For Raffles in the NYT to mention kudzu and economic benefits in the same breath is pretty laughable. (People in the mid-Atlantic states who lose power in a minor gust of wind thanks to out-of-control kudzu bringing down power lines might disagree. I would know; I work for some of them.) To me this smacks of plain old contrarianism.

If you're a native plant enthusiast who harps on people for growing some hostas, please stop it!! You're making the rest of us look like jerks and you're damaging the entire idea of growing plants that have evolved within a food web in a particular place. But for other native plant contrarians, listen to what you're saying. Is it really so bad to grow plants that have evolved with insects, birds and other members of the food web for thousands of years? Is it really so terrible if I want to give my garden a sense of place by making it look like the shortgrass prairie/savanna that it was before people started farming here?

No, there is nothing wrong with growing non-native plants that thrive in your conditions and look nice (I love 'David' phlox and would tell anyone who ragged on me about growing this non-native to kiss my butt; it does great here and avoids powdery mildew). But there is also nothing wrong with truly loving the plants native to your region (desert, swampy, forest, prairie, whatever) and you can't really deny the fact that indigenous plants evolved with and therefore are part of complex ecosystems that shouldn't be trashed just because, oh well, we already moved here.

Everyone just take a breath, please! We're all gardeners!

For a good rebuttal of Raffles' article, see Ben's post This Guy is an Idiot at the Deep Middle.

Longest. Germination. Ever.

2011-04-07T16:02:00.001-07:00

Columbine seeds (Aquilegia canadensis) are notoriously slow germinators, at least whenever I start them indoors. Multiple times I've been fooled by seeds that took three weeks to sprout, when only laziness kept me from discarding the soilless mix that seemed devoid of seedlings. Then when they do sprout I'm proud of myself for being so ~~lazy~~ persistent.

But this year is a new record! I have four new seedlings that have sprouted within the last 48 hours, including one I just saw this morning, a full 37 days after planting!!

So the lesson here is, with columbine seeds, ~~laziness~~ patience is a virtue!

Rain Gardens 101: How to Choose a Site

2011-04-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

So you like the idea of a rain garden. Capturing runoff, filtering pollutants, growing native plants, supporting biodiversity and recharging groundwater all appeal to you. But where do you put one?

Well, the first thing to do is take a close look at your property. Is there a natural depression or bowl-like part of the garden or yard? Have you noticed water pooling there when it rains? If so that's a prime candidate. And lucky you--less digging!

Even if you don't have a natural swale (i.e., depression or bowl-like area), look for places that become waterlogged in the rain. Maybe there is a spot by a downspout that puddles, even when it's not a torrential downpour. These places are already collecting water so by planting a rain garden you can help along the process of the ground absorbing the water.

Let's say there's no place like this on your property anywhere, and rain seems to drain away from everywhere quickly. Well, then you can choose a site in the vicinity of a downspout and plan to dig the depression yourself (more to come on that).

One thing to note: Your rain garden needs to drain completely in 48 hours or you run the risk of hosting a mosquito breeding ground! So before breaking out the shovel, test your location by digging a small hole 6-8" deep and fill it with water. If it drains in a day or even less, you're good to go. If the water is still there after two days you should look for a site elsewhere.

In my experience, I found places in my garden where extensive puddling was keeping the ground bare, and I planted water-loving yet drought-tolerant plants (more details on those in another post). My rain garden is in a spot where the gutter overflowed and the downspout is nearby, so with even a mild rain this patch of dirt turned into a huge puddle. It seemed to me a natural fit. (See the original site in the photo above.)

Similarly, in my front border there is a spot where another gutter overflows (yes, we do clean our gutters but it's nearly impossible to keep up with all the mature trees around here).

I didn't dig a rain garden per se, in fact this was before I planted my actual rain garden. I just planted things such great blue lobelia (L. siphilitica) and Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) to help the absorption.

The point is to listen to what the land is telling you. If there is a spot where water naturally collects, then it's a good bet that site can support wetland-type plants. But, if you don't have a naturally soggy spot you can still increase rain collection and absorption by creating one. Keeping it relatively close to a downspout will allow you to direct more water into it, thereby increasing its ability to do all the good things rain gardens do.

The Big Caveat

The prevailing wisdom is to site a rain garden 10 feet from your house. I learned this from two different presentations on rain gardens (one by with Wild Ones with a speaker from Prairie Rivers Network and one from the local Wildflower Preservation & Propagation Committee). The sensible thought is to keep water from pooling near your foundation and basement were it could cause a leak. If you've located a spot kind of close to your house where you'd like to plant a rain garden, think long and hard about digging from that spot a few feet out to keep the rain garden away from your house. You can dig the rain garden at 10 feet away, extend your downspout with a plastic extension piece and run it down a path of river rocks (more details on that later too).

Now, in all honesty, my rain garden is not 10 feet from my house. You can see in the pictures that it's right next to my house. Why? Because my house is on a slab (so no basement to flood), and I tested this spot for permeability with the 6-8" test like I mentioned earlier. The water drains here in barely a couple hours, so I was confident that drainage wouldn't be an issue. Plus, I made a relatively tall berm against the house to keep water from saturating the foundation.

So yes, it can be done but I wouldn't recommend this across the board to anyone and everyone interested in a rain garden. You have to evaluate your site based on your conditions and your house!

So what did we learn?
1. Pick a spot that already collects water or a place sort of by a downspout where you can dig a depression.
2. Make sure the water drains from your site in 48 hours or less.
3. Evaluate how close the rain garden will be to your house and keep the 10-ft guidance in mind.

Next up...how to actually dig the rain garden!

FYI: Dr. Stacy James from the Prairie Rivers Network says April and May are the best times to create a rain garden because the soil is soft but the weather is not too hot!

Why you should have a rain garden

2011-03-28T14:00:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we experienced an intense rainstorm, and as I stood looking out my back door I saw my rain garden in full effect, filled to the brim. This reminded how I've wanted to figure out how to quantify just how much water the rain garden collects. After a quick internet search, I found a handy formula to calculate the cubic feet of water contained by the rain garden when it's full, and how many gallons that equals.

Based on these calculations (3.14 x [length x .5] x [width x .5] x depth x 7.48), my little rain garden holds about 140 gallons of water. That means that if it gets filled ten times in a year, it absorbs 1,400 gallons of water! (In the link above I used the elliptical measurement because my rain garden is an oval, not a rectangle.)

Now, none of this is hardcore calculus or anything, and if my measurements are found to be wrong I welcome corrections from anyone with a stronger understanding of math than me! I also found round measurements that didn't account for the length of the water feature. Using this calculation my rain garden clocked in at a still-respectable 94 gallons capacity.

Assuming either calculation is correct, that's pretty impressive. Approximately 100 gallons of water held by one little 6'x4'x1' rain garden! If more people could help absorb 100 gallons at a time in their gardens (while enjoying beautiful native plants like milkweed, cardinal flower, golden alexander and sedges), imagine what a difference that would make for our aquifers, rivers, lakes and stormwater systems! If a little rain garden like mine can absorb over 1,000 gallons of water a year, how much pollution, fertilizers and sediment could be kept out of waterways by 10 more rain gardens of a similar size? What about 100 more?

I spent two days digging this rain garden, which was the most difficult part. Finding the right plants was fun, and it's needed very little maintenance since it was completed. (I have to dig out leaves and mulch occasionally, which is partly my fault for making the sides too steep. At 6'x4', that's still easier to accomplish than my regular weeding chores.) A couple days' work equals roughly 1,000 gallons of water conserved a year. Not a bad equation, if you ask me!

I had been planning this post for a while, but I was finally motivated by two things to get it out there. First, this is part of Jan's Gardeners Sustainable Living 2011 in honor of Earth Day on April 22nd. Visit her at Thanks for Today to read more! Also, Prairie Rose posted about a rain garden information session she attended and I'm piggybacking on that too. I encourage you all to seriously investigate planting a rain garden to help keep stormwater and runoff out of our sewers, rivers, lakes and oceans and to help recharge our aquifers. To help that, I will post more about how to site a rain garden and what are appropriate plants to use. Or, if you don't feel like waiting for me, check out the Prairie Rivers Network (link is also on my sidebar under Chicago-Area Resources). They have lots of great information!

Wildflower Wednesday: Stratifailure

2011-03-23T06:44:00.001-07:00

I'm really disappointed in my columbine seeds this year! Well, it's probably not their fault so I'm not really disappointed with them, but rather with the germination rate. I only have this one teeny tiny seedling, when for the last few years I've had an excellent germination rate from these same types of seeds gathered from the same columbine (Aguilegia canadensis) plants in my front border given the same stratification/scarification treatment. What gives?

There are some possible culprits:

1. The seeds weren't viable: Possible but not likely. It's very easy to tell when columbine seeds are mature. The seedheads are dried and brown and sound like a rattle when you shake them. Plus the mature seeds are a distinctive shiny black. Unlike some other seeds (i.e., Eupatorium, coreopsis) these ones are a dead giveaway for viability.

2. Mis-Treatment: Again, possible. I moist stratified these a little longer than usual this year (five weeks instead of 3-4). But I would think that would increase the chance of moisture absorption. Although, maybe all that time in the wet paper towel did some damage...it wouldn't be the first time that's happened!
(Note: I rubbed the seeds gently between sandpaper to scarify the seed coat, or outer covering. Then I placed them in a moist paper towel, put that in a ziploc and left them in the fridge for five weeks. That is "moist stratification.")

3. Not enough light and/or heat: Hmmm...for some silly reason with the columbine seeds I didn't use the fluorescent desk lamp that I pretend is a grow light for the first week after planting them. Then when I planted my broccoli and lettuce seeds I started using it. We also finally got some sun at that same time. The vegetable seeds sprouted immediately (ruling out soil or water issues because they're all in the same soil mix and same self-watering seed starter kit). But I've never used a heat mat and have never had an issue with columbine germination, even when I've started them earlier in the year, like late February.

So it remains a mystery! Hopefully I can coax along this one little guy and not kill him in the delicate transplanting process (one reason why I like to have multiple seedlings but I guess no such luck this year!). Fortunately I found some self-sown seedlings in the garden last weekend during my spring clean-up!

Wildflower Wednesday is hosted by Gail at Clay & Limestone. Go there to check out more posts about native plants around the country!

GBBD: There Will Be Blooms

2011-03-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well, there's nothing yet blooming outside but I have reason to hope. In the course of garden clean-ups I found:

tulips sprouting underneath my oregano (need to do something about that this year!)...

...columbine foliage coming to life...

...tell-tale signs of spring, hot pink peony shoots...

...hellebore buds...

...and golden alexander (Zizia aurea) and smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) are showing new foliage already.

I have yet to clear away the mulch and turn into the soil the soggy, decomposing bottom layers of it, so there are many more surprises to be found. Hopefully temperatures will finally warm up by later this week!

Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Garden. Check out what else is blooming on this Ides of March!

Chicago Flower & Garden Show 2011: Odds and Ends

2011-03-12T13:32:00.001-08:00

This is the final weekend of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, so if you haven't seen it but wanted to you better hurry!

I just wanted to share some final thoughts and pictures of an assortment of trends and interesting plants...

First, this year there was nary a native to be seen. In fact, in my perusal of the display gardens I found one. Literally one: this shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia).

There were probably more somewhere, but they were well-disguised, that's for sure. After having an entire prairie restoration display last year, I was rather disappointed. This one shooting star was located in the Silent Poetry garden by Rich's Foxwillow Pines. Every year their display does not fail to disappoint.

In addition to the requisite rare conifers, this year's display included Shona sculptures and bright bromeliads, creating a rather exotic feel (and yet that shooting star made its way in).

Speaking of bromeliads, they were incorporated into a number of displays. I'm a big fan of bromeliads so I thought that was cool. But even more than bromeliads, succulents were a huge craze this year. Here are the two types together!

Echeverias in particular were incorporated in all sorts of displays.

Bulbs were well-represented: cyclamens, narcissus, and this river of tulips which I loved:

The impact of the color was forceful, to say the least. I meandered around it taking pictures of varieties to look for this fall. Check out these gorgeous Ad Rems:

Prairie Rose fell for these too! And how can you not?

Edibles, particularly kale and cabbages, featured prominently as garden plants. In most places they looked great, like in these containers.

In other places it seemed almost contrived, like these sharp rows of cabbages with other annuals.

And vertical gardens got their own display too:

I like the vertical gardening idea, I'm just not really ready to jump into growing one myself yet.

Random sightings: What a nice table setting...

...but upon closer inspection...

...who wants robin eggs on the menu?! Weird!

PS-At the GWA Regional Meeting we got a look at some truly black petunias coming out this year from Ball Horticultural, and the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park will be holding a plant sale on Saturday, May 7th. According to the Lurie brochure they'll be offering "7 different plants that are superstars of the Lurie Garden." And quart-sized perennials will set you back all of $5 each. It might be crowded and chaotic, but I would think about checking that out!

Chicago Flower & Garden Show 2011: The Sport of Gardening

2011-03-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

If you've read this blog before, you probably know that I'm an avid sports fan (the MVP award, repeated baseball references, etc.). So naturally I was intrigued to learn the theme of the 2011 Chicago Flower & Garden Show was "The Sport of Gardening." How would sports translate in this setting?

This was definitely the year for this theme, with the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup last summer, the Bears nearly making it to the Super Bowl, and the Bulls being generally awesome. I wanted to see how the show would bring this theme to life. The answer was...not that well.

Sports greeted visitors right when they walked in. At first glance this looked like the only sports-related display.

Ozzie and Konerko, OK...

...I like the throwback bench...

...but Jermaine Dye hasn't been on the Sox for two years! C'mon, where are the fact checkers?

Eventually I found an entire Blackhawks garden, which was good because a couple measly jerseys in the front display were not sufficient for the reigning Stanley Cup champions (at least, in my opinion that is).

It turned out to be more of an "outdoor living" display than a garden. But I must say the hockey rink water feature was cool. As the fountain water reached the "rink" it took on the appearance of smooth, glassy ice.

However, it had the worst replica of a Stanley Cup ever!! Another major oversight by show management! I know they're not getting the real thing for a garden show, but really? This was the closes approximation you could come up with?

But they made up for it with...

...a coleus Indian Head! I want one! My husband would actually be excited about the garden! (BTW, Indian Head is the organization's official name for this logo, not my un-PC-sounding terminology.)

This display was not easily replicable in a home setting but I was glad to see the Hawks incorporated prominently in the show. I wasn't too sure what this was, though:

A random wire box of used pucks? In the middle of the pathway? Not exactly a comfortable bench, if that's what they were going for. As for the garden part of the display, it was pretty hosta-heavy along with some grasses that looked like liriope, but don't quote me on that. Lots of greens, and not enough reds or blues drawing out the colors in the rink.

Strangely the Bears were hardly represented at all, with only this little part in the front display:

Now, I'm as upset about the loss to Green Bay as anyone, but surely we shouldn't ignore the team? (No disrespect to Richard Dent and his new, well-deserved status in the Hall of Fame!)

Even more strangely, the Bulls were completely non-existent! Not only are they fantastic this year, but their biggest star is named Derrick Rose! Where was his jersey with red and white roses? Am I really the only person to think of this?!

Next year's theme is going to be fashion, and I sort of felt like the garden designers were already focused on that one rather than the sports theme. Horticultural trends like vertical gardens, edibles-as-ornamentals and succulents were everywhere, but that's another post for another day...

The Chicago Flower & Garden Show is going on now through March 13th at Navy Pier. I'll have an odds-and-ends post coming soon!

Blogoversary!

2011-03-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

Happy blogoversary to me, happy blogoversary to me,
Happy blogoversary to meeeeee,
Happy blogoversary to me!

A big thank you to the readers of this blog! The wisdom, ideas and tips you have shared with me over these two years have been invaluable!

Chicago Flower & Garden Show: My Favorite Part

2011-03-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

This year it was the Meditation Garden: unique and exotic but not ostentatious. This garden wasn't a traditional in-ground or Zen garden; it featured a series of containers lining a winding path of tree trunk steps, leading to a golden statue of Buddha cradling an echeveria.

It was like all of my guilty horticultural pleasures at their most peaceful and beautiful.

Why can't calla lilies grow with tulips all the time?

Bolting kale, tropical trees, enormous containers bursting with color: all the things I never grow or can't do well but love anyway!

Obviously Midwestern natives are the heart and soul of my garden. They are the plants that belong here and they're the key to my gardening fulfillment here in the Midwest. But this was a different type of plant love. Tender perennials, succulents and annuals exploding out of huge urns! If only I could replicate this type of beauty in some alternate universe where the temperatures, maintenance and watering requirements didn't apply!

The only drawback? You couldn't walk through this garden! This bamboo stick kept me (and everyone else) from wandering down the path which, I must admit, maintained the peaceful aura.

I could only look from the outside in and dream of what it might be like to stand amongst those containers, those plants...just like in regular garden life!

The Chicago Flower & Garden Show is going on now through March 13th at Navy Pier. I'll have more posts on other aspects of the show coming soon!

Prairie Nursery Gets It

2011-02-26T11:31:00.001-08:00

Aren't you tired of all the hand-wringing about how companies can "effectively market themselves" in today's economy? Maybe you're not tired of that, but I feel like I hear this all the time, particularly with nurseries and companies in the general horticulture industry. How to utilize social media? How to engage a new generation of gardeners? Should companies sell pre-packaged, paint-by-numbers gardens for us lazy, technology-addled Generation Y customers? I don't claim to have the answers, but I can say that Prairie Nursery of Westfield, WI, got it right with a simple yet effective technique to get me buying plants.

And here it is: They're having bi-weekly sales that they're advertising through email, listing only two plants in each email along with their characteristics and growing requirements. These said emails come only once every couple weeks, not in a daily inbox-clogging barrage like some companies (Horticulture, I'm looking at you!!). The information is to-the-point and helpful. Sure enough, I read one recently and thought, "You know what? Campanula rotundifolia does sound like it will thrive in my north border. And it's on sale!"

Would this work with new gardeners? Maybe, maybe not. I've bought plants from Prairie Nursery before, hence how I came to be on their electronic mailing list. Also I know my site conditions well and was planning on buying plants for this border anyway. Maybe I'm just a sucker for sales and that explains it. But it seems to me this is a simple way to engage gardeners without elaborate campaigns. "Hey gardener, here's a cheap plant that grows in setting XYZ." There, was that so hard?

Please note that I am just a regular 'ole customer of Prairie Nursery. I did not receive any request or inducement to talk about them, and I paid for the Campanulas with my own money. And the photo is a shot of C. rotundifolia from the fabulous native plant website, Illinois Wildflowers, which contains botanical info for plants that range beyond just Illinois, I might add.

February Bloom Day: Short & Sweet

2011-02-15T06:06:00.000-08:00

These hyacinths will soon be on their last legs, but they're still perfuming the air around my desk and reminding me that, yes, spring will eventually be here. This year I forced 'Pink Pearl' and 'Delft Blue' (which you see here) and 'L'Innocence,' a white variety that has unfortunately finished blooming already. They were termed "best early forcers" by John Scheepers bulbs, and I have to say they did bloom early. A little too early, thanks to my impatience. I found 'L'Innocence' to be very powerfully fragrant, and I plan to grow it again next spring, maybe with some 'Blue Jacket' or 'City of Haarlem.'

Our moderating temperatures are melting the mountains of snow and, even though I know it's just a short-lived tease, they signal that one day (relatively) soon there will blooms in the garden to share!

And I have some lovely Valentine's Day flowers to enjoy too...always a nice touch!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Stop by to see what's blooming everywhere!

A Fungus Among Us

2011-02-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

I have known something was wrong with my two night-blooming cereus for a few years. I saw the dried, shriveling leaves and dark foliar spots. I was painfully aware that they hadn't bloomed in well over a decade. (Yes, a decade!) But I convinced myself it was too much water, too little water, too much light, too little light; I refused to honestly size up the problem. And now my denial might cost me the plants entirely.

It's anthracnose. At least I'm fairly certain that's what is destroying the mother plant (a passalong from a very dear mentor who has since passed away) and the cutting I made from it. After some research in my books and online, I found the dark, depressed lesions and defoliation match uncannily with the pictures and descriptions of anthracnose, a group of fungal diseases that seem to typically affect deciduous trees and vegetables but that apparently go after poorly cared for houseplants too.

I blame myself not only for letting the infection get out of hand but for the shoddy care that let it get established in the first place. Irregular watering and too little air circulation allowed the plants to get stressed and hence left them vulnerable to this fungus.

(A little crowded, perhaps?)

Now I'm left trying to root the handful of leaves that appear to be disease-free, while I must throw these beloved keepsake plants in the garbage (not even a dignified, circle-of-life burial in the compost!).

The pots, scissors and surrounding plants that were likely exposed to spores all need disinfecting. And after dithering for about two years, I will finally repot, divide, fertilize and care for my remaining houseplants! It is only now, in the harsh light of regret, that I can see how unhealthy they really are.

Pseudo Spring

2011-02-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

My impatience got the best of me...

...and these definitely needed a couple more weeks in the garage for some more stem growth...

...but the olfactory symphony from these hyacinths has made it feel almost like there's a tiny bit of spring here...

...even when we've just gotten a foot of snow and bitter cold is bearing down on us.

At least, for now, I have this.

Wildflower Wednesday: Wishful Thinking

2011-01-26T06:09:00.000-08:00

I’ll be honest—I don’t have any wildflowers blooming right now to show you. But I have been contemplating those that will be hopefully making an appearance soon.

The wildflowers here in my garden are indigenous to shortgrass prairie/savanna ecosystems. What are those ecosystems exactly? Well, shortgrass prairies are just what they sound like. They’re dominated by smaller grasses, sedges and forbs that can thrive in the nutrient-poor mix of clay and gravel found here in this part of northern Illinois. These are not the lush prairies of common imagination with eight-foot-tall big bluestem and switchgrass. But they are beautiful and resilient in their own right, particularly for their ability to make ecological lemonade out of our geological lemons.

Savannas are (or rather, were) open groves of trees, the true embodiment of “dry shade.” Before settlement of northern Illinois, these ecosystems were defined by oaks and hickories. But these were soon felled for agriculture and now our savanna-like conditions are generally caused by mature maples in suburban settings. Luckily, most savanna plants have evolved to survive in partial shade and compete with tree roots, making these the perfect garden plants for modern-day savanna settings like my front yard, which is half shaded by a large red maple.

OK, so that’s the backstory. Now what wildflowers will be making an appearance this spring? Unfortunately my conditions are too dry currently for trilliums, Virginia bluebells and other popular ephemerals. But, under the leafless tree canopy there will be shooting stars (Dodecatheon meadia).

(My apologies for the lousy picture; shooting star is to the middle left.)

These lovely little plants have pinkish, reflexed petals that inspired their name. Their basal foliage disappears by summer. I think mine might be too dry, and I may have to move them this year after they bloom.

Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) will hopefully be blooming in my south border this spring. This low-growing plant has reddish-pink flowers that look like a puff of trailing smoke—definitely one of the most unique early-season wildflowers! I planted a bunch of them last year when I created this border; if they’re happy I’ll get to enjoy more of their blooms this year.

(A tentative bud of prairie smoke.)

Lastly, I’m hoping to see pasque flowers (Anemone patens) in the spring, but I don’t have a picture to show you because mine have never bloomed to date. These small purple flowers like full sun and dry soil, which is precisely what I’ve given them in the front border near my herbs (which like the same conditions). For two or three years now they’ve sent up pretty palmate foliage and nothing more. If this spring results in another no-show, I’m going to have to move them. They may be suffering from bad winter drainage, which doomed my lavender plant in the same location.

What early-blooming wildflowers are you looking forward to? Are you fortunate enough to have trilliums? If so, I’m jealous. Wildflower Wednesday is most graciously hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone…check there for posts with wildflowers actually blooming!

Book Review Smackdown!

2011-01-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

To me, perennials are the heart and soul of the garden. Sure, I like annuals for instant gratification, and I care about my shrubs and trees. Bulbs are fun too, even when they’re just elaborate annuals. But herbaceous perennials are the essence of gardening. They grow and change over time. They come back every year like trusted friends. They multiply to the point of division, which increases the size of the garden. Perennials rarely, if ever, perform exactly the way they’re described in books, magazines and catalogs; they have personalities and quirks in each garden and microclimate, and you have to get to know them through observation and interaction. Each perennial has its peak season as well as its time as a role player. This interplay between growth and rest is one of the most interesting parts of ornamental gardening (in my opinion). So when I had the opportunity to read two books about perennial gardening I jumped at the chance because not only is this a subject I enjoy, it’s one that I could always use to learn more about.*

The first book is The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer by Stephanie Cohen and Nan Ondra. The second is Better Homes and Gardens Perennial Gardening. Both are similar in their scope and content, but I have to give the edge to Design Primer. But before all that, here is what they’re about:

Both books cover the basics, i.e., what is a perennial, site preparation, sun/shade requirements and the like. They each focus on design principles such as mixing textures, ensuring year-round interest, and working with color for complementary or monochromatic looks. Also included in both books are sample gardens for different settings (sun, shade, soggy, etc.) with diagrams and plant lists included. Their later sections differ in that Cohen and Ondra explore three garden situations—building one from scratch, expanding an existing garden, and giving an old garden a complete make-over—and BHG includes a section on troubleshooting and a brief perennial encyclopedia.

Before explaining why I liked Design Primer better, I will say that the BHG book is more appropriate for novice gardeners. Design Primer is certainly useful and understandable for people brand new to gardening, but BHG spends much more time covering site preparation and basic gardening tasks, sometimes to the point of becoming tedious for an experienced gardener (three whole pages on deadheading…really?). But this information serves its purpose, and I always like a good plant encyclopedia too. However, the appendices in Design Primer were more than sufficient, so each scores equal points in the “textbook-ishness” department.

OK, so why did I like Design Primer better? Basically it felt like Cohen and Ondra were holding a conversation, both with each other and with the reader. The book features sidebars and callouts in which each author offers her own opinion and experience, including explanations of how they differ from each other. Conversely, BHG had the cheerful yet sterile prose common in magazines. (Please note: I have written for gardening magazines, although not BHG, and have actively cultivated that type of writing style! I’m not knocking it—it’s useful especially when trying to reach a broad or beginner audience. I’m just pointing out that it’s there.)

Cohen and Ondra did an excellent job of communicating how to work with your site conditions rather than changing them. It’s not the BHG emphasized “you must change your soil” but it didn’t put enough stress on how to work with what you have, which is exactly what Design Primer did. This is important because working within your conditions is the best way to avoid frustration, the use of chemicals, complicated soil amendments, general failure, and a host of other problems.

Design Primer was also more thorough about how to put ideas into practice. The sample gardens and the final section on the three design efforts were detailed and honest, thereby providing in-depth opportunities to see how the design principles really translate into real-life gardening, even if you’re not planting the exact garden in the diagram.

Lastly, I just had some bones to pick with a few aspects of BHG. I could have done without the half-page, full-color photo of a Miracle-Gro® sprayer just dousing the flower bed in the Fertilizing section. They suggested using landscape fabric to prevent erosion on slopes, which is a terrible idea. The whole point of gardening on a slope is to use the plant roots to prevent the erosion.

Possibly worst of all, it stated that native plants “shrug off pests and diseases.” I think the powdery mildew devouring my native Monarda fistulosa would say otherwise. Not only are these types of statements just wrong, they actively work against gardening with natives because when people realize they are wrong, they’re aggravated that their supposedly “disease-resistant, tough-as-nails natives” didn’t perform as expected. And by the way, including Russian sage in the one garden example of native plants is just silly. C’mon, the name itself tells you it isn’t native to North America!!

All that being said, BHG isn’t a bad book and for the beginning gardener this would be a valuable resource (with the above caveats). But when push comes to shove I’ve got to say that Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer is the superior book for beginners and experts alike.

*I won Design Primer in a contest hosted by Commonweeder and I received a review copy of BHG Perennial Gardening from Wiley Books. So both were free; therefore neither had an advantage in the cost department.

The cheesy photo of Design Primer is from Amazon.com; it was the only decently sized one I could locate. The BHG photo is from Wiley.

January Bloom Day--Maybe?

2011-01-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

Looking good...

...not quite as good...

...not very good at all.

As you can see, I don't really have anything blooming this January, but perhaps I will soon if these hyacinths cooperate.

I'm not feeling too confident for a few reasons. First, I crammed a lot of bulbs into these pots. I mean, really, did I stick five hyacinths into this tiny container? Why did I think that was a good idea?!

Second, I took them out of the garage after about 10 and half weeks when they were showing some decent root growth. But top growth has been slow, especially in the biggest pot. Should I have waited?

Lastly, they're being overrun by gnats. Yesterday I sprinkled a systemic in the pots, which should get rid of the gnats in the next week or so as I water. Not only are they annoying now (and the systemic rather stinky), but it doesn't bode well for seed-starting conditions around here in about six weeks.

So this is kind of a Bloom Day post, kind of a cry for help. Do these have a chance? Do you have recommendations about how to get rid of gnats? Would you rather see things actually blooming? If so, visit Carol at May Dreams Garden, the mastermind behind Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Vote for Chard!

2011-01-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

Voting is now open to Chicagoland residents for One Seed Chicago, an "urban greening project" that provides free seeds to participants who vote. The 2011 candidates are eggplant, radish and Swiss chard, and I encourage you to vote for chard!

Judging by recent posts from Diane at the Garden of Live Flowers and Shawna at The Casual Gardener, radish is going to run away with this one, but I would like to point out that chard is one of those ornamental vegetables; it's healthy to eat and lovely to look at! Chard is very versatile too. I planted it last year after it got too hot for lettuce and spinach, and the results were crisp and colorful leafy vegetables without the bolting. Chard is delicious in salads, with a thick texture reminiscent of romaine lettuce, or it can be sauteed, steamed or stir-fried like spinach. How can you not choose this one?

All you have to do is go to the One Seed Chicago ballot and vote between now and April 1, 2011. Shortly after voting closes, participants will be mailed a packet of the winning seed. The idea is share a common seed across the area to encourage gardening and local eating. Don't worry--you do not have to be a resident of the city to vote. I live way out in the 'burbs and I still count as "Chicagoland!"

Chicago to regulate urban agriculture?

2011-01-04T07:15:00.001-08:00

The city of Chicago is apparently considering an ordinance to regulate urban farming, which is garnering both support and criticism (shocking, I know). I haven't read the proposed ordinance itself, but according to the Chicago Tribune it includes "requirements on fencing, plot size, processing, landscaping and zoning that would apply to urban farming in all its forms: commercial production plots, nonprofit farms and community gardens."

Some urban farmers, or "agricultural activists" as they're called in this article, are worried the regulations will become costly, bureaucratic hurdles that torpedo urban agriculture. Others, including the director of NeighborSpace, think it will be a positive step to recognize and regularize the growing of fresh produce in community gardens and small farms. (For those of you who attended the bloggers' Spring Fling in 2009, the community garden we visited was a NeighborSpace location.)

So what do you think? Has your city or town passed urban farming regulations? Have they helped or hindered? If your city or town hasn't passed any rules, do you think they should?

I would love to see Chicago convert abandoned lots into more gardens, and at the same time I can understand the wariness over this ordinance because the city typically finds a way to complicate and mess up even mundane ideas. And since we tout ourselves as such a "green city," it would be nice to see the City Council put its money where its mouth is. Your thoughts?

New Year's Gardening Resolutions, 2011

2010-12-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well, after reviewing how my gardening resolutions went for 2010, it's time to make some new ones! Without further ado...

1. Define the borders. In my (understandable) focus on plants, I have neglected to do much that really defines the gardens from the yard. With the exception of the wooden bars (or whatever these might technically be called) that were here from the previous owners, I have no hardscaping.

Digging a well-defined separation between yard and garden in the front would look nice, but digging is such an awful chore in this clay that I think fencing would be better, or at least easier. And for the new south border, rocks would complement the naturalistic look. I think some definition would literally set my gardens apart.

(Look past the lovely camassias and you'll notice this ill-defined border abruptly becomes yard.)

2. Fix this other @!$# border. This north border has been driving me crazy for years now! The tulips last year were lovely and I labored through planting about 40 more this fall. Inexplicably, the nectaroscordums seem happy here and I added 10 more of those too. But what else?! The shrub search was derailed when I killed the Canadian hemlock, the border in part shade, far from the hose (and hence always dry), and despite my best efforts at soil amendment this border is still holding tons of lava rocks from the abuse it suffered under the previous owners.

(But what else besides tulips?!)

My plans have changed at least ten times in the past year. I'm resolving to put something resembling a real garden here, likely with some sturdy prairie/savanna natives that can withstand the harsh conditions. We'll see...

3. Clean up the composting operation. I was very proud of myself for making actual compost this year! It took a long time but the sweltering summer did help me produce some lovely compost that immediately went in the above-mentioned problem border. Now I have my humble plastic tote filled again and I've made a pile next to it in which to dump scraps and leaves while the load in the tote decomposes. But this is amateurish and messy. Luckily, when I received my Troy Bilt 3090 XP, it came on a huge wooden skid that is now sitting against our house. It is the perfect material for building some boxes with chicken wire that will really class up the composting around here!

So this year I'm sticking with just three resolutions. Since I couldn't quite come through on four in 2010, I think it's wise to stay focused this year. Informally, I'm also resolving to be better about blogging. Work and life have kept me from reading and writing in the garden blogosphere as much as I would like, and I really want to try to improve on that.

So how about you? Any gardening resolutions for 2011? Happy New Year everyone!

Resolutions Reviewed

2010-12-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

The detritus of Christmas is being swept away and I am already fully engaged in planning for next year's garden. Pots of forced hyacinths will be coming indoors at the end of the week and seed starting is just around the corner, but before jumping in to 2011 I wanted to reflect on my gardening adventures in 2010.

Last year at this time I made some gardening resolutions, in lieu of any serious resolutions that I would not be likely to achieve. Looking back on those has been rather amusing to me. How did I do?

My first resolution was to mulch frequently...well, not so much in practice. I did manage to get the front bed mulched by midsummer (was it June? July? Either way it was later than I would have preferred). Of course, once I had finished putting down the mulch I was looking over my handiwork and I exclaimed "I always forget how much better it looks with mulch!"

(This was taken in August, so there was mulch by then at least.)

I never did manage to get the back borders mulched and I've deplored my failure to mulch the vegetable garden numerous times already. So, I would say in 2010 I did mulch, but "frequently," certainly not. 0 for 1.

My second resolution was to plant a Japanese maple. Ha! Ha! This was a complete failure! I was seduced by a dwarf Canadian hemlock that I picked up at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. I later killed this tree by letting it get too dry in its container. (The idea was to nurse it along during the spring and summer because it was a very small seedling and then plant it in the fall. You know what they say about the best laid plans...) I would still love a Japanese maple or even another shrub because this is the problem border I've been wrestling with for three years, and something will go there at some point! But will that happen in 2011? I won't resolve to do it, that's for sure. 0 for 2.

Next up was to fix this @$!# border. Success!

('David' phlox and purple hyssop was a great combo in the front sunny area.)

I widened the border (with some not-insignificant sod removal), planted a bunch of stuff, had seedlings survive, and it should be even better next year.

('Bon Bon' cosmos came through for a late summer show.)

Yeah for me! 1 for 3

Lastly I resolved to grow more vegetables. Done! 2 for 4

OK, so a .500 record isn't too bad! Time to resolve to do more next year, but I'll get to that in another post soon...

What did you resolve to do this past year in the garden? Did you accomplish your goals?

Review: The Storm 3090 XP Snow Thrower

2010-12-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here in Chicagoland we're in the interlude between snow storms that are assuring us a very, very white Christmas. So earlier this week gave us a chance to try out our new Troy Bilt Storm 3090 XP snow thrower, which I won from a contest hosted by Garden Girl. (FTC Disclaimer: Obviously I received this item free of charge.)

I entered this contest really for the sake of my husband, affectionately called Tech Support, because we have never had a working snow thrower and shoveling almost always becomes his responsibility. I just don't like shoveling and will avoid it at all costs unless we're getting a blizzard during the day and I have no choice but to shovel the snow lest he not be able to get his car in the driveway by the time he's home from work. So I felt that since I stick him with this chore all the time, the least I could do was try to win a new snow thrower.

And did I! This snow thrower is huge and it has more features than my car. It's a two-stage snow thrower that clears a 30" swath. It's got power steering (yes, a snow thrower with power steering), plus heated hand grips and a headlight. Tech Support was the one to use the 3090 XP a couple days ago when it snowed, and here is the gist of his assessment:

It was surprisingly maneuverable for its size. It started easily and made quick work of our driveway, sidewalk, and part of the neighbor's driveway too. We always have deep snow pile up at the end of our driveway because the concrete dips, but the 3090 XP had no trouble clearing it. Above second gear it moves really fast and can get away from you a little, so be aware when moving into a higher gear. He did not try out the heated hand grips (!) so I have no info on those. And it was very loud, like the sound of a really big lawn mower.

Here's a direct quote: "Once you get the feel for its power, it runs easy. Make sure you start in a lower gear and work your way up to find your comfort level."

What about assembly, you may ask? It took him about two hours start to finish but that was because he didn't read the directions (I'm not joking, that really did happen). He admitted that had he read about the certain part of the assembly that messed him up, it would have taken much less time and been a lot simpler. So the lesson is read the directions if you get this machine.

All in all, Tech Support felt (and I agreed) that this is a top of the line snow thrower and we're thrilled to have it. I'd like to thank Garden Girl and Troy Bilt for hosting such a generous giveaway.

And Merry Christmas to everyone!

Book Review: Energy-Wise Landscape Design

2010-12-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is a woefully late review, but since I have nothing blooming and can't participate in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, I figured this is a perfect time for a better late than never post.

I won Energy-Wise Landscape Design: A New Approach for your Home and Garden, by Sue Reed, in a contest on Garden Rant way back in August (FTC Disclaimer: yes, this book was free). I immediately liked the organizations that is based around how to arrange your landscape, how to design it, how to construct it, and how to generate energy. A couple of years ago I attended a natural landscaping symposium and I saw a presentation by Pat Armstrong of Prairie Sun Consultants (who for some reason doesn't have a website!!) about how she and her husband designed their home using passive solar approaches, natural evergreen windbreaks, and one of the most outstanding prairie restorations in northern Illinois. I was already growing many native plants in my garden, but I was inspired by the holistic energy conservation embodied in this house design. I was hoping to learn some specific ways to incorporate these types of ideas into my own existing home landscape by reading Reed's book.

Unfortunately for me, most of the methods in this book are best applied to new construction. Let me emphasize that Reed's ideas and tips are sensible, easy to understand and would certainly accomplish energy efficiency in every sense of the term. From shading your home in summer to capturing the sun's heat in winter, from using water efficiently to building environmentally friendly structures, Reed covers every conceivable aspect of landscape design (plants, hardscape, buildings, energy generators, I mean everything). But the vast majority of these actions are not applicable on a small, established suburban lot like mine.

For example, I can't significantly change the way that mature trees shade my house at inopportune times because many of them are on my neighbors' properties. Removing and redesigning my driveway is also not spatially feasible on a 1/4-acre lot. Of course none of this is Reed's fault nor does it make her book less valid in its knowledge; it just means it's less useful for those of us on typical suburban lots.

In general, Reed's discussions of native and regionally appropriate plants are cogent and informative for people unaccustomed to gardening with natives. She explains the ecological value of native plants, how to match plants to soil conditions and ways to reduce or eliminate your lawn. Significantly, she addresses how to do this without estranging neighbors or running afoul of community regulations (an ever-present worry here in the Suburban Wasteland).

However, I was disappointed in her discussion of rain gardens. It was too vague to be directly helpful to someone trying to plant one, yet at the same time the diagrams she included showed numerous layers of materials that are not at all necessary for a functioning rain garden. She had crushed stone, rain garden soil mix (whatever that is), and geotextile fabric included in two diagrams, and I can tell you from personal experience that a rain garden will work just fine without any of those. Had I been new to the concept of rain gardens, seeing these complex diagrams and the generalized discussions warning of it becoming "a big mushy puddle in the landscape" I would have been turned off right away. And that is exactly the opposite of what this book should be doing. Now, I fully agree that rain gardens need to be designed and planted intelligently and safely, but the idea here should be to encourage, especially for something like installing water-absorbing plants, which is way easier and cheaper than ripping out and replacing your driveway.

In short, if you're buying property and building a new home and you care about energy conservation and environmentally friendly construction, this book will be an invaluable guide to developing your home landscape. If you live on a relatively small lot and/or have an established homesite, there is less that will be directly useful to you.

Lessons from the Vegetable Garden, Year 1

2010-11-27T11:40:00.001-08:00

Gardening is a continual learning experience, which is part of what makes it fun, and as winter settles in I am mulling over what I've learned from my first year of growing a full-on vegetable garden, though small it may be.

Of course every year is different so what was a success one summer can be a failure the next (just look at the difference in tomato conditions from the late blight of dreary 2009 to the parched heat of 2010). But, there are a few things I've taken away that I think will transcend the fickleness of weather.

1. Mulch, stupid!
I've been over this before, so I won't rehash it here. I have taken Garden Girl's advice about leaf mold for mulch and have a nice, thick blanket of shredded leaves on the veggie bed as we speak. Whether it's this or straw or grass clippings, there will be mulch next year.

2. Start some vegetables from seed.
Maybe that seems obvious to others, but I was concerned about lanky, weak seedlings thanks to my humble set-up and lack of a place for proper grow lights. So I direct sowed everything (except the peppers and tomatoes which were purchased beyond the seedling phase). Overall, this was a success. But I read an illuminating post by Michele on Garden Rant concerning broccoli. Her post actually concerns all crucifers (cabbage et al.), and ironically her epiphany was the opposite of mine, or rather to direct sow her broccoli.

But the reason I say this was illuminating was that this post made me realize my broccoli was bolting, which was not something I ever thought of broccoli doing. Lettuce, spinach, cilantro, sure, these plants bolt and I know how to deal with it. But I was stumped by my lovely broccoli heads inexplicably blooming with yellow flowers just a day or two before I intended to harvest them. The broccoli was probably the most popular veggie grown here this year and I intend to increase it next year. So what to do about the flowering, which of course is the same as any other plant bolting (i.e., flowering and becoming inedible due to summer heat)?

Michele's post highlighted the problem of broccoli reaching maturity in the heat of midsummer. So the obvious solution is to not have the broccoli plants reaching maturity at that time. Instead, I will start seedlings indoors so that they reach maturity in June or by early July, hopefully before the real dog days set in, while also continuing to direct sow seeds around Memorial Day or 4th of July so that the second batch reaches maturity after the heat of August. See, this is why it's great to read garden blogs...

3. Grow fewer things.
That may sound strange but with my compressed space it's a must. I need to grow fewer things better rather than many things poorly. Just as I am trying to grow more broccoli (big hit with me and the whole family, have good ideas on how to improve), I need to cut back on squashes and not just because they were a total failure this year (which they were) but because they take up too much space if I'm to grow more broccoli. Both those types of plants need space, so prioritize I must.

(Squashes and broccoli duke it out)

Similarly, I know I want more peppers and tomatoes but things need to be moved around so the peppers get more sunlight than they did this year. So things like onions will probably lose out (except for green onions which I can probably squeeze in). That small space has proven it's productive beyond its stature, but there's only so much I can ask of one 9'x3' rectangle.

4. Use better tomato cages.
I skimped last year thanks to budgetary and time concerns. At my favorite local garden center the only tomato cages in the whole place were those cone-shaped ones you always see--exactly the kind my mom warned me against. And while I knew she was right and said as much, I was too cheap and hurried to order good ones online or try another store, so I grabbed the flimsy cones and regretted it from June onward. No more! Decent, sturdy, square-shaped tomato cages will be worth the slight extra cost, and now I know to get them in advance of mid-May, when my seedlings are sitting there and I'm feeling pressed for time.

(Tomato cages being overwhelmed, and this was not the worst of it)

So what did you learn in your garden this year (vegetable or otherwise)? What else should I know that I've not mentioned here?

(the remnants of) Wildflower Wednesday

2010-11-24T06:09:00.000-08:00

It is officially cold here. I hesitate to say it's officially winter because of course it is not, but it feels like it now, with temperatures having plunged to the 20s in the last couple days.

Not surprisingly the wildflowers are gone but the remnants of many of them are here, still looking textural, and likely to be even more so once it snows.

The goldenrods have great seedheads, I think. Above is the spiky, almost barbed-looking seedheads of zig-zag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)...

...and here is my new favorite, elm-leaved goldenrod (S. ulmifolia), which are retaining their drooping, shooting-star-like habit but now with fuzzy seeds.

Big-leaved asters (Eurybia macrophylla) are nearly as exuberant as they were with actual blooms.

The tall coreopsis (C. tripteris) lived up to its name this year; it's nearly five feet high! Its spent foliage and flowerheads are towering over the spent asters, zizias, pale purple coneflowers and sedums below (which are mostly covered by leaves at this point).

Leaving the seeds and spent foliage is of course good for any birds and other wildlife looking for food and shelter throughout our cold Midwestern winters. And it provides me with something to look at other than the hated (but grudgingly admitted, useful in winter) yew bushes. For more wildflowers this Wednesday, including some that are probably still blooming, visit Gail at Clay and Limestone. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Bloom Day: In defense of a mum

2010-11-02T11:11:00.001-07:00

Like many gardeners, I'm not a big fan of mums. I really can't stand them as rounded, fuzzy meatball-like monocultures in garish shades of yellow and orange found seemingly at every site of public landscaping and too many home gardens as well. But a few years back when my garden was little more than a few new native forbs, I succumbed to the temptation of buying a couple late-season mums. They were in fuschia and purple, and one promptly died with the frost. But the other has held on, and even in its mostly shady location, it blooms in rich purple, with ray-like stems that are anything but rounded and meatball-esque.

I'm considering moving it to a sunnier spot near the purple sedums I planted this year (if they survived, that is). Maybe I'm withholding my disdain because there's just one, but this mum is an exception to prove the rule and it's welcome here, especially since it's the only thing blooming this year in November.

To see what else is blooming in gardens all over the world, visit Carol at May Dreams Garden.

The trouble with overwintering

2010-11-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

...is that sometimes the plants can't handle it!

I decided to overwinter my three 'La Crema' sages from Hort Courture because I really liked their variegated foliage in shades of deep green and light lime. They thrived in the heat and drought and complemented the rest of my salvias quite well. I'd like to divide these next spring and use them to cover the bare ankles of my 'David' phloxes in the front border, but will they make it through the winter??

I fully expected many dropped leaves and some stress as they went from the very bright sun of the garden to the much-less-sunny front window, so I gave them a good two weeks in their pots sitting on the patio to help with the adjustment. So much for that idea. They've been shedding leaves left and right, plus new growth is shriveling on one of them.

In my care to not overwater them I think I may have let them dry out too much (possibly contributing to all those shriveled, dropped leaves), but now I find myself in the typical conundrum of "am I killing them with too much or too little? Should I water or let them dry out?!"

All is not lost, of course, There is minimal new growth on all three plants, and I still have recourse to more drastic measures such as taking cuttings and rooting them in water. And if all else fails, hey, they were free so it's not the end of the world. But this is why overwintering is so challenging! Especially after getting spoiled last year by the world's best, easiest, most gardener-friendly coleus.

How do you get your tender perennials/annuals through the winter?

Disclaimer: Yes, I received these plants as a free trial. And a trial they are right now!

English People Being Cool

2010-10-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Check out this video of Todmorden's urban food production in the UK.

For anyone interested in urban renewal through community gardens, this is a prime example. Unfortunately there's not too many details on how the gardens get watered and how particular city ordinances were addressed or overcome (although the topic is broached).

Look for fascinating use of a cemetary, purple cauliflower, and squashes that looked way better than mine.

Still Blooming

2010-10-15T06:20:00.001-07:00

I'm pleased to say there are blooms to share for October Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.So without further ado...

Of course there is a mum. I'm not a huge fan of these plants but I really like the color of this one.

The Bon-Bon cosmos are still going strong...

...and my dianthus is randomly reblooming.

In the shady part of the front, the coleus I nurtured from seed and through the winter last year is still putting out flower stalks.

I've decided to let this plant go with the frost this year and try some new varieties next year, but I'm certainly going to miss it!

The elm-leaved goldenrods are finishing up their last little blooms...

...and elsewhere the 'Tojen' toad lilies are making a valiant stand against the drought conditions that really slowed down their flowering, compared to last year.

These passalongs from Mr. McGregor's Daughter are in possibly the most challenging place in my garden, dry shade under a silver maple, and yet they've been bravely blooming as much as possible for about a month now.

And lastly, the only asters I still have (sort of) blooming are these Short's aster (S. shortii), a fairly rare native of savanna woodlands. I planted these in June and they've bloomed happily all through late summer and fall, and they're a great purple. I'm very happy about this addition!

What's still blooming in your garden?

MVP 2010

2010-10-04T14:32:00.001-07:00

The baseball postseason is about to start, and again the White Sox are nowhere to be found (thanks to the Minnesota Twins ripping their hearts out and showing them to them before they died). Despite that disappointment, I realize that this time of the season really shows us who are the elite players, the ones who have those intangible qualities of coming through in the clutch, leadership, and making others around them play better.

What does this have to do with gardening? Well, this is the garden's postseason too. At this point the plants that are still blooming, or whose performances remain in vivid memory, are those that held up through adversity, through challenging conditions all summer, and were the best that the garden had to offer. Now they're facing new foes like light frost conditions and shortened daylight, but the elite plants keep blooming and keep adding interest.

That's why this is the time to choose the season MVP, the Most Valuable Plant.

I'm pleased to say it was a difficult decision, thanks to the exemplary performance by so many members of the team. The nodding wild onions (Allium cernuum),

cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis),

and Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum) were all impressive, despite a drenched start to the summer and then extreme heat and drought conditions later on.

The habaneros and chili peppers were quite possibly the stars of the vegetable garden, and I am still harvesting and storing loads of hot peppers.

And the nectaroscordums earlier this summer were so cool that I ordered 10 more, which should be arriving any day now. At times 2010 felt like the Year of the Onion around here (until my actual vegetable onions set flowers and crapped out in terms of producing anything edible; however, the green onions were fabulous).

The asters have had a standout year, particularly the smooth blue asters (Symphyotrichum laeve), which barely survived last year.

I'd have to give these the "Comeback Player of the Year" award, not quite the MVP.

The elm-leaved goldenrod is without a doubt one of the best additions to my garden in the past few years. Planted only this June, these little goldenrods have settled in and bloomed like crazy since August.

It's now getting close to mid-October and they're barely showing signs of fatigue. It was hard to NOT call them the MVP, but really a more accurate award is Rookie of the Year.

So who was the best of the best? Really there's only one who deserves the title: the 'David' phloxes.

These beauties burst into bloom in midsummer and still (again, it's October) have flowers clinging on, an unprecedented show of strength and longevity, particularly in light of not only this year's drought (which started right around when they began blooming), but also my repeated, extended absences from the garden. Abuse from Mother Nature and neglect from the gardener could not stop them! Granted, there were some flopping issues, but considering the above-mentioned factors and their vigorous blooming in spite of it all, I was not inclined to let that remove them award contention.

Their white flowers added a brightness to the garden that was greater than their size or hue would suggest. And, in true MVP fashion, they made the purple hyssops and pink cosmos around them look even more colorful. Most impressive, in my garden where powdery mildew has decimated too many flowers (and is still doing so to my Monardas), this mildew-resistant cultivar has lived up to the hype.

Congrats, 'David' phloxes! You are the 2010 Most Valuable Plant(s)!

What's wrong with my squashes? Part II

2010-09-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have given up on actually harvesting any squashes this year, but what is going on here?? I have pulled out all but one of the squash vines because they all looked very similar to this one.

The leaves look almost like there's powdery mildew or some other kind of fungus on them, and they've yellowed and withered. This is (I believe) Trombetta D'Albenga, but all the other varieties suffered the same fate. This vine has stayed around this long because it actually began producing squash, but before they suddenly rotted before maturing.

So my question is, is this an infestation like vine borer or some other bug? I haven't seen any bugs crawling around but with all my traveling this summer I definitely could have missed some evidence. Or, is this a disease of some kind that will restrict my squash growing for the next few years?

If you have any idea of the identity and whereabouts of this criminal, please leave your information in a comment! And if this is a disease, should I not grow squashes/cucumbers for three years? Help!!

Wildflower Wednesday--The Usual Suspects

2010-09-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

At this point in the season, the prairie plants native to my corner of Illinois are in various stages of setting seed. Grasses like big and little bluestem and prairie dropseed are in their full glory (and I'm sorry I don't have my little bluestem and prairie dropseed pictured here; I blame the massive storms that hit late yesterday and interrupted my blog photography).

The inflorescences--grasses' version of flowers--are at their peak. Coneflowers, Joe-Pye weed and coreopsis have finished (or are almost finished) flowering. The prairie is in the later stages of its zenith and is full of textures.

The wildflowers that are still in bloom here are the usual suspects for this region: goldenrods and asters. My elm-leaved goldenrods are short, but they're blooming so brightly you can see them from the street. (These pictures were not taken at night, just in the gloom before an impending storm.)

The zig-zag goldenrod is already showing spent flowers and hints of seeds...

...much like the big-leaved aster, which bloomed a lot longer this year than last year.

And my smooth blue asters have made a remarkable comeback this year after some mildew issues last year.

They are a beautiful send-off to a hot, droughty, occasionally soggy, and very vibrant summer!

Wildflower Wednesday is brought to you by Gail of Clay and Limestone--go visit to see more beautiful native plants!

Bloom Day, Finally!

2010-09-14T14:22:00.001-07:00

For the first time since June I am in the garden for Bloom Day! And I'm quite happy about it because there are still a notable number of blooms to be seen. Maybe the cooler temperatures are prolonging some flowers that might have wilted in the continual heat.

The Bon Bon Cosmos from Renee's Garden are looking the best they have all season! Where have these robust blooms been? Maybe the site conditions aren't the greatest for these flowers, but this is a classic case of better late than never.

The 'David' phlox is still going strong although I can feel that the end may be near. It's been quite a show from these flowers this year. I'm a little irritated by the fact that they both have flopped all summer, but the flowers have been gorgeous even from their lowered level! And with the heat and dryness followed by intermittent torrential downpours, it's kind of hard to blame the stems for suffering a little. Considering the challenging conditions this year, we may have a candidate for Most Valuable Plant here.

The elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) is turning out even better than I had hoped!

I love how its flowers trail off the plant like a comet's tail, and the yellow perfectly complements the yellow centers of the big-leaved asters (Eurybia macrophylla) behind them.

And speaking of goldenrods, the zig-zag goldenrod (S. flexicaulis) is in its full glory...

...with the great blue lobelia finishing up...

...and speaking of asters, the smooth blue asters (Symphyotrichum laeve) have exploded within the past couple days!

They're looking much better than last year, probably due to the sunny, dry conditions. And they've flowered early enough to catch the tall coreopsis (C. tripteris) still in bloom!

This timing doesn't happen every year and I love when it does! It's nice to have the yellow and blue combo repeated a couple times in this border.

My containers were suffering from my absence, so I replaced the wilted petunias, calibrachoa and celosia with simple pansies. Here's how the petunia replacement looks now:

What's notable is that the other fillers in these containers (second one not pictured) haven't missed a beat, and now they're looking as nice as ever!

Also blooming but not pictured: Tricyrtis 'Tojen'; squash flowers, the random unnamed rose and a couple fading coneflowers. For more Bloom Day posts, see Carol at May Dreams Garden!

An Open Letter to Monarda

2010-09-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

OK, Monarda fistulosa or wild bergamot, or whatever you like to call yourself, it's time for us to reach an understanding. You have one more year. That's right, one more year in which I promise to give you the attention and powdery mildew prevention you deserve, and in return you will give me blooms. Or else you're gone.

That goes for you too, new seedling from One Seed Chicago, which has grown so vigorously and unexpectedly well. Your effort has not gone unnoticed. Nor has the creeping whiteness on your leaves, which doesn't look quite like powdery mildew but might be something else, maybe even something more pernicious.

I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of the flopping, the engulfing mildew, and yet I admit that I myself am partly to blame. When I sprayed you regularly and repeatedly with a milk/water mixture, the progress of the mildew was stopped. But I didn't stay as vigilant as I should have, and for that I'm sorry. Many, many sojourns away from the garden this summer put you farther down the list of priorities, and once I knew that you would withhold your blooms again this year I lost my remaining motivation to keep up with the spraying.

So let's start fresh. Next spring, I will dutifully and regularly spray you with the milk mixture, and in return you will have flowers. Even little ones. It's only fair; it will officially be the "leap" year for your growth (of course not the actual leap year of having a February 29th, but your third year in the garden, having passed the "sleep" and "creep" years). What do you say? Wouldn't it be better to stay amongst the goldenrods and asters and even the irises nearby, as opposed to an ignominious end in the garbage? (Because of course you can't be composted with all that powdery mildew!)

So it's a deal. One more year, with mutual attention paid. In honor of this, my 100th post, it just seems fair.

Wildflower Wednesday--Late Bloomers

2010-08-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

By late summer, when many plants are past their peak, numerous prairie natives reach their zenith. In my garden, wildflowers of the shortgrass prairie and wet prairie are still putting on a colorful show.

Lobelias are going strong, both the cardinal flower (L. cardinalis)

and great blue lobelia (L. siphilitica).

Recently I saw a hummingbird at the cardinal flower, which was the cause of great excitement! I didn't think anything as cool as a hummingbird would come anywhere near the Suburban Wasteland, but lo and behold there was one feasting in my rain garden! Of course there is no photographic evidence; I just stood in shock for about 20 seconds until it flew away. But that was good enough for me! Both of these lobelias prefer wet soil, including periodic flood conditions, and they tolerate partial shade. They're native to swampy prairies and savannas, such as those that flourished here in the northern Illinois clay prior to settlement.

OK, moving on...

Goldenrods are starting to bloom, such as zig-zag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

and elm-leaved goldenrod (S. ulmifolia),

the latter which grows well in the shade with big-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla).

A lazily late-blooming liatris (L. aspera) is mixing its fuzzy purple blooms with tall coreopsis (C. tripteris)

which even by itself is as cheerful as a black-eyed susan or sunflower.

My Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) is well on its way to becoming frilly masses of tannish seeds, but it's still covered in pollinators (enlarge to see the bumblebee)

and other visitors.

The shortgrass prairie still has weeks to go before it settles down for late fall and winter, with grasses and the Plants Formerly Known as Asters still gearing up for their final flowering.

For more wildflowers blooming this Wednesday, see Gail and Clay and Limestone!

What I learned on my summer vacation...

2010-08-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that summer is nearly over, and the consistently warm and sunny weather belies what the calendar is telling me. The growing season still has another good seven weeks or so before we can expect a true frost, but as we turn into the home stretch I'm inclined to look back on this whirlwind summer and what lessons it's imparted.

1. It's the mulch, stupid!
This is rather embarrassing to admit, but I didn't mulch the vegetable bed this year and that was a major oversight! As someone who uses mulch quasi-religiously on the ornamental beds, and who has recommended the use of said mulch in multiple magazine articles, I really dropped the ball here! The lack of mulch contributed to tomato cracking and blossom end rot on some bell peppers, since the moisture level fluctuated rather wildly thanks to my frequent trips out of town and our periodic drought conditions. I guess I fooled myself into thinking mulch would be unnecessary and/or cumbersome because the bed is so small. However, I got a great suggestion from Garden Girl in a comment on a previous post about using leaf mold as a mulch, and I intend to give it a try next year.

2. Grow more hot peppers.

I have been scalding myself on a regular basis, and judging by the looks of these chili peppers it's set to continue. The habaneros are coming along beautifully too. I can't guarantee that next year will have the hot, sunny weather that this year has had, which is perfect for these peppers, but it's certainly worth another try!

3. Abject neglect will kill a container garden.
Before my week-and-a-half excursion away from home:

After:

The 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia is making a valiant effort to keep this container going, but the 'Ready to Wear' calibrachoa from Hort Couture and the 'Red Plume' celosia just couldn't handle the abuse.

4. Abject neglect will not necessarily kill a container garden.

This pot is in the shade, which undoubtedly helped its survival while I was gone. It's simple but I've been enjoying this container all season. Look at the nice crinkly texture of the 'Blackberry Waffle' hemigraphis, also from Hort Couture.

5. Abject neglect will kill a tree.
No photos of this involuntary arboricide. Let's just leave it at this: I bought a darling dwarf Canadian hemlock 'Pendula' that I was nursing along in a container with the intention of planting it in my problematic north border this fall. But I let it get too dry (I think), then I tried to overcompensate with too much water (I think), but I couldn't stop the downward spiral. I'm still not quite sure exactly how it happened, but I have officially killed a tree. Dark days.

6. Squashes need tons of sun.

I have gotten a whopping three cucumbers this year, and my four varieties of squash have produced exactly zero. The lush foliar growth and abundant flowers tells me there is hope for squashes here, but more sun would probably be a good idea. I expect to move the trellis next year, plant solely vining varieties to maximize sunlight exposure, and just generally lay out the veggie bed better next year.

7. Phlox paniculata and purple hyssop make a great combo.

OK, so I don't actually have many pictures of this combo because I mostly observed it in the frenzied weeks of late as I ran from the front door to the car, and later jumped from the car and ran back to the house, thinking as I streamed past the front garden, "Wow, those really look nice. Maybe I should take a picture. Maybe I should get more of them..." and then a thousand other things happened before I actually got the camera. But trust me, these 'David' phloxes and the hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) have anchored the front border since late July, and I like the textural contrast between the spiky hyssops and rounded, delicate phloxes.

So what did you learn this summer? Was it a good summer vacation, or are you ready for fall?

FTC Disclaimer: I got the calibrachoa and hemigraphis complimentary from Hort Couture, but as you should be able to see from this post, I am not predisposed to solely praise them.

Here come habaneros...

2010-08-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

...among other scalding selections in the container 'o fire. The bell and sweet peppers are putting out fruit, and my tomatoes have produced vigorously but...

...inconsistent moisture and my shoddy watering have resulted in lots of cracking problems! As a relatively inexperienced tomato grower, I reached out to two sources of garden wisdom: my local extension office and my mother. I found out that as long as no infestation gets into the cracks, the tomatoes are still edible (extension office), and if I pick the tomatoes and let them ripen in the relatively infestation-free house, there is a better chance they'll make it to maturity (mother).

The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are coming in first in the race to ripen, and I just hope enough of these, as well as the Amish Paste and Black Krim, can be salvaged. Of course, most of these will probably ripen this weekend while we are out of town. Luckily they will not go to waste because my mom (the same source of tomato wisdom) will be checking on and watering the garden in our absence, and in return she has exclusive rights to any ripe tomato!

The plants are still putting out more fruit, and I will try to be more diligent about maintaining consistent moisture in the raised bed. One lesson I've learned so far this year: vegetables take much more water than I anticipated!

But just as I was moping about the tomato cracks and sullenly harvesting the affected fruits, I saw something that made me ecstatic to be growing vegetables and which inspired that jolt of satisfaction only gardening can provide...

...I have cucumbers!! All year I've wrangled with my squash-less squashes and cucumber-less cucumbers. But I think I've isolated the issue: not enough sun in the back of the bed. The fact that this cucumber (and its lone companion) are in a very sunny site, far from the trellis where they're meant to be, sort of confirms my suspicions.

In other happenings, 'David' phloxes and purple hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) have made a dynamic duo this summer, and I am planning to add more of both next spring.

The Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) is flopping because of the recent rains, but some visitors don't seem to mind.

In the shady part of the front garden, big-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla) is in full bloom and playing nice with new elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) that just might bloom this year, and the coleus.

And my new 'Touch of Class' hosta is sending up tentative flower scapes...I'm so happy it's happy enough to be flowering! I look forward to this beauty getting even bigger and better.

The tall coreopsis (C. tripteris) is late blooming this year; I hope it can save some flowers for when I'm back!

I only planted two containers this year, and I'm happy with my decision to go for quality not quantity. This mixture 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia, 'Red Plume' celosia and 'Ready to Wear Paris' calibrachoa (which was a complementary trial from Hort Couture) has held up beautifully through heat, dryness and humidity (albeit with regular watering).

Yet again I will be missing Bloom Day on August 15th, but I look forward to seeing what everyone else has in their gardens! I guess this is my pseudo-Bloom Day post!

Wildflower Wednesday--Nodding Wild Onion

2010-07-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) is a dainty member of the onion family that blooms with icy pink-nearly white clusters of dangling flowers.

These plants were passalongs from Mr. McGregor's Daughter, and they are thriving in part sun. They're mixed with a number of other prairie natives, including rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), yellow coneflower (Ratbida pinnata), Short's aster (A. shortii), wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides) and 'Twilite' baptisias. As this is a new border, most of those have finished blooming or are gearing up for next year.

For more wildflowers this Wednesday, see Gail at Clay and Limestone!

Long Time, No Blog

2010-07-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been out of the loop lately! I missed Buffa10 and July Bloom Day, although I have enjoyed everyone else's posts on those topics. My reasons for this are work and life, but nevertheless the garden is carrying along quite well in our hot, sunny summer weather!

The Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum) is in full flower, and I'm happy to report others are enjoying it besides me.

The vegetable garden is a bit of a mixed bag. The tomatoes are growing splendidly at this point, no doubt encouraged by the weather.

I have only three--Amish Paste, Cherokee Purple and Black Krim--but all are bearing lots of as-yet-unripened fruit.

Cherokee Purple is winning the race for first tomato to ripen.

All the peppers are similarly thriving, such as these Thai chili peppers in the container 'o fire (which also includes a jalepeno and habanero).

But what's wrong with my squashes (and cucumbers) again?! All I have are these:

Lots of pretty flowers, but no squash (or zucchini or cucumbers). This cucumber vine is threatening to take over the whole bed, and I had to cut its tendrils off the tomatoes, yet no veggies!!

I have borage planted nearby to draw pollinators, and there's more near the tomatoes (which have obviously been pollinated). There are bees, wasps and flying bugs of all kinds around this garden constantly, so what's going on?

Right next door, the rain garden is coming into its own this year. The cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) are blooming brightly.

I have reconciled myself to the fact that I created a warm-color-scheme mess in this whole border, but that's just the way it's going to be. I have burgundy daylilies and these red and yellow ones

mixed with ice pink spireas (not pictured, as they are done blooming).

And in the rain garden, swamp milkweeds (Asclepias incarnata) and obedient plants (Physostegia virginiana) mix their pink blooms with the fiery red of the cardinal flowers.

It wasn't the most well thought out color scheme, but hey, all those hues are near each other on the color wheel, right? That's what I'll keep telling myself. The daylilies may get moved one day, but the rain garden plants have to stay where they are and they certainly are great for this purpose. They're absorbing our sudden and infrequent downpours and thriving beautifully, plus there have been monarchs galore around the milkweeds; I'm not about to lose all this ecological value over some shallow stylistic considerations. Once I realized that, I got very lazy about my plans to move the spireas, so pink and red this border may remain!

Of course now that I have the garden weeded and a second round of lettuce seeds just planted, I'll be leaving again for a 10-day jaunt late next week. What do you do when you're away from the garden? Is it acceptable to ask someone to water for you? And what's up with those squashes??

Coneflowers Hate Me

2010-06-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Coneflowers...ubiquitous, beloved, and resilient. I recommend them to others, I've written about them, and the variety of Echinaceas out there keeps multiplying every year. And yet they hate me.

This is the only coneflower I have had this year. It's a pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida), a cousin of E. purpurea that's native to the clay-busting shortgrass prairies of my region. Now granted, this plant is only two years old and pale purple coneflowers are by nature much less showy than their famous counterpart, but still...this is it??

Much more frustrating is this E. purpurea cultivar that has underperformed for so many years now that I can't even remember which one it is! (I think one of the Meadowbrights.)

I planted it in too much shade about three or four years ago (my fault), so I moved it the following spring to this sunny site where it's done nothing since. We're well beyond the "it's rejuvenating from the move" phase. What gives??

Then last fall I ordered some plain 'ole E. purpureas for my north border. Only three of the five or six are growing. In their defense, this could be my fault: did I mistake their shoots for weeds earlier this spring and pull them? Possible. Are they unable to grow in the horrible mix of clay and lava rocks? Certainly possible. But, excepting all that, these ones are still barely close to flowering despite plenty of moisture and (what I thought was) decent sun conditions.

I've been gardening for over 20 years, I'm a published garden writer, and yet some of the simplest, most common perennials defy my every attempt to grow them, be they rare native, normal type or fancy cultivar. It is remarkable the ability of plants to remind one of one's humility.

Bloom Day: Rained Out

2010-06-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

Well, not entirely, but close to it. Over the weekend I was mentally kicking myself for writing a long post looking all through the garden when Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Garden, was only a few days away (which I had kind of forgotten about).

(Phlox drummondi)

But now I'm glad I lived in the garden's moment, because near constant rain over the last few days has stripped away most flowers.

Here's a look at what the salvia and sand coreopsis (C. lanceolata) looked like pre-rain:

The dianthus is going strong, thanks to it being protected by the yews.

Even some columbine blooms are still hanging on, although most are on their way to becoming seed pods.

The 'Plumosa' salvia is in full bloom, but it's splaying all over the place (to again borrow a phrase from Carol). You wouldn't know that these are actually being held up by stakes right now!

In one of the back borders near the rain garden my most horrid color clash is underway: pink spireas and bright red daylilies.

I was a little short-sighted about planting those spireas, and I do plan to get around to moving them. Individually the blooms are pretty...

...icy pink...

...and deep red...

...just not right next to each other.

Despite the rain damage there should be much more in store. Currently things in bud include big-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla), sweet joe-pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), and the new roses. One started to bloom the tiniest, hesitant flower, a bit of a preview.

What is eating my squashes??

2010-06-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Garden Blogosphere,
Can you identify what bug is causing this damage? (I'm assuming it's a bug because the leaves are chewed on but there's no stem damage a la birds or rabbits, the latter of which would have to climb over my 1' fencing to get into this bed.)

I have seen earwigs in the soil lately, thanks to numerous recent downpours. Other thoughts? The dreaded squash vine borer?

Most importantly, what can I do about it? Suggestions not including the use of poisonous chemicals would be most appreciated.

Hope to hear from you soon!

The most wonderful time...

2010-06-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

I'll just say it--I love this time of year in the garden. Despite a spate of rainy, stormy weather that bordered on downright chilly, the garden is bursting with colors and textures and veggies of all sorts.

These nectaroscordums (N. siculum spp. bulgaricum) are even taller and more exotic looking than I expected, and they also reek unbelievably strongly of onions (they are members of the Allium family so I shouldn't be so shocked).

These seem to be one of those plants that look kind of so-so from far away, but close up you can really appreciate all their attributes. They're thriving in the clay mixed with remaining lava rocks, and for that alone they should be praised. I'm planning to add more bulbs this fall. If you have deer issues, I bet these reeking-of-onion plants would deter them. Just a thought.

In fact, it's turning out to be the Year of the Onion here. Look at how big the onions are in the veggie bed are:

There are red, white and yellow onions with some green ones to the left. For size comparison, here's a full view of the bed. Notice how the onion stalks (or whatever the green parts would technically be called) are as tall as the broccoli plants in the back.

Other vegetable delights include the pot 'o hot peppers, where all three (jalapeno, Thai chili and habanero) are growing quickly and starting to put out flowers. As someone who enjoys food so hot that it makes steam come out my ears, this is a joy in the making!

In the front garden, my cosmos and Phlox drummondi seedlings are finally starting to flower, and I'd like to thank everyone who suggested direct sowing cosmos...I will act on this advice next year!

In more positive seedling news, I have little cilantros popping up all over the herb section of the garden (they'll go great in those spicy Mexican and Thai dishes with the peppers!). I direct sowed a packet of Slow Bolt Cilantro from Renee's Garden and at first I feared most hadn't germinated, but in the past week or so they've shown up in droves. I know it's kind of hard to see, but there's one in this picture in front of the dianthus and columbine foliage. They seem to not be getting attacked by bugs like my basil seedlings (a big disappointment).

(Random side tangent, speaking of disappointments: My hyacinth bean seedlings have gone nowhere, despite me having little wire supports all ready for them at the base of the floor-to-roof posts we have along our front patio. They sort of look like they got eaten by a squirrel or something, or maybe they're suffering from too little sun, too little water, too much water--we've had both dry and soggy spells lately--but there's nothing happening. I think vines twining up the poles would look so great, but I can't seem to make it work! Why?! But I digress.)

Anyway, I planted some new Phlox pilosa in the front (and they are perfectly pink, as Gail would say). I'm thrilled with how brightly they're blooming after just a few short weeks in the garden! There is a fourth one that should be in the picture above, but while I was weeding the stem got snapped off, and I realized it was brown and a little brittle (please tell me it will grow back next year Gail?!).

These new hostas are my favorite things in the shady part of the front garden.

In the front left is 'Touch of Class' and to the back right is a nameless passalong from my mom; I like the way the light and dark parts of the leaves are reversed with the chartreuse in the center of 'Touch of Class' and on the margins of Nameless Passalong.

I accidentally became a rose gardener again. This one came with the house but has been languishing in weeds. I have no idea what it is but I tried to clear up the weeds around it when I planted a couple new quinces nearby.

I got these 'Candy Oh So Vivid Red' roses to trial from Proven Winners, which I hadn't known would be in the trial shipment.

Suddenly I realized that after an eleven year hiatus I now grow roses again. I'm thrilled that they're budding and I hope they're ready to grow without much pampering. We shall see!

I even managed to throw together some decent containers for the first time in a couple years. This one includes 'Double Blue Madness' petunias that are not blooming (unfortunately), with hemigraphis 'Blackberry Waffle' and some vinca vine. It will look much more exciting when the petunias bloom but I'm enjoying the contrast of the hemigraphis and vinca.

This container is in a sunnier spot, and it's got 'Red Plume' celosia with 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia and 'Ready to Wear Paris' calibrachoa. The hemigraphis and calibrachoa are from Hort Couture, and while I can't really say if they're particularly fashionable, they are growing vigorously and working well in these containers.

(Official disclaimer: the Proven Winners and Hort Couture plants were free trials...at this point I only like them for their merits as nice plants.)

The planting frenzy is over with all the veggie seeds and seedlings in, the containers done, and the annual seedlings and new perennials in the ground! Most surprisingly, I actually got off my butt and did a thorough weeding of the entire garden. Next is mulching, more weeding, hopefully successful harvesting, and soon enough bulb planting. How is your garden going, now that it's truly summer? What's next for it?

Wildflower Wednesday--Wild Hyacinth

2010-05-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides): native to North America with distribution from Ontario, Canada, down through the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic all the way to the Southeast and Texas. According to the USDA, it's endangered in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Here, it has been the star of the new south border. Its blooms are white shaded with the slightest hint of lavender.

As one of many new residents in this border, it's been the only one blooming this spring (which is not surprising).

It's been easy to grow and easy to love...takes part sun and average to dry soil, hardy in zones 4-8, reaching around 18" tall.