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My Favorite Plant Combo of 2020

January 25, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 6 Comments

hydrangea, coleus, silver sage

A great plant combo is key to pulling off a small garden space. Looking back on the previous year provides great insight and I get a better idea of what worked and what was just meh. Because my garden is small, full of shallow beds and tight angles, I have to really think about plant groupings for the best impact. I've matured from the one-of-everything gardener to one who considers how plants jive together. The result is so much better. It's easy to think of a small garden as one that would be easy to plant and I'm the first to say you're unequivocally WRONG. As a new gardener, I wanted one of everything, my planting style reflected it and the garden was a mess with no thought given to plant combos. I still like that somewhat unkempt, cottage vibe but one that looks knit together as ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden Tagged With: artemis sage, coleus, hydrangea paniculata, plant combinations, salvia argentea, silver sage, small garden, vanilla strawberry hydrangea, vino coleus

Grow Birdhouse Gourds to Make…Birdhouses, Duh!

January 15, 2021 By Heather Blackmore Leave a Comment

Wren House

This isn't a quick process, but with a little planning you can grow your own gourd birdhouse. I can see my daughter rolling her eyes right now. She's not a fan of the little wren I'm attracting to the garden. He's loud. Very loud. Like four-in-the-morning fog horn loud and to a teen who loves her sleep, his Reveille is the last thing she wants to hear. It's hard to believe that something so tiny can be so vocal. Napolean syndrome, no doubt. First the planning part, seed selection. And if this is something you're seriously considering, I'd suggest ordering seeds ASAP. Unlike any year before, seeds were a lot like toilet paper in 2020. Everyone's hoarding them and while I don't think birdhouse gourd seeds will be in short supply, no one could have predicted the sudden popularity of ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: birdhouse, birdhouse DIY, gourd birdhouse, gourds, wren house

Save Your Money, Sow Seeds Instead!

January 8, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 4 Comments

Summer Flower Border

If you're like me, you've been buried in seed catalogs for the last few weeks, completely overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of possibilities concealed within those flimsy pages. I've since buttoned up my orders, mostly. There may be a few more stragglers in there but for the most part it's done and I'm really excited because I had a great experience last year creating a beautiful, layered new border mostly from seed that cost me about $20. Some were direct sown, while others like the Prairie Sun rudbeckia, were given a headstart indoors to get a jump on the season. I like instant gratification, especially after a looooong winter. The dry, full-sun area around the patio was screaming for a do-over. It was a long narrow border of Walkers Low catmint which has the not-so-attractive ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: bindweed, budget friendly gardening, garden makeover, magellan zinnias, pollinator garden, Seed, Thai basil

Great Gifts for the Gardener

November 29, 2020 By Heather Blackmore 6 Comments

caste glass bird

Great gifts do two things. They show you really put some thought into it and they give the recipient something they may not have bought for themselves. If you can check both boxes, you're golden. But when you're not a gardener and have a gardener on your shopping list, how do you decide what to buy? Well, that's where I come in. I picked a variety of gifts, all of which I have personal experience with in my own garden and feel confident in their quality and craftsmanship. Ok, that's not exactly true. The personal experience part, not the quality and craftsmanship. I'm secretly hoping my husband will read this post and give me a rain chain. More on that later. All kidding aside, I chose things for a variety of budgets and interests, all with a gardening/landscaping vibe to them. I would ...

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Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: birdfeeder, broken arrow nursery, brushwood nursery, bulb auger, caste glass, Christmas gifts, corona tools, david austin roses, Doug Tallamy, dramm, garden decor, garden tools, gifts, gifts for gardeners, glass birds, good directions, hose connectors, page dickey, peanut wreath feeder, power planter, proven winners direct, rain chain, renees garden, wild birds unlimited

Autumn Leaves are Lovely, But Acorns Fill My Heart

November 20, 2020 By Heather Blackmore Leave a Comment

acorns

A few days ago, I was listening to a podcast and the conversation touched on the change of seasons and the way each is marked by the things we associate with them. Winter snow. Spring daffodils. Summer tans. Autumn leaves. While colorful leaves are the quintessential poster children of fall, it is the acorn that marks the arrival of autumn. Something about that little brown oak seed with the tan beret takes me to another season of my life, the one marked by the frenzy of small children. When my girls were small, keeping them occupied was challenging. Never one to plop them in front of the TV for hours, I looked to the outdoors for entertainment. That's not to say I wasn't grateful for the respite that a Disney movie offered from time to time. We played in the rain, built snowmen with ...

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Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: acorns, autumn, children, daughters, fall, momlife, motherhood, seasons

Sometimes the Corn Just Doesn’t Pop

November 13, 2020 By Heather Blackmore 4 Comments

Glass Gem Corn

According to the Illinois Farm Bureau, approximately 12.6 million acres of corn were grown last year. And this year I couldn't even grow 16. Plants that is, not acres. You know how it goes. Or maybe you don't and it's just me, but I envisioned ear after ear of glass gem corn long before I ever sunk a seed into the soil. My Instagram feed would be full of unusual ears with kernels that looked more like pearls than traditional yellow corn. How hard could it be? Corn grows in Illinois like kudzu grows in Georgia. Every year I like to try something new. My something new showed up at my master gardener's seed swap last February. There in a bowl sat hundreds of corn kernels in colors I had never seen. So I filled an envelope full of kernels without a clue as to how to grow it. My ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden Tagged With: container gardening, corn, earthbox, food garden, garden fail, glass gem corn, small space gardening, vegetable gardening

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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…

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A few of the silver sage returned and through it p A few of the silver sage returned and through it popped up summer snowflake. Perfect combo for an otherwise dreary, grey day. #leucojumaestivum #gravetyegiant #summersnowflake #springgardendays #backyardgardens #inmygardentoday #mylittlegardenhouse #springflowershow #springtimegarden #springbulbs #foliageplants #silversage #easyplantstogrow #chicagogardening #zone5bgardening #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
This just makes me want to come in through the fro This just makes me want to come in through the front door instead of through the garage. #entrygarden #mygardentoday #springgardens #prunusincisa #daffodilsinbloom #smallgardendesign #smallspacegardening #zone5bgardening #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
The seed heads from last year’s Millenium allium The seed heads from last year’s Millenium alliums make this stand of Ice Follies daffs in my front yard even better. This wasn’t intentional, but I like it. #daffodilseason #daffodils #icefollies #myfrontyardgarden #springgardens #earlyspringgarden #springflowershow #rabbitresistantflowers #lowmaintenancegarden #zone5bgardening #inmygardennow #happyflowers #pollinatorgardening #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
Temperatures rose and the Tommy crocuses in the gr Temperatures rose and the Tommy crocuses in the grass had their last hurrah. The bulbs are so easy to slip into the lawn in the fall and when they wake in the spring, it’s like the opening act announcing so much more to come. I can’t believe the rabbits didn’t mow them down. Perhaps they were distracted by the new growth on the asters. Several have been gnawed to the ground. Time to get out the Plantskydd. It’s the only thing that works. @colorblends #crocusesinbloom #springbulbsablooming #springflowershow #crocus #tommycrocus #inmygardennow #smallspacegardening #springgarden #littleflowers #flowerbulbs #growwhatyoulove #purpleflowerseverywhere #inthelawn #lawnalternative #springephemerals #zone5gardening #easyplantstogrow #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
Love this time of year! The only thing I dislike a Love this time of year! The only thing I dislike about spring bulbs is letting the leaves remain long after the flower fades. It just looks weedy until the foliage browns and I can chop it down. #springbulbs #daffodilseason #daffodilsofinstagram #fromtyardgarden #siberiansquill #scillasiberica #springgarden #mygardentoday #smallspacegardens #chicagogardening #zone5gardening #lowmaintenancegardening #pollinatorgardens #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
The centennial blush magnolia opened today too! No The centennial blush magnolia opened today too! Now if I could only find one to replace the one the voles killed to balance the planting along the pergola. #centennialblushmagnolia #magnoliatreesinbloom #lowmaintenancegarden #magnoliaflowers #inmygardentoday #springflowershow #floweringtreesofinstagram #backyardgardening #springgardens #treesofspring #springtrees #zone5gardening #zone5bgardening #smallspacegardens #chicagogardeners #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
With the redbud gone, this once very shady side ya With the redbud gone, this once very shady side yard garden is full on, baked to a crisp sun and all these plants need a new home. Change is the only constant. I have my work cut out for me! #shadegardens #shadegardening #shadeperennials #smallspacegardens #mylittlegardenhouse #easyplantstogrow #lowmaintenancegarden #zone5bgardening #zone5 #hosta #lungwort #resurrectionlily #perennialgarden #sideyardgarden #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
I’m fascinated by the blue pollen of Siberian sq I’m fascinated by the blue pollen of Siberian squill and hope to see a honey bee with blue pollen sacs instead of yellow for a change. Maybe I’ll even get a few macro snaps of it if I’m lucky. It’s too cold to lay in wait this morning, but maybe tomorrow or sometime this weekend when temps inch near 70. 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼#bluepollen #siberiansquill #earlyspringflowers #blueflowersforbees #pollinatorplants #pollinatorgardening #springbulbs #lowmaintenanceplants #easyplantstogrow #springephemerals #zone5bgardening #chicagogardening #backyardgardening #smallspacegardens #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore #💙 #pollinatorgarden #honeybeepollen
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