One of my two Amaryllis ‘Miracle’ bulbs started blooming this week. And it’s a good thing, because I needed something that wasn’t on a computer screen to distract me from the dreary scene outside. The days have been not just short, but gloomy and overcast. I ordered these Amaryllis from John Scheeper’s. ‘Miracle’ is a …
Cathy at Words and Herbs has invited folks to join her in reviewing the garden year, starting with spring. The idea appealed to me as a good antidote to these cold, dark days. The very beginning of spring is my subject for today. That’s when our spirits are lifted by the very first blooms as well …
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 …
The ‘Casa Blanca’ oriental lilies are blooming in the back garden’s raised bed. I planted them last fall. There used to be ‘Casa Blanca’ in the Driveway Border, but they are no more. Foul play has not been ruled out. Anyhow, these are wonderful lilies. The ivory white petals are rich and luxurious. But it’s …
Actually, in my mind the best tulips in the universe are whatever tulips I have blooming at that particular moment. One of the advantages of growing tulips in containers is you can try different varieties every year. But I will say that this seemed to be a particularly good year for tulips – maybe because …
Time to Dig the Alliums In the back garden there is a patch of Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ (Allium aflatunense) that has expanded substantially over time but that is also getting rather too congested. A sign of this is the thick growth of Allium foliage but fewer actual flowers than we saw last year. When they …
Does a late spring mean shorter plants? For example, consider my golden Alexander (Zizia aurea). Normally I have to cut this perennial back in mid-May and even then it requires some staking. Supposedly it grows to only 3′ but in my garden borders it easily surpasses 4′. This year, however, Alex seems to be topping …
Earlier this week Judy was walking to the Millenium Park garage in downtown Chicago but, prompted by the mild weather and clear light, took a detour into the Lurie Garden. The views were sublime – full of blues, purples, and whites – and Judy took some photos with her cell phone. They came out pretty …
The Tulip is a fascinating history of the relationship between people and this enchanting spring flower. In very different places and times, many have been obsessed with tulips, due in part to their enormous and irrepressible bundle of genetic variability, capable of all sorts of surprising tricks with color, shape, and habit. And people have …
First, the good news. As a result of frequent applications of the Stare of Life, several of the plants on the winter death watch have broken dormancy. Specifically: both my two year old fringe trees (Chionanthus virginicus), the bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Longwood Blue’}, the ‘Blue Adonis’ compact butterflybush (Buddleia), and the ‘Conca D’Or’ orienpet …
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