For the last year or so I’ve been taking classes at the Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG). I skipped the April/May classes because that is our busiest time at work. My goal is to get a Certificate in Garden Design, though I’ve got a very long way to go. Monday night I started on my new course. …
I have a bed at the base of the backyard silver maple that I call my “wild bed”. Whatever grows there is what grows there. The only exception is woody plants; any tree or shrub seedlings get yanked as soon as I see them. It wasn’t originally supposed to be a wild bed. When I …
I’m never able to get this done on the 15th, but so be it. Here’s what’s blooming in my garden: Native Perennials and Shrubs (including Cultivars) Asclepias purpurascens, Purple Milkweed. Well behaved milkweed that grows in light shade. Asclepias tuberosa, Butterflyweed. Love this plant. Ceanothus americanus, New Jersey Tea. Low growing shrub GREAT for pollinators. …
In the horticultural justice system, the gardener expresses two separate but equal responses to the loss of a beloved plant. The first is to have a tantrum. The second is to rush out and buy a replacement. This is my story. CHUNG-CHUNG. I love my ‘Casa Blanca’ oriental lilies. The ivory flowers are wonderful, and …
I am one of those people who frets. I fret about important and difficult things. I also fret about things I do for fun, like gardening. I fret, therefore I am. These days I am fretting about pansies. Specifically, when should I replace the pansies with summer annuals in the various containers and planters I have? Right …
The stone path to the backyard that lies on the west side of our house had problems. The steps were sinking in places and were covered by soil that had washed down from the border. Also, the stepping stones were a couple of inches below the level of the bricks that start at the backyard …
Every year we grow far more herbs, in gross tonnage, than we consume. A single oregano plant goes a long way, even if you are vigilant in beating back its efforts to take over the entire neighborhood. Admittedly, I make matters worse by planting far more parsley, dill, and fennel than we could ever use in order to …
Back in April, Judy and I visited Paris for the first time as a birthday/anniversary celebration. Great trip. Judy is still sorting through the 1,500 pictures she took (thank God for digital cameras). So far I’ve done one post on Monet’s Garden at Giverney. Both of us have been very hard pressed at work since then so …
Returning from another work trip on late Friday afternoon, the first thing I did was to inspect the garden. Then I spent a couple of hours staking, clipping, weeding and generally puttering around. At one point, I asked myself: why am I doing this after being absent from home all week? More generally, why do I …
One of the unfortunate things about my job is that I have to be out of town a great deal during May, a crucial gardening month. This past week I left on Tuesday morning and returned Saturday afternoon, just a few hours ago. I have to leave again on Monday morning (yes, Memorial Day), and won’t …
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