What with St. Valentine’s Day coming tomorrow, I thought I would tell the story of how I met Judy, my blog partner and spouse of almost 35 years. So cast your minds back to 1983 in Chicago. I was working for a political organization, preparing for a regional conference up in Madison, Wisconsin. Judy was …
gardeninacity
Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
The Madison Garden Bloggers Fling: Don’t Miss It!
The 2020 Garden Bloggers Fling will be held in Madison, Wisconsin on June 18-21st. For most of us Midwesterners, that’s just a few hours drive – truly a golden opportunity for those who have never before attended.
So here’s a small bit of encouraging news for pollinators.
There’s an American Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) planted on the east side of the house. Rabbits chewed it to the ground every year before I protected it with hardware cloth. Then it bounded upward and quickly reached its current height of about 10′. It’s still growing, I think.
Phantom of the Mexican Sunflower
Butterflies are gradually becoming more scarce as we slide into the last week of September. However, this weekend I got a lucky capture of a Black Swallowtail on a Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). This guy’s stance and coloring made me think of Phantom of the Opera, plus it kind of looks like he is wearing …
Do you remember Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)? It used to be my number one plant for filling containers all over the shady Back Garden, providing bountiful and vibrant color from May to September. Starting around 2011, though, the scourge of Impatiens Downy Mildew (IDM), caused gardeners everywhere to turn their backs on the stricken plants.
Scenes from the Back Garden
For today’s post I’ve got just a few peeks from the shady Back Garden.
Yesterday we saw what the Front Garden had on offer at the beginning of July. Today we head to the shady back garden, under the dappled shade of Silver Maples and other mature trees.
Winter Kill
This might seem a little late for a post on plants lost to our last winter (an extraordinarily severe one). But sometimes you need more time to be really sure of your losses.
Scarlet Tanager, I Presume
This past weekend a pair of Scarlet Tanagers visited the back garden. Like the Indigo Bunting, this is a bird that we see only once every year or so.
