Month: September 2014
Fall Planting!
The Left Bank – the bed that lies west of the driveway between the crabapple and the sidewalk – has been born anew. The last three weeks I’ve hardly gotten into the garden at all, but yesterday I spent a good six hours digging out the old and planting the new. You may recall how …
The End of Colony Collapse Disorder?
There was a somewhat encouraging but confusing opinion piece in the New York Times on Friday about the decline of honeybees. In the column, biologist Noah Wilson-Rich states that “Scientists I’ve spoken to in both academia and government have strong reason to believe that CCD [Colony Collapse Disorder] is essentially over.” Wilson-RIch claims that there …
Early Fall Color and Other Scenes From Wisconsin
We stayed at a cabin on Loon Lake owned by our friends Bob and Wendy. There was a wonderful small dock jutting into the water, It was perfect for gazing at reflections in the water … Not to mention reading, stargazing, and listening to the loons. Judy really enjoyed hanging out on the dock. You …
When Beavers Attack
Our week in Wisconsin was about more than just falling out of kayaks. It was also about enjoying the natural world. And we particularly enjoyed the natural world on the day we went hiking at the Hunt Hill Audubon Sanctuary, which was about 30 miles from our cabin. Hunt Hill has 400 acres of woods, …
Our Wilderness Survival Story
OK, not wilderness really. But the Namekagon River in northern Wisconsin is part of an officially designated Scenic Riverway, so that’s kind of close. Little did we know that this river would test our wilderness survival skills (which is like testing our neurosurgery skills, as both are pretty limited). The plan was that Judy, Daniel, …
A Little Slice of Fall
Autumn seems to be taking over in a hurry. Suddenly I find I need to wear a jacket when I go outside. The Crooked Stem Aster (Symphyotrichum prenanthoides) is covered with tiny sky blue flowers. Then there is Big Leaf Aster (Symphyotrichum macrophyllus). I have finally admitted to myself that Big Leaf Aster (or as …
A Couple of Lessons That Took a Long Time to Learn But Now Seem Kind of Obvious
Beth over at Plant Postings hosts a meme called Lessons Learned, which is about pretty much what it sounds like. This is a good thing, as it’s extremely useful to compare notes with fellow gardeners. So I’m taking this opportunity to write about a couple of lessons I learned over the summer. Lesson Number …
Black-Eyed Susan, Brown-Eyed Susan, and Olof Rudbeck the Younger
A couple of years ago I transplanted some surplus Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida) to the Parkway Border. They prospered, and were soon joined by a couple of volunteer Brown-Eyed-Susan (R. triloba). Around this time of year, as a result, there is a big cheerful drift of golden yellow in front of our house. Passing drivers …
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Colonoscopy
I had a colonoscopy on Friday, and let me start out by saying that the results were basically fine. I have mixed feelings about writing on this topic, this being a garden blog and all (annuals, biennials, colonoscopies … wait, something doesn’t fit here). However, there is a moral to this story that in the …
The Best Ornamental Grass in the Universe
Fall is the season of grasses. In my garden, my absolute favorite grass is ‘Northwind’ Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Now is when ‘Northwind’ sends up it’s airy panicles of tiny flowers. I have two big clumps of this Switchgrass in the Driveway Border. This grass is native to the eastern and central parts of the USA …
gardeninacity 