Tag: Purple Coneflower
From Weed Patch to Community Garden
The Midtown Greenway is a 5 mile biking and walking trail in south Minneapolis. It first opened about 15 years ago, converted from an old railroad corridor. Not too long after, the patrons of Vera’s Cafe decided to turn a nearby patch of weeds along the Greenway into a garden. Happily, we were able to …
A Garden Summit in St. Paul
Summit Avenue is one of the most historic streets in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Noerenberg Memorial Garden
So another Minneapolis-area spot that we discovered thanks to the Garden Bloggers Fling is the Noerenberg Memorial Garden.
The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
So I think the time has come to start posting about the Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling, which happened back in July. Let’s start with our visit to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.
The More Things Change (in The Garden), The More Fun I’m Having
Many of us have entered the season during which we gardening mostly in our heads. We are thinking about what plants to add, move, or replace. We are poring over old garden books and catalogs (the 2016 catalogs have yet to arrive, but the 2015 issues sit in a convenient pile by my side of …
A Visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden
Last Sunday Judy and I made our first visit of the year to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Usually we go about once a month starting in May, and try to make certain highlights like when the crabapples are in bloom – but this year there’s been too much going on. CBG is one of the …
More Plants Arrive!
This time of spring is better than Christmas, Hannukah, and all the other holidays rolled into one. Just like during the holiday season, delivery vans periodically pull up to the house. What’s better is: 1) all the boxes are marked “Live Plants – Fragile”; and 2) it’s all for me!!! Just in time for this …
Bluebeard and Red Poppies, Plus Other Plant Combinations from the Chicago Botanic Garden
Looking at photos from a summer outing to the Chicago Botanic Garden, I was particularly struck by three of the plant combinations Judy took pictures of. (UPDATE: As Alison and Alberto point out in comments, the blue flower below is a tall variety of Nepeta, not Bluebeard. Sorry for the error!) First, Bluebeard (Caryopteris) and …
The Echinacea Cultivar Control Board: A Modest Proposal
I’m very fond of purple coneflowers and other members of the genus Echinacea. However, there is something disconcerting about the multitude of occasionally bizarre Echinacea cultivars being put out by plant breeders. I mean, what was the thinking behind Echinacea ‘Double Decker’? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a straight species purist. I plant cultivars. …
2012, the Year of Unnerving Weather
Extreme weather dominates my thoughts about gardening for this past year. It started with extreme winter mildness. This may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it was unnerving for those of us accustomed to harsh Chicago winters. January was about 8 degrees warmer than normal on average. Snow melted, the snowdrops (Galanthus) came up …
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