I have a special place in my heart for spring ephemerals. They are early harbingers of spring. Perhaps what I love is the surprise: You weren’t expecting us, but here we are! Volunteers are always welcome (though maybe not Dandelions and Creeping Charlie…). Perhaps I identify with their shy nature, since many of them have …
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Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
I may not post as often as I wish I did, but I can’t tell you how many posts I have composed in my head — I have a regular dialogue with you all, whether you hear it or not. It is lovely to think of so many people spread so far who have appreciated …
Jason and I went for a walk around the garden yesterday, to see what might be poking its head up, and to encourage ourselves that spring really is coming. There are a surprising number of Kaufmaniana tulips sticking their noses up! We planted a lot of these bulbs last fall, with the help of our …
The snow is gone! And the weather has been warm enough that I’ve been out in the garden the last couple days, actually doing garden chores. It feels like I have been sprung from prison.
Jason here. So Christmas has come and gone, and we had a good one. There were 6 of us. David and Meridith drove down (after Covid tests!) from Minnesota on Christmas Eve and stayed with us through the weekend. Danny and Beckee came up each day from their Chicago apartment. Not a big crowd, but …
The first of the Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are blooming! This is a heartening development, as they are the first flowers of the season in our garden. They mark not so much the beginning of spring as the end of winter.
After a couple of years of Polar Vortex, this winter has felt pretty mild. There’s been cold, but it’s rarely gotten much below 20 degrees (in my opinion, you don’t have real cold unless it gets below 20). And there’s been snow, but never more than a few inches at a time, and often not …
We had snow in Chicago this past weekend, followed by temperatures in the single digits. This puts me in mind of how rude it is for guests to arrive excessively early, as when January decides to show up in November.
It’s late autumn, and you know what that means: raking leaves, cutting back plants, and stuffing the resulting plant debris into giant brown paper bags. But does it have to mean that? In my case, for the most part, it does not.
A Near-Death Experience for Caladiums
Back in May I was congratulating myself for doing such a good job on growing 20 Caladiums from corms (which are like bulbs except that they’re different) on the back porch. You know how expensive it is to buy Caladiums in pots at the garden center? I forget exactly, but it’s expensive, especially if you …
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