Category: Trees

Assessing Winter’s Damage

While most of the garden has burst forth finally, quite a few things have been mighty slow, while others have obviously not survived the winter.  From what I've been hearing, everyone has suffered some loss in the garden from the long, cold, snowy winter.   In comparison to some, I think I've fared pretty well since I didn't lose … Continue reading Assessing Winter’s Damage

It’s a Great Day to be Red!

Today's post is a tribute to my son's high school cross country team who will be traveling to the IL state meet tomorrow with the goal of coming home #1!  As everything around town has been turning from summer green to fall red, it brings to mind that this could very well be the year … Continue reading It’s a Great Day to be Red!

Michigan Tamaracks in Fall

You can find the beautiful and interesting Tamarack tree (Larix laricina) in Michigan. They are also known as the Eastern Larch. The Tamarack tree is a member of the pine family, and looks like most pine trees, except with one important difference; it loses its needles every fall making it a "deciduous conifer." It thrives … Continue reading Michigan Tamaracks in Fall

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! Halloween is always a mixed bag weather-wise here.  I've seen everything from 70's and gorgeous, to 30's with snow, and everything in between.  This year looks like a rainy, yet rather warm day and not very windy.  In the scheme of things, I guess not too bad.  But then, my kids are past … Continue reading Happy Halloween!!

Brrr, it’s Cold

As expected, we sunk down below freezing Tuesday night. Glad I got the last of the vegetables harvested. Surprisingly, many of the garden plants actually looked pretty good in the morning, but we'll see after 2 days of below freezing temperatures overnight. I ended up leaving the single perfect rosebud on the plant. In the … Continue reading Brrr, it’s Cold

First Frost Warning is Coming Tonight!

I feel pretty lucky that we've squeaked out an extra week or so before the first hard frost has hit the Chicago area. NOAA has issued it's first freeze watch for the area for tonight, almost a week my after the average date for my area.  We might even get some flurries! Chicago is a … Continue reading First Frost Warning is Coming Tonight!

Plant Breeding In Progress

I was out riding my bike earlier this week at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, when I came across a few plants and trees with paper bags on them. Paperbark Hazelnut Corylus fargesii Shrubby St. Johnswort Hypernicum prolificum I assumed they were either doing pest control or trapping.   But, because the Arboretum is … Continue reading Plant Breeding In Progress

Sunday Feature: Holes in the Mountain Ash

**Today's post is from guest blogger, Peggy** For almost 10 yrs, the 2 mountain ashes in our yard has had a woodpecker, or something similar, making quite an interesting pattern of peck marks in it. Hard as we've tried, we've not been able to spy the culprit.  The trees were quite small when the holes … Continue reading Sunday Feature: Holes in the Mountain Ash

Problem Areas

Everyone has problem areas in their yard.  This week, I'm going to show some of ours and some of the solutions we've finally come up with.  First was an area off the corner of the house.  When we first moved in, the landscaper designed the space to have 3 large Austrian Pines in the corner … Continue reading Problem Areas