A Grass Undivided Cannot Stand
Of all garden chores, I think that dividing plants may be my least favorite. Even so, there comes a time when it cannot be avoided any longer.
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Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
The Only Summer Container Annuals I’ll Ever Need
You know how it is. When you’re younger (early 50s, say), you want to experiment. Try out different plants in your containers for sun.
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Monarch Butterflies Head South After a Disappointing Year
Since the middle of August Monarch Butterflies have been a steady presence in the front garden. There have been at least two fluttering around almost every day. This past Sunday there were three, passing through on their way south to Mexico.
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Brown Eyed Girl in the September Garden
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my favorite Rudbeckia is Brown-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba). Though the common name is puzzling – is the eye any more brown than either of the Rudbeckia species commonly known as Black-Eyed Susan (R. hirta and R. fulgida)?
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Hell Strip Highlights for September
Holy cow, it’s September. Summer is still pushing back against the march of time, though. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful this weekend – cool and sunny. Then Monday turned into a hot and humid beast, which will apparently be prowling around Chicago until at least the middle of the week.
The parkway beds (or hell strip, as some call them) are shifting from their summer to their fall look. Over the last few years I’ve dug up all the parkway grass on both sides of the driveway and planted a mix of perennials, all of them cohabiting with volunteers plants that keep sneaking in from elsewhere in the garden. These beds are really still feeling their way.
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Wednesday at the Lurie with Piet
So last Wednesday I got to spend an hour walking through the Lurie Garden with Piet Oudolf and about 20 garden lovers. It was extremely, extremely cool.
The unfortunate things were 1) Judy couldn’t come, as she was out of town for work; 2) I forgot her camera so I had to take pictures with my phone; and 3) I take terrible pictures with my phone, especially pictures of people. I feel very self-conscious about it, like I have to do it covertly. So the pictures with this post would have been a lot better if Judy had been there, and that’s why I don’t have a good picture of Oudolf.
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Oudolf Documentary Close to Completion
Tonight I was able to attend a preview screening of a documentary about Piet Oudolf. The screening was sponsored by the Lurie Garden (one of the gardens Oudolf helped to create) and attended by the director, Thomas Piper, as well as Oudolf himself. (Oudolf was in Chicago on one of his regular consultations with the Lurie Garden staff.)
The movie is called Fall Winter Spring Summer Fall: Five Seasons with Piet Oudolf. Here’s a link to the trailer.
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Sunday Garden Miscellany
Caterpillar Vindication.
Psychologists have determined that there are three kinds of personalities: those who are motivated by their own sense of what is right, those who seek the approval of other people, and those who seek the approval of caterpillars. I am in the third group.
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The Amazing Lives of Birds
Book Review: Beaks, Bones, and Bird Song, by Roger J. Lederer
If you are interested in birds but don’t have much of a science background, this book is a fun and fascinating read. The author establishes first that birds face daunting odds in their struggle to survive and reproduce. Only about 10% of songbirds make it from egg to adulthood, and about half of all adults perish every year.
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August Berries for the Birds
Late in August some of the birds begin to fatten themselves up for their fall journey. At the same time, berries of all kinds have begun to ripen. This, then, is a good time to take stock of what kind of garden buffet is on offer for our avian friends.
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