Month: March 2013
All Right, Who’s Been Chewing On Sally Holmes?
Now that the snow has finally melted and left us for the season (please, please, please), I’ve had a chance to inspect the winter damage inflicted on the garden by the neighborhood rodents. My investigation reveals that, once again, rodent enemy #1 is none other than: Yes, the cloyingly cute bunny rabbit, known to his …
Wildflower Wednesday: Harebell
Wildflower Wednesday is a monthly appreciation of wildflowers hosted by Gail of Clay and Limestone on the fourth Wednesday of every month. (Admittedly, as I write this it is actually Tuesday night, but I don’t think I will have time for blogging tomorrow.) This month I want to recognize Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia L.), a bellflower …
Weekend Garden Notes: Is It Spring Yet?
Yes, technically, it is. But it is still by no means spring-like. The ground is still mostly frozen. Yesterday was sunny, but had a high of 37 degrees F (3 C). Today is gloomy and windy, and snow is expected tonight and tomorrow. However, you can’t keep a good (or at least an obsessive) gardener …
The Brown, Brown Stalks of Spring
As I have noted before, I am of the camp that believes in letting perennials stand over winter, then cleaning up in spring. It tends to be better for the birds, the plants, and the beneficial insects. Some people say it looks messy. They may have a point, but I prefer messy to bare frozen …
Book Review: The Gardener’s Palette, by Sydney Eddison
Late last year I got interested in trying to be more deliberate about the color schemes in my garden. Prior to that, I thought in terms of how two or three plants might fit together in terms of color, but never of a whole bed, let alone a whole garden. When I wrote about this …
Container Tulips: Back to the Garage You Go!
Last fall I wrote about how I had planted 96 hybrid tulip bulbs in containers for the spring of this year. I prefer to use species tulips, which are smaller and more perennial, in my beds. Judy, however, missed the big, luscious hybrid tulips, and so I thought I would give growing them in containers …
Garfield Park Conservatory Part II: Blooms for GBBD
Well, our blooms this March 15th are limited to snowdrops (Galanthus). I’ve already posted pictures of those. So this seems a good opportunity to post some more pictures from our visit to the Garfield Park Conservatory. For starters, there was a “Spring Flower Show”, which consisted of a bunch of blooming azaleas in containers. Nice, …
SOS for Monarch Butterflies
An article in today’s New York Times contained alarming news about the decline of Monarch butterflies. This year the butterflies are occupying less than three acres of pine forest in their Mexican winter habitat. That’s down dramatically from the seven acres occupied in 2o11 and the 50 acres that have been full of Monarchs in …
Sunday in the Garfield Park Conservatory with Judy – Part I
Last Sunday Judy and I met Danny for breakfast in Logan Square, then visited the Garfield Park Conservatory for the first time in years. The Conservatory is a Chicago landmark, built in 1906 and designed by Jens Jensen, the great landscape architect of the Prairie Style. We wanted to see some green plants, but also …
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