Casual Gardening and Living in the Suburbs
Happy New Year!
Its always fun the end of the years to see what was the most interesting posts to my readers. Sometime it’s posts from previous years, sometimes this year. Here’s the top 10 most viewed posts in 2018:
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!
Here’s some highlights:
I was excited to get my zinnia and marigold beds laid down from seeds that I had collected from last years’ flower beds.
I waited for the soil to warm up enough, prepared the beds, separated out the seeds and spread them out over the soil, then watered. The seedlings were about 3 inches when disaster struck! Some wayward weed-wacking had pulverized them after mistaking the seedlings for weeds.
So back to ground zero, but it was now mid-June and everything was pushed back quite a bit. So, replanted what little seed I had left and added some new Burpee Cut and Come Again Zinnias and Burpee Boy O’Boy Marigold Mix. Much to my delight, I did end up with beautiful flower beds before too long.
Like last year, I collected up all my seeds to keep for next spring. Check out my previous post, Cheerful and Bright Zinnias Bed, for an easy how-to to get dense flower beds like these.
The Monarda added mid-summer festive colors and are always a favorite of the bees.
I’ve enjoyed the summer color from my current Monardas who have grown really well in their new locations (The Bee Balm is Very Happy). I added another variety this summer, Marje Pink Bee Balm (Monarda ‘Marje Pink’). Hopefully it grows as well as the other two have.
Other garden standbys did well this summer. Hostas, Daylilies, Phlox and the newly added Summer Beauty Allium (Allium Tanguticum ‘Summer Beauty’) added plenty of summer color
I moved some plants around and put some new ones in. We’ll see how they look in the spring!
I replaced some scraggly looking daylilies next to the front walkway with the much neater Summer Beauty Allium (Allium Tanguticum ‘Summer Beauty’), and filled in some holes n the side and back gardens with Flames of Passion Avens (Geum ‘Flamers of Passion’), Max Frei Geranium (Geranium Sanguineum ‘Max Frei’), early summer blooming Pumila Astilbe (Astible Chinensis ‘Pumila’) and late summer blooming Visions Astilbe (Astible Chinensis ‘Visions’)
I also took out this Russian Sage that never looked quite right in the midst of the yews. I tried to transplant it, but I didn’t really like being moved mid-summer. We’ll see if it comes up anywhere. I’m sure there will be some stragglers to remove and try again to transplant in the spring.
Overall pretty good year, but I’m excited to see what next spring will bring. Feel like it’s going to be a long winter…
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 as though wouldn’t ever arrive.
I was late getting the flowers and vegetables in the ground because of a combination of the ground being too cold, and some poorly timed travel plans. Really, who plans a vacation right at the peak of planting season? But, it was fun visiting Seattle and Olympic National Park, and having both college kids home for a visit.
Then finally, spring and summer arrived almost all at once. All the spring blooms seemed to explode at the same time making for a spectacular show.
Back in early April, I started some of my favorite vegetables indoors;
Outdoors in late April, I planted my early, cool temperature loving seeds including
More recently, I got the rest of the seeds planted including a second planting of the cool weather plants, and added Danvers and Calliope Carrots (Botanical Interests). I also bought beautiful
from Vern Goers, a local nursery. I was also gifted a lovely yellow pear tomato plant from my mom. (I’ve switched to growing my non-cherry tomatoes in bags to leave more room in the raised bed for the squash, zucchini, cucumbers and kohlrabi.)
I also got my bed of zinnias sowed, and this year added a bed of marigolds from seeds I collected last fall. Check out my previous post, Cheerful and Bright Zinnias Bed, for an easy how-to.
Last but not least, I got my potato bags going with three different varieties (for more info, visit these past potato posts) and planted lots of Lancelot leeks, shallots, and yellow sweet Spanish onions (Dixondale Farms).
Almost forgot, I got all my flower pots planted too!
So I think I’m all caught up for now, but lots more to write about! Hope you’ve had a good spring and your gardens are growing beautifully!
Last year, my friend Susan described to me how she grows a beautiful hedgerow of zinnias every year by collecting the seed heads in the fall (Fall Seed Gathering Means Beautiful Summer Zinnias).
I thought I’d give it a try this spring, so I collected all the zinnia heads from my garden last fall.
I left them in a bag over the winter on the porch and this spring crumbled up the dry seed heads to release all the seeds. No need to separate the seeds from the rest of the smaller plant material.
This spring, when the soil temperature was warm enough (usually not until after Mother’s Day here at my zone 5 home) I planted the overwintered seeds in a bare spot in the front garden that just needed some color. Just sprinkle out the seed mixture in thick rows or mat. Zinnias are definitely picky about temperature, so don’t start too early. (The dug-up plant on the left? A random daylily that was really out of place after a bunch of landscaping changes. It got replanted up at the WI cabin.)
Then I waited. I was surprised at how fast the seeds germinated, and by early July I had a beautiful, welcoming splash of color.
They’ve been blooming beautifully all summer, and the Durango Outback marigolds (Johnny’s Seeds) and Annabelle hydrangeas are perfect companions. I think the marigolds will be perfect candidates to try this seeding method with next spring.
I did try this seeding method this year with snapdragons. They germinated and grew really nicely, but for some reason haven’t flowered very well.
Maybe because they’re in a planter, or maybe it needed more fertilizer, or the seeds didn’t overwinter properly? Funny thing though, they seem to have grown just great in our fire pit where I must have tossed some “waste”.
I will be definitely be collecting all the seeds heads again this fall!
Zinnias are a great splash of color in the dog days of summer.
My friend Susan has a fabulous hedgerows of zinnias and she shared her secret as to how it looks great year after year.
Every fall she gathers the dead seed heads, dries them and stores them in a bag over the winter in a cool, dry location. I kept mine on my unheated porch.
When the temperature is warm enough in the spring, generally not for a couple weeks after the last frost date, she coarsely separates the seeds from the rest of the dead flower heads. Then in a shallow trench, she thickly spreads the coarse seed mixture, covers lightly with dirt and once the seedlings begin to come up, does not thin them. Zinnias thrive best in full sun and are quite drought resistant.
I had to try it! We collected seeds last fall from our gardens, and anywhere we could find lovely zinnia beds in need of dead-heading, including from the golf course we play at. This spring, when the soil temperature was warm enough (usually not until after Mother’s Day here at my zone 5 home) we planted our overwintered seeds by spreading the coarse seed mixture into shallow rows.
Zinnias everywhere! I need to find more places to plant them to enjoy all the color, but it worked. Not as nicely as Susan’s, but I’ll get there.
Susan was kind enough to send me some more photos of her yard. Enjoy!
I’m not the only loving the colors!
Soon she’ll be harvesting next year’s seed head before the first frost sets in.
All ready for another year of gorgeous color!
Many thanks to Susan for sharing her photos with me. And for enticing me to make my zinnia garden even bigger next year.