In 2007, opportunity knocked in the form of a three-inch sliver in my four-year-old daughter's little foot. It was as gruesome as it sounds. Despite that, I asked the surgeon to save the piece of wood for posterity. For now, it's in her baby box that contains lots of "firsts." First sippy cup. First favorite toy. First story book. I'm willing to bet she's the only kid with a giant piece of wood sealed in a urine specimen jar with a label that reads "Abigail's First Sliver" along with the date. She'll be 16 in a few months and has yet to inquire about it. Too many bad memories, I suppose. To this day, I don't know why I told her to come in and put shoes on. We tend to run around barefoot in the backyard. But I suspect it had everything to do with an article I read about skin-penetrating ...
Calamintha nepeta: A Pollinator’s Smorgasbord
Calamintha nepeta wasn't a plant I chose. It chose me. Several years ago, I attended a writer's conference and received a plug pack that contained a mixture of Summer Beauty allium and Calamintha nepeta. Neither looked very impressive. But being the plant junkie that I am, I found a sunny sight for them and waited. And man was I impressed! I wasn't struck the way one would be by the enormity of a hardy hibiscus bloom. The fascination came from the way this little plant with the delicate white flowers hosted a United Nations of insects all summer long with no effort from me beyond the first year in my garden. It's a very soft spoken plant. Sometimes those are the ones most worthy of our attention. The frenzy of pollinators darting through it created all the buzz it needed. Metallic ...
10 Tough Plants for Dry Shade
I have a love/hate relationship with dry shade. Love for the leaf textures that make the space interesting, hate for the time it's taken me to discover what works in this most challenging of garden situations. I've killed a lot of stuff in my search for plants that can tough it out without much coddling. No fancy irrigation systems here. Just me and a hose. Fifteen years ago, the southeast corner of our backyard was a soupy mess after every rainfall and consistently damp throughout the rest of the growing season. The lots in our neighborhood are arranged on slopes and each home has a sump pump that empties into the closest sewer which happens to be in our backyard. After living with the situation for five years (I was busy chasing toddlers), I decided to plant trees that could help us ...
Air Plants: They Were Made for Black Thumbs
If you're incredibly good at dealing death to houseplants, but love the look of something living in your home other than you, air plants may be right up your alley. Tillandsias aren't the touchy feely types. They prefer a hands off approach. No dirt, no repotting. Ever. Too good to be true, right? Air plants are jungle plants with approximately 550 species belonging to the genus. You won't find them growing in the soil beneath the jungle canopy. Instead, they prefer the crotches of trees where they use their roots to anchor onto the bark and absorb nutrients from the air through hairs (trichomes) on their leaves. As epiphytes, they grow on other plants but aren't parasitic and do no harm to their host. Their undemanding nature allows them to transition easily indoors and spruce ...
From Fish to Flamingoes, It’s All Garden Art To Me
Several years ago, my mother-in-law, a devout Catholic, gave me a St. Francis of Assisi statue for my garden. As the patron saint of nature and those who care for the environment, she thought it perfect for my little Eden. And it is in so many ways. I'm not religious, but I deeply appreciated the sentiment behind the gift and for this reason he stands among the phlox and rudbeckia every year. I think it suits him. To me, he is art and a reminder of the loved one who gave him to my garden. It never occurred to me that someone could be so deeply moved by my garden art. It was an awkward moment but in a way reiterates the point of art. To evoke a feeling or emotion, no matter how kitschy or trite. A neighbor asked to see my garden and I eagerly invited her in. What gardener doesn't jump ...
Spicy Hot Chocolate for a Chicago Deep Freeze
As I'm writing this, the wind is howling, the furnace hasn't stopped and the current temperature is -26F in the Chicago area. With the wind chill...-47F. Ugh. The dog is resting at my feet in a sweater to which she's reluctantly adjusting and all I can think is how grateful I am that the garden is blanketed with seven inches of snow as we wait this out. Frost quakes, or cryoseisms, have been rattling the garden all morning and seem to have subsided now that the sun's out. Cryoseisms occur when saturated soil endures a massive temperature drop. The soil expands, stressing its surroundings, until the pressure becomes so great that a tiny explosion occurs. While I didn't feel the earth shake, the quake that occurred at 11am was enough to wake my daughter. School's closed for the next few days ...
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