This fall, one thing I will not be doing is raking and bagging.
Category: Learning
Right plants, wrong place
It’s too hot outside to do anything but enjoy what’s working and plan for fall.
Winter’s return (and what to do about it)
The forecast is for snow. What will this mean for our spring? Should I turn my yard into a tent city? Is trying to save things worth the trouble?
Doing an environmental good deed
Planting the prairie plants I bought at the Burr Oak Nature Center plant sale last month. Trying to stick to plan. Using plant markers. Plus, a little guerilla gardening.
Butterfly bush and its evil ways
New information can reveal that things we once assumed were good are actually more complicated than we thought. This is perhaps the case with Buddleja davidii, the Butterfly Bush.
New plants for a shady spot
Remember my last post when I said the worst was over? I was wrong. For weeks I had no thoughts about gardening. None. Everything was frozen. The days were something to be gotten through. Then suddenly, everything changed. Even though the ground is still partially covered, it’s like a dam burst. Ideas are starting to […]
Next up: red twig dogwood
Sure, it’s blah out, and cold, but the hard part’s over. Punxsutawney Phil may predict six more weeks of winter, but what’s six weeks? After all we’ve been through, six weeks is nothing. If you’ve been outside much, you must have noticed buds forming on the trees and daffodils beginning to sprout. More birds are […]
Anticipation: planning for spring, ways to save money
January is a quiet month for gardeners.Most of its pleasure comes from thinking about gardening, not from gardening itself. But things are happening: the world is gathering force for great change.
Wintry Mix: Plans, Roy Diblik, and Hornbeams
I started out years ago wanting to recreate The High Line in our backyard. Impossible, I know. Eventually my research led me to Roy Diblik’s The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden: “a simplified approach to making a design magazine-worthy garden achievable at home.”
Seeing red—and pink, and other colors: Poinsettias
The holiday exhibit currently on display in the conservatory at Powell Gardens offers plenty of inspiration. The lively mix of colors and textures is a visual feast.