Here She Grows

Grow something!

  • About
    • Portfolio
  • Gardening
    • My Garden
  • Videos
  • Food
  • Health
    • SIBO (pronounced See-BO)
  • Virtual Garden Walks
  • Blog
  • Contact Heather

Search Results for: shade

10 Tough Plants for Dry Shade

March 8, 2019 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Dry Shade Garden

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 ...

read more...

Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Top Posts Tagged With: ajuga, bergenia, dry shade, dry shade gardening, hellebore, hosta, Plants for dry shade, pulmonaria, shade gardening, shade gardens, solomons seal, tough plants

Choosing the Right Sunflowers for Your Garden

January 6, 2023 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Sunflowers

Happy New Year, garden tribe! It's early January which means I'm buried in seed catalogs and slightly overwhelmed. I want so much! Not because I need it but because I have this thing for plants. Animal shelters have the same effect. If I had the land, and the money, I'd bring everyone home with me. All kidding aside, winter is a time of reflection as well as one of hope for all that's possible in the garden. And as I thought about my garden and how very mediocre it was in 2022, one thing struck me. I really love sunflowers. Perhaps the saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" really is true. There wasn't a single sunflower in my garden last year, the first time in over a decade, and I certainly don't want to repeat that in 2023. Of course there were rudbeckia, coneflowers and ...

read more...

Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: annuals, branched sunflowers, direct sow, pollinaor flowers, single sunflowers, sunflowers

Some Much Needed Inspiration from Walters Gardens

September 1, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

ornamental grass

My garden has been begging me to get out of it. I think it was the best thing I could do for it this summer. The oldest part of my garden is on the west side of my house, just inside the gate. It's about 15 years old and it's looking it's age. Plants have an expiration date. Either they age out of beauty in the eyes of the gardener or they simply lose their vibrance. I think there's a little of both going on here. I've been staring at the same space with the same plants for years and finding it difficult to reimagine it any other way. I needed a new perspective so I ditched my garden for the day and made a two-hour drive to Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Michigan. I spent the entire morning considering, imagining and snapping pictures of scenes and combos that appealed to me. The colors ...

read more...

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: agapanthus, allium, black plants, elderberry, hibiscus, kniphofia, pennisetum, plant combos, sedum, Walters Gardens

Dahlia Fail and a Change of Heart

November 18, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 3 Comments

Dahlia bouquet

The dahlias are tucked away despite the fact that I swore off trying to overwinter them again after last year's dahlia fail. I killed all except one variety. It was my first attempt at overwintering dahlias and I thought the garage was the perfect spot. As it turns out, it's not. Chalk this fail, there have been many, up to some serious gardener error. Three crates full of clean, plump, labeled tubers by March had become three crates of shriveled, puckered pods. I learned two things from that experience – the garage is too cold for dahlia tubers and you have to check your tubers monthly. Ok three things. I stink at this dahlia thing. I went to all that effort to store them and basically forgot about them for months, expecting they'd be just as I had left them months before. Well, these ...

read more...

Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden Tagged With: cut flower gardening, dahlia tubers, dahlias, overwintering dahlia tubers, winter storage

Tough Perennials for a Colorful Fall Garden

October 15, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Place the word "tough" in front of a word and oftentimes you get a negative meaning. Meat. Disposition. Decision. Childhood. No one likes tough meat or a tough childhood for that matter! But put it in front of "plants" and every gardener listens. Tough plant you say? To survive in my garden, you (the plants) gotta be tough. I'm not a plant coddler but instead subscribe to the Joan Crawford school of gardening. So when I was planning my side yard last winter, I focused on tough plants for a fall garden. It's very specific, but being specific keeps me on point and narrows my focus. With so many plants from which to choose, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Here's my criteria: 1. I want flowers until frost. 2. I want to to see them from inside the house. 3. I want to do as little as possible ...

read more...

Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: anemone, asters, coneflower, drift roses, echincea, fall blooming perennials, fall color, fall flowers, fall garden, flowers, Japanese anemone, pollinator garden, pollinator plants, Roses, salvia, tough perennials, tough plants

Picking a Cover Crop for the Raised Beds

September 16, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 4 Comments

Glass Gem corn

Over the years, I've grown all kinds of crops in my raised beds. The glass gem corn (pictured above) is my most recent experiment. To me, everything in the garden is an experiment because nothing in gardening is a sure thing (unless we're talking about mint). Oftentimes, I've taken the soil for granted with the yearly expectation that the soil will continue to churn out the most delicious produce my family and me wait all year to relish. So this fall, for the very first time in my 20-plus years of gardening, the veg plot is getting a cover crop. Perhaps the relative success in the veg garden can be attributed to the modest amount of compost that I add every year from my small compost bin, as well as the organic fertilizers the plants receive both at planting time and throughout the ...

read more...

Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: cover crop, organic gardening, raised beds, soil, vegetable garden

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Hi there!

I'm Heather and I love to grow stuff. LOTS of stuff. Most importantly, a healthy family. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a passion for playing in the dirt. Read More…

Be social

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Get Here She Grows Blog Updates

Never miss a weekly post! Subscribe now. I won't rent, sell, or give away your email address.

Instagram

It’s 1 degree today! And my @vego_garden raised It’s 1 degree today! And my @vego_garden raised beds won’t see seeds or plants for a few more months. Having built and filled them last fall, it’s nice knowing they’re ready to go just as soon as Old Man Winter decides to loosen his grip. Check out my bio for the link to the beds! They’re on sale! 😉#vegogarden #sustainabilityyourway #raisedbeds #raisedbedgardening #backyardgardener #backyardgarden #foodgarden #growyourown #growwhatyoulove #zone5b #chicagogarden #hereshegrows
It’s a great time to butter your branches! Unswe It’s a great time to butter your branches! Unsweetened natural peanut butter spread on your tree branches is a great source of calories and fats for birds at a time when food sources aren’t as plentiful. I do this for them and me as I’ve been an avid bird watcher since I was little. It’s something I inherited from my dad who used to walk around England’s @ntkingstonlacy estate with a jackdaw, a small grey crow, perched on his shoulder. His grandfather was a gardener living on the grounds. I can’t imagine a garden without birds. #forthebirds #birdfood #birdfeeding #backyardbirder #birdwatching #ilovebirds #birdfeedingtips #forthebirds #birdloversofinstagram #winterbirds #birdfeeding #peanutbuttertime #urbanbirding #chicagobirding #feedthebirds #highcalories #birdlover #chicagogarden #hereshegrows
It’s going to be many weeks before I can plant m It’s going to be many weeks before I can plant my @vego_garden raised beds. The soil is frozen solid! But it’s not too soon to think about crops that will germinate in cool soil and extend my growing season into the chilly first weeks of spring. As soon as soil is workable and around 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C, direct sow peas, spinach, arugula, salad greens and radish. With the exception of the peas which take about 70 days to mature, all are quick-turn crops producing delicious, harvestable veg in 35 days or less. It’s a great way to get the most bang for my garden buck! #vegogarden #sustainabilityyourway #coolseasoncrops #earlyspringgarden #raisedbedgarden #vegetablegardening #potager #growwhatyoulove #foodgardening #eatyourveg #urbangarden #directsow #plantseeds #backyardgardening #hereshegrows
Another reason to leave those hydrangea blooms up Another reason to leave those hydrangea blooms up for winter interest! Your snow woman will have the best hairdo. Add to that long arborvitae lashes and a rose hip mouth and she’s one lovely lady. I miss my girls, especially on days when the snow packs so well. Today’s one of those days. If they were home, we’d have the best time making our snow girl. But I built one by myself and was joined by my dear friend and neighbor. #missingyou❤️ #snowman #snowwoman #snowday #momlife #emptynestmom #wintergarden #lovemydaughters #gardenlife #chicagogardener #hereshegrows
Do you grow asiatic lilies? I have a few varieties Do you grow asiatic lilies? I have a few varieties in my garden and they thrive despite my heavy clay soil. The secret is full sun and fast draining soil all year long. Wet soil leads to rot and these beauties are on the west side of my garden, the hottest part next to the house. Things dry out quickly here which is the key to their success. In order of appearance: Forever Susan, Black Beauty and Conca D’Or. #asiaticlily #orienpetlily #lillies #trumpetlily #fragrantflowers #summerbulbs #flowerbulbs #perennialgarden #fullsun #sunnygarden #chicagogarden #zone5bgardening #urbangarden #backyardgarden #hereshegrows #gardenideas #gardendesignideas #bigflowers #turkscap #summergarden
Have you decided what you’ll be growing this yea Have you decided what you’ll be growing this year in your veg garden? I can’t wait to get out here and get growing! My goal last year was to make this small space as productive as possible for 2023. The addition of two 6-in-1 @vego_garden raised beds along the fence means I can take advantage of the narrow space and also use the fence to grow up. Configured in this way, the beds are just two feet wide, allowing me ample room to get a cart in here while still growing plenty of veg. You’d be surprised just how much you can grow in a 6.5’x2’ bed! Follow me and we’ll grow together! #vegogarden #sustainabilitymyway #vegetablegarden #foodgarden #smallspacegardening #smallspacegarden #raisedbeds #backyardgarden #growfood #organicgarden #growwhatyoulove #growyourown #eattherainbow #potager #youarewhatyoueat #gyo #mygardenlife #chicagogarden #urbangardeningideas #urbangarden #zone5b #hereshegrows
It’s workbench Wednesday! Before anything else c It’s workbench Wednesday! Before anything else can happen in the garden this year, I have to get my work bench sorted. How’s yours looking? #mygardenlife #workbenchwednesday #gardenchores #ihatecleaning #justthrowthatanywhere #hereshegrows
If you’re not home during the day to enjoy your If you’re not home during the day to enjoy your garden, consider planting a moon garden. 

When considering where to locate it, think about the windows you pass when you get home from work. 

Like to sit outside after work? Perfect spot to plant a moon garden!

Plants with white or very pale flowers will glow in the moonlight and will be more visible than their colorful counterparts as the sun sets. 

Also, consider frangrance. To attract nighttime pollinators, plants like moonflower and nicotiana release their gorgeous perfume as temps fall. These are great for the moon garden!

These are just a few of the plants in my moon garden and all thrive in my zone 5b, sunny, heavy clay garden.

What will you plant in your moon garden?

#moongarden #moongardening #eveninggarden #nighttimegarden #plantsthatglow #moonlight🌙 #bythemoon #whiteflowers #whiteflowersonly #gardening #gardenideas #urbangarden #chicagogarden #hereshegrows #zone5bgardening
Follow on Instagram

2019 Media Award
GWA Media Award logo

Great Garden Reads

Get Here She Grows Blog Updates

Never miss a weekly post! Subscribe now. I won't rent, sell, or give away your email address.

Popular Posts

  • How to Build a Seed Starting Rack on the Cheap
    How to Build a Seed Starting Rack on the Cheap
  • A Traffic Stopping Front Yard Garden
    A Traffic Stopping Front Yard Garden
  • New Raised Cedar Beds and a Hog Panel Trellis
    New Raised Cedar Beds and a Hog Panel Trellis

Quicklinks

  • Blog

Be social

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 hereshegrows.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy · Terms and Disclaimers