Author: Stephi

2018 Garden Recap: Vegetables (Part 1) (aka Attack of the Squash Vine Borer)

In my last post, I wrote about how my flower gardens fared this year. Next up is the vegetable gardens. In a word, this year the vegetables gardens were a disaster. Not for any one reason, just a lot off bad things conspired to really take a toll and make it one of the worst … Continue reading 2018 Garden Recap: Vegetables (Part 1) (aka Attack of the Squash Vine Borer)

2018 Garden Recap: Flowers

Now that the outdoor growing season has officially ended here in Chicago, I thought it was time to look back and see how things went. It was definitely a mixed year weather-wise, but for the most part everything looked pretty good all summer. Except for the weed infestation that took a while to get under control! … Continue reading 2018 Garden Recap: Flowers

Winter Has Arrived ❄️❄️

My husband had a running weather joke all summer, "Enjoy it now, it'll be snowing in 3 months". We'd all roll our eyes. Well, he really wasn't all that far off. We had the 5th biggest November snowfall last night, and it was a very messy storm. Thankfully, my college kids had left Saturday to … Continue reading Winter Has Arrived ❄️❄️

New Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders

I had such success with my squirrel proof feeders (Who Won The Squirrels vs Feeder Contest?) that when I needed to replace my peanut feeder, I searched again for a squirrel proof version. I found two options that seemed like they would work and ended up ordering them both! The first was the The Nuttery Classic … Continue reading New Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders

Troll Hunt!

The last few summers the Morton Arboretum has had a "BIG" exhibit to bring people outdoors and celebrate nature. There's been frogs, giant bugs, giant lego statues, and life size origami. And this year, a Troll Hunt! The Trolls are the design of Danish artist Thomas Dambo. These 15- to 30-foot-tall, and one 60-foot long, sculptures … Continue reading Troll Hunt!

Weeds, Weeds, Weeds

Just when I finally got the garden under control, I go on vacation and leave it to its own devices for a few days. I came home to an explosion of weeds. Where do they come from? I think I get the Preen down early enough, but that never seems to be the case. I … Continue reading Weeds, Weeds, Weeds

My Magnolia Saga

In my neighborhood, one of the things that truly announces that spring has arrived is the beautiful blooms of the Magnolias, Redbuds and flowering Crabapples. We already had pink crabapple, so when one of our River Birch trees died about 10 years ago, we replanted nearby with a Redbud. It has grown beautifully and puts … Continue reading My Magnolia Saga

Spring Into Summer

You may have noticed I took another little break from blogging.  Nothing exciting going on, just got busy with some other projects. But, my garden is in full growing mode after a tough winter and spring. Winter was long, cold and at our place in Door Co, WI, very snowy.  Spring came slow and seemed … Continue reading Spring Into Summer