Welcome to my little suburban garden.

I’m so glad you’re here! I’m Heather, the heart and hands behind this blog. Since 2004, I’ve worked to transform my cookie cutter, Chicago-area home into a place of wonder and beauty. What was once just grass and a single tree has become a space overflowing with life and color. It’s a place of refuge for me, my family and a plethora of wildlife. Won’t you come inside?

mixed borders

I love experimenting with plant layers to create garden spaces that hug our home. Pollinators love it too.

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vegetable gardening

You don’t need a lot of space to grow food that will blow your tastebuds. And your kids will probably eat their veg.

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homemade jalapeno pepper jelly

Cook what you grow!

So you’ve grown the veg, now what? I can help you answer that question. Check out what I’m cooking up.

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fern under glass cloche

houseplants

Garden all year long, even in a cold climate, with easy-to-grow plants that thrive in indoor spaces.

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Hi! I’m Heather!

My suburban Chicago garden developed slowly, mostly because I had a limited budget and a family to raise. But with each passing year, I learned new things to turn my basic cookie cutter landscape (which is code for grass and an invasive pear tree) into a suburban paradise. It’s anything but boring!

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…there is no garden in England or France I envy, and not one I’d swap for mine: this is the aim of gardening – not to make us complacent idiots, exactly, but to make us content and calm for a time, with sufficient energy (even after wars with bindweed) to feel an awestruck thanks to God that such happiness can exist.
For a few days, of course.

henry mitchell

On YouTube…

While attending the @pwcolorchoice @WaltersGardens Connect and Create event in Michigan, I had the pleasure of touring the private garden of Dale Deppe, owner of Spring Meadow Nursery in Grand Haven, MI. His garden, nestled along the Grand River, is not only beautiful, but is also the proving ground for potential new plant introductions. Many of the plants are unnamed, given nothing more than markers with a series of numbers and letters to identify them. The Deppe garden is a testing ground, or proving ground, where plants are grown on to see how they fare outside the controlled nursery environment. Some will enter the market and find homes in our gardens, while others will fail and be removed. I hope you find the walk peaceful and inspiring. It's a pleasure to share it with you and thanks so much for stopping by! Hi there! My name is Heather and I garden in zone 5B, recently changed to 6a, in the southwest suburbs of Chicago on a small residential lot. My garden lives a lot larger than it is. I love sharing tips, tricks and the occasional misstep with others who love to play in the dirt. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and if you'd like to see more garden content from a DIY gardener, click the bell to subscribe. That way, you'll never miss a post. As always, thanks for your support and I'll see you in the garden! Have you visited my Amazon store? You'll find all my favorite garden things, including the True Organic fertilizers I use in the flower and vegetable gardens. https://amzn.to/4cxYZJo 🌻Blog | https://hereshegrows.com/​ 🌻Instagram | / ​⁠​⁠ @heatherhereshegrows 🌻Facebook | / hereshegrows8​ 📨 Email | heather@hereshegrows.com
Relaxing Late Summer Hydrangea Garden Tour | Here She Grows
Fall is the best time for planting! Soil is toasty warm and the air is cooler which means your plants grow stress-free. And what perfect timing! I attended the @ProvenWinnersYouTube @WaltersGardens Connect and Create Event last week. One of the wonderful perks when you drive to a garden event is that you often return home with a carload of fabulous plants! And that's exactly what I did! I can't wait to share with you all the wonderful things I crammed into my little car which should probably be called the "carden". Thanks for watching and I hope you'll give fall planting a go! Hi there! My name is Heather and I garden in zone 5B, recently changed to 6a, in the southwest suburbs of Chicago on a small residential lot. My garden lives a lot larger than it is. I love sharing tips, tricks and the occasional misstep with others who love to play in the dirt. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and if you'd like to see more garden content from a DIY gardener, click the bell to subscribe. That way, you'll never miss a post. As always, thanks for your support and I'll see you in the garden! Have you visited my Amazon store? You'll find all my favorite garden things, including the True Organic fertilizers I use in the flower and vegetable gardens. https://amzn.to/4cxYZJo 🌻Blog | https://hereshegrows.com/​ 🌻Instagram | / ​⁠​⁠ @heatherhereshegrows 🌻Facebook | / hereshegrows8​ 📨 Email | heather@hereshegrows.com
Check out My Proven Winners Fall Plant Haul! 🍁| Here She Grows
Oftentimes, the best "fix" for getting unstuck in your garden is to get out of it and into someone else's. I had the pleasure of attending the Connect and Create event hosted by @WaltersGardens @ProvenWinnersYouTube and @pwcolorchoice last week. It's late August and the gardens at Walters are full of late season color and gorgeous Proven Winners/Walters Gardens perennials. It's perfect timing too! Fall is the best time to plant most trees, shrubs and perennials. The air is cooler, the soil is still warm and new plants experience less stress. Which translates to quicker establishment and plants that are ready to explode with new growth come spring! So walk with me as I share with you these gorgeous gardens! And get your pen and paper ready to make a list of must-have plants! Let's go!!!! Hi there! My name is Heather and I garden in zone 5B, recently changed to 6a, in the southwest suburbs of Chicago on a small residential lot. My garden lives a lot larger than it is. I love sharing tips, tricks and the occasional misstep with others who love to play in the dirt. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and if you'd like to see more garden content from a DIY gardener, click the bell to subscribe. That way, you'll never miss a post. As always, thanks for your support and I'll see you in the garden! Have you visited my Amazon store? You'll find all my favorite garden things, including the True Organic fertilizers I use in the flower and vegetable gardens. https://amzn.to/4cxYZJo 🌻Blog | https://hereshegrows.com/​ 🌻Instagram | / ​⁠​⁠ @heatherhereshegrows 🌻Facebook | / hereshegrows8​ 📨 Email | heather@hereshegrows.com
Garden Stroll and Late-Season Inspiration at Walters Gardens in Zeeland, MI
It’s been a challenging summer and the front garden will undergo some big changes after a storm took out a mature crabapple tree that anchors the space. And you know what? I’m excited by the opportunity to start fresh and create a new garden full of new-to-me plants. Hi there! My name is Heather and I garden in zone 5B, recently changed to 6a, in the southwest suburbs of Chicago on a small residential lot. My garden lives a lot larger than it is. I love sharing tips, tricks and the occasional misstep with others who love to play in the dirt. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and if you'd like to see more garden content from a DIY gardener, click the bell to subscribe. That way, you'll never miss a post. As always, thanks for your support and I'll see you in the garden! Have you visited my Amazon store? You'll find all my favorite garden things, including the True Organic fertilizers I use in the flower and vegetable gardens. https://amzn.to/4cxYZJo 🌻Blog | https://hereshegrows.com/​ 🌻Instagram |   / ​⁠​⁠@heatherhereshegrows 🌻Facebook |   / hereshegrows8​   📨 Email | heather@hereshegrows.com
Late August Garden Walk and Some BIG Changes to Come | Here She Grows
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