Month: October 2014
Light in October
In September, Autumn feels like a vacation from Summer. The cooler weather and softer light are both refreshing. At a certain point in October, though, it starts to feel as if you are preparing to leave a beloved place. The sun is so low in the sky that even the middle of the day feels …
Zigzag Goldenrod, a Lovable Thug
If you have a shady garden but would like to grow an ornamental goldenrod, do not despair. Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) is quite happy in shade, though I think it likes part shade best. Actually, I suspect that Zigzag Goldenrod would be happy growing in concrete under a quonset hut. As the Missouri Botanic Garden …
Switchgrass Switching Places, Again
And now for the saga of the nomadic Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Today I dug out a slice of turf along a corner of the Sidewalk Border in order to create a sunny spot for said switchgrass, which had already been moved once. Digging up grass is one of my favorite garden chores. I use an …
New Plants for the Shade Garden
As you may know, our new patio has created some new shady space for garden plants. Most of those I’ve put in so far are familiar to me – Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense), White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica). But I’m also trying a couple that are new to my garden: Bush Honeysuckle …
More Fall Color in the Garden
As we near the end of October, fall seems to be ambling rather than marching on. We have yet to see a frost, and the warm weather means colors have shifted only slowly. Seedheads of Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are no longer green, but seem to shimmer like hundreds of tiny goldfish. They look …
Shrub Rose ‘Cassie’ is a Flower Powerhouse
It’s October 20th, and everybody in the garden is winding down. Everybody but ‘Cassie’, that is. ‘Cassie’ is a medium-sized shrub rose that refuses to acknowledge the change of seasons. She just keeps pumping out small, semi-double white flowers. She even keeps the flower buds coming. All this while her canes fill with small orange …
The Joy of Plants at Joy Creek Nursery
Portland gardeners are lucky ducks. They seem to have an unusual concentration of high quality nurseries in their area, nurseries whose display gardens would make them worthwhile destinations even if they had nothing for sale. We don’t have that in Chicago, where land is at too much of a premium to be used that way …
Again with the Tulips in Containers
Monday was a holiday, and I spent it planting 160 Tulips into 11 containers. Plus a 12th container I planted with ‘City of Haarlem’ Hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis). There seems to be a fair amount of interest in planting Tulips in containers, so I’m doing this post even though I did a very similar one last …
Little House on the Portland Prairie
We saw a lot of wonderful gardens during the 2014 Garden Bloggers’ Fling in Portland this past July. If I had to pick one favorite, however, it would be Rhone Street Gardens. This is a garden where it seems every square inch is bursting with exuberant plant life. The resident gardener at Rhone Street Gardens …
October Scenes in the Garden
Just a random selection of recent photos, starting with Brown Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) in the back garden. Clove currant (Ribes odorata). Short’s Aster (Symphyotrichum shortii). Butterflyweed seed pods (Asclepias tuberosa). Swamp Milkweed seeds (Asclepias incarnata). Salvia with Bluestem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia). The front garden viewed from the back. The sidewalk border. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). …
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