We have had a crazy spring to say the least! Temperatures all over the place, snow, rain, sleet, you name it we've had it. But this weekend was truly a glorious one and made us forget all the bad stuff Mother Nature has thrown at us the last few weeks (or maybe months). In between … Continue reading Enjoying a Glorious Spring Weekend
Category: Flowers
Finally Fixing the Rabbit Fence
There are so many garden pests, but rabbits have to be right up there at the top of many gardener's list (unless you have deer, then that's a whole different issue). Last summer I posted in "Oh Those Pesky Rabbits" about the issues I was having with rabbits eating many of my tender young vegetables. … Continue reading Finally Fixing the Rabbit Fence
Happy New Year 2016
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2016! I truly appreciate all who have visited my blog this year. Here's a look back at some of my most popular posts of 2015! 1. Taming My Tomatoes With A Florida Weave: My tomatoes were a mess, so I tried something new to try and keep … Continue reading Happy New Year 2016
August, Oops, September Garden Update
A while back I thought I was getting caught up, but then sending twins off to college this fall proved to be quite a time consuming effort! So the garden has been a bit on auto pilot for a little while now. Thank goodness it got off to such a good start this spring. Here's … Continue reading August, Oops, September Garden Update
Summer Sunday Visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden
This past weekend, we had the pleasure of having my husband's cousin visit from Australia. In trying to decide what to do, we tossed around heading downtown (hmm, Lollapalooza weekend), heading to Brookfield Zoo, Morton Arboretum or maybe even up north to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Much to my surprise, it turns out he's quite … Continue reading Summer Sunday Visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden
The Bee Balm Is Very Happy
Sometimes you just pick the wrong place to plant a plant. That happened to me with a bright red Bee Balm (Monarda variety unknown). As I wrote about before (Time For the Yarrow To Go), this particular Bee Balm had been planted underneath a newly planted River Birch which is now almost 20 years old. As … Continue reading The Bee Balm Is Very Happy
Clematis Stem Wilt: An Update to Something’s Wrong With The Clematis
Yesterday, I wrote about the terrible condition of two of my clematis plants (Something's Wrong With The Clematis). This morning, after an interesting discussion on Facebook, I called the Morton Arboretum Plant Hotline. They are a great local resource for what's going on with plants in the area. They said it sounded like my clematis have clematis stem wilt. … Continue reading Clematis Stem Wilt: An Update to Something’s Wrong With The Clematis
Something’s Wrong With The Clematis
Usually, my clematis are one of the stalwarts of my garden. They grow beautifully with very little attention. But this year, after being gone to Yosemite for a few days, I came home to both my Clematis "Sugar Candy" looking like this: It was really puzzling. My two ideas as to what was happening where that somehow … Continue reading Something’s Wrong With The Clematis
The Garden Was Party Perfect
My goal this spring was was to get the garden in shape for my twin boys high school graduation festivities. While the weather barely cooperated, the gardens were helped by the cool spring and looked beautiful, green and lush. Some of the spring shrubs were still blooming and overlapping with some of the early summer … Continue reading The Garden Was Party Perfect
Beautyberry Bushes–Did They Survive The Winter?
Last year, I wrote about buying three Purple Pearls Beautyberry Bushes (Callicarpa x NCCX1) at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale. I had seen them the fall before in the parking lot there and thought they were just stunning with all those amazing, unusual purple berries (see Purple Beautyberry Bush). I had to plant them in my yard! For a first year … Continue reading Beautyberry Bushes–Did They Survive The Winter?