Verbena bonariensis sounds like an infection of the worst kind but this very serious sounding name refers to a cluster of purple flowers set atop thin wispy stems. It returns every year throughout my garden and is a beacon for pollinators like this hummingbird moth. Direct sowing flower seeds is about the easiest and most budget friendly way to get a mass of flowers all season long with very little effort. It's incredible just how much you get from a tiny $3 pouch of seeds. And I think it's a great way for a new gardener to get their feet wet or the experienced one who's looking to fill an empty spot. Direct sowing simply means that, instead of starting seeds indoors weeks in advance of putting them out in the garden, you spread the seed in the garden according to the package ...
Easy Plant Tag Organization for the Not-So-Organized
Plant tags have a way of accumulating like laundry, Japanese beetles and chin hair. All must be dealt with, but I'd rather deal with the tag thing. Winter is the time of year I attempt to organize the chaos I created indoors while creating last year's garden. There's nothing else garden-related to do besides organize and dream of the plethora of plants that will find their way into the garden. They will inevitably come with more tags which I'll deal with next year. So for now, I'm working on plant tags from 2019. It's during the growing season that these end up everywhere. My workbench, coat pockets, kitchen countertop, bathroom vanity. You name it, it probably has a tag on it. For the longest time, before I finally decided to corral the plant tags into some kind of order, they simply ...
Tough Plants for a Driveway Garden
Every once in a while, I surprise myself. As I was looking back at last year's garden, I found this shot of my driveway garden and thought, "Hey, that's pretty good!" I don't do that as often as I should. The driveway garden is a miserably hot place and since I'm not the most reliable waterer, the plants are forced to fend for themselves. It's a test of sorts. One that involves extreme neglect worsened by heat radiating off an asphalt driveway and the high expectations of a crazed gardener. Aside from the spring clean-up and the occasional weeding, this garden is on its own. Totally. In addition to the elements, it's survived the bumps and bruises of all kinds of athletic balls, floor hockey games and the occasional kid. In many ways, it's a lot like me. Like most gardens, it's evolved ...
A Traffic Stopping Front Yard Garden
In all my garden scouting, I very rarely saw front yard gardens. Most had the typical smattering of evergreens and deciduous trees, but few relied on perennials to carry a design. Oftentimes, front yard gardens are like mullets - business in the front, party in the back. Fortunately, the figurative garden mullet is much more appealing than the actual hairstyle. Homeowners often save the good stuff for the backyard or more intimate spaces not observable from the street. What a treat it was to experience a true front yard garden where the homeowner let it all hang out! In a good way, of course. The garden was designed by landscape architect Robert Milani for a home on Chicago's North Shore. There's nothing cookie cutter about the area. The one thing most homes have in common though, is a ...
Rodent Trails and the Importance of Tree Wrap
Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanilla Strawberry' changing color as autumn approached last summer. Voles have found it and I'm scrambling. I'm on the verge of a Caddy Shack moment and if improvised explosive devices existed for vole management, I'd blow up my whole yard right now. For the first time in several days, the sun's out and I thought I'd walk the garden in search of the first signs of Spring. What I discovered had me spewing sentence enhancers. It's a far cry from the serenity I envisioned this morning. Last June, I planted a tree form Vanilla Strawberry panicle hydrangea. The caliper of the tree can't be much over an inch, as you can see in the picture above. It's immaturity and sunny southern exposure make it a perfect candidate for tree wrap, which I had every intention ...
A New Year, TONS of New Plants and a Growing Wish List
Kniphofia 'Hot and Cold' I have a thing for tropical looking plants and this perennial checks all the boxes. Photo courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc. The new plant wish list is getting longer in my garden notebook. I also keep an updated one in the notes section of my phone just in case I happen to pass a garden center this spring. Who am I kidding? I write of it as though it's a possibility when the reality is I will visit MANY garden centers and road-side farm stands. It's an obsession and one my kids have learned to accept. I've gathered images of all the new for 2020 or new-to-me plants I'll be on the lookout for this year. It's a motley list of veggies, annuals, shade perennials, sun perennials, and a drop-dead gorgeous new grass. Perhaps you'll find one (or several) here that ...
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