March Bloom Day

Like much of the country, it feels more like late spring or early summer here than the waning days of winter in mid-March.  It looks like daffodils will open very soon, maybe even later today.  They usually wait until April.

Snowdrops have been blooming for over a week.

Helleborus niger seems to be a slow grower.  It bloomed last spring for the first time, with just one flower.  I thought there might be more this year, but again, there's just one.

This hellebore is "Brushstrokes" strain  It was the first hellebore in our garden.  It was so big last year I divided it, and donated the divisions to our garden club plant sale last June.  The divisions never made it to the sale table.  As I walked into the room with them, people snapped them up immediately, before they'd even been priced.

Indoors, our Thanksgiving cactus, Schlumbergera truncata is reblooming.  It bloomed in November and December, and had buds all winter.  The buds all fell off before they opened until this month when several have held on and opened.  There are still quite a few more buds left.  This is the first time it's rebloomed, hopefully not the last.

Happy (very early) Spring everyone!  For more Bloom Day posts, please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Chicago Flower & Garden Show

The Chicago Flower & Garden Show opened this weekend, and runs through next Sunday, March 18th.  This year's "Hort Couture" theme was playfully executed in flowers, fabrics, and furnishings throughout the exhibition hall.  

One of the more impressive shows in recent years, there was lots of eye candy, including this spectacular, 14-foot tall 1,100 pound galvanized steel and blown glass agapanthus sculpture in the "Making an Entrance" garden.  A creation of United Kingdom artist blacksmith Jenny Pickford, the sculpture was shipped from London where it had previously been used at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show.

more art glass in the garden

The scent of hyacinths filled the air.

One of the best uses for silver maples I've ever seen, ;) this pergola was one of my all-time favorite Garden Show displays.  

The White House vegetable gardens have inspired novice and experienced gardeners all over the country, and home vegetable gardening is experiencing a renaissance after many years of decline.  Seed houses and nurseries have ramped up production trying to keep up with the unprecedented demand for vegetable seeds and starts.  

This display garden is a salute to the White House's 1,100-square-foot organic kitchen garden.  

As in recent  years, vegetables are once again playing prominent roles in many of the display gardens, demonstrating not only their usefulness, but also their beauty, and the roles they can play even in ornamental containers and gardens.

I loved the use of paint stirrers as plant markers.

Inspired by the New Orleans French Quarter, the Fleur-de-Lis was one of my favorite display gardens.

An eclectic mix of old-world charm and high fashion, un coup de chapeau to designers Christopher Holmstrom and Elizabeth Barnard.

"Front Yard Food `a la Francais" is Growing Power's creation, showing how food gardening can be not only practical, but beautiful as well.  I love how they incorporated logs into this design, and I really liked the 2"x4" plant markers.  This garden was rustic, lush, beautiful, and delicious.

And what would Chicago's garden show be without the over-the-top tablescapes!

What?  This is a tablescape???  Of course, silly . . . it's breakfast in bed!

"Project Someday" is this year's display designed by students at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences.  I look forward to their gardens every year.

In fact, I think this just might be their best one yet.

The Ag. School's gardens always have a touch of whimsy.

I was very impressed with the kids this year.

It was a full day, capped off by The Great Chicago Seed Swap organized by Mr. BrownThumb, and manned (womened) by a group of volunteers including yours truly.  The swap was a lot of fun, and although I forgot my seeds at home, because I worked I was still able to pick several things to try including veggies, and  packets of downy skullcap and willow-leaf amsonia from the Lurie Garden.

Besides all the wonderful display gardens, the Chicago Flower & Garden Show hosts events and activities including potting parties, floral design and  hands-on garden-skills demonstrations, activities for kids, shopping , cooking demonstrations, and a full schedule of free talks on a variety of gardening subjects given by expert garden speakers every day.  

For more information, including a complete schedule of events, and to order discounted tickets, visit the show's website at www.chicagoflower.com

February Bloom Day

Even with our mild winter, the garden still sleeps. We're enjoying a few indoor blooms this month though, like this African violet in a sunny dining room window,

a few Dragonwing begonias,

Diamond Frost euphorbias, 

and pelargoniums, overwintering in the basement.

The blooms enchanting me most are new granddaughters who'll  be one month old this weekend, and their big sister who just turned two.  No garden blooms could possibly be sweeter.

Happy Bloom Day!  For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

One Seed Chicago Battle of the Herbs

On Sunday, Feb 5th 2012 The Mike Nowak Show will host the first One Seed Chicago debate. Each of the candidates this year (cilantro, basil, chamomile) will have a representative on the air to make the case for the herb they hope to be the One Seed Chicago in 2012. 

The Mike Nowak Show airs on Sundays, from 9 to 11am central time,  WCPT 820AM and 92.5FM, 92.7FM, and 99.9FM. The debate will be streamed on the Internet, for those who prefer to listen that way or who live outside the broadcast area.  You can also participate via social media. On Twitter we'll be using the #HerbDebate hashtag to cheer on our candidates and their representatives.   I'll be on the show tomorrow, making the case for chamomile.

Hope you can join us for what should be a fun segment of seed politics soil slinging. You can learn more about chamomile, basil, and cilantro.  Chicago metro-area residents can vote for their favorite seed here. A packet of the winner's seeds will be mailed out to every eligible participant in the Chicago area. 

cilantro              chamomile            basil

Also tomorrow, Mike will be talking to  "Dr." Wally Schmidtke about one of the banes of indoor gardening, the fungus gnat.  If you've ever had fungus gnats indoors, you know what an annoyance they can be.  I'm looking forward to hearing Dr. Wally's strategies for controlling them (not that I've ever had this problem . . . ;)

Two Peas in a Pod

Our long-awaited twin granddaughters arrived last week, beautiful and healthy.

They are identical, and were born with a rare condition called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. TTTS occurs in approximately 5-20% of identical-twin pregnancies. When it occurs early in pregnancy, it can be between 80-90% fatal.

What happens in TTTS is the twins share their blood supply through their single placenta. One twin gets too much blood, and the other twin doesn't get enough. The condition is very dangerous for both babies. The over-supply and under-supply of blood can cause a myriad of problems, including organ damage, and often death in both babies.

TTTS is why one of the twins was born over a pound larger than her sister. Normally, identical twins are much closer in size. Fortunately, regular fetal monitoring, their mama's excellent health and strong maternal instincts, the fact that the babies didn't develop TTTS until late in pregnancy, and good medical care helped minimize the problems. We don't anticipate any lasting issues with their health, growth, or development.

Our entire family feels very relieved, joyful, grateful, and blessed welcoming our precious new additions into our lives.