tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74473891842182959992024-02-11T01:14:03.809-06:00Garden GirlWelcome to Bunnies' Salad Bar & Grill.garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.comBlogger353125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-21197438241805008342014-07-20T06:37:00.000-05:002014-07-20T06:38:43.487-05:00Chicago-area Edible Garden Tour <div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjoeSNvi61z3d1Bde0RGy41gCHh5rpaft4BP9U27AaA-PFQYrn8p2v8Kzad5a2u0D6x2vsmQ3-BXT3naQRJCvpoh1EtwhMUFdkq90yxmbL4wG99udsLPxCuyLgnaiQmD1M47vfxf7CQaf3/s1600/DSC04923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjoeSNvi61z3d1Bde0RGy41gCHh5rpaft4BP9U27AaA-PFQYrn8p2v8Kzad5a2u0D6x2vsmQ3-BXT3naQRJCvpoh1EtwhMUFdkq90yxmbL4wG99udsLPxCuyLgnaiQmD1M47vfxf7CQaf3/s1600/DSC04923.JPG" height="436" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="userContent">The Sugar Beet Food Store Cooperative (“Sugar
Beet Co-op”), a community based, member-owned, full service grocery
store is hosting its 3rd Annual Edible Garden Tour Saturday, July 26
from 10am - 3pm.<br /> <br /> At the peak growing season, participant<span class="text_exposed_show">s
can get a peek inside the beautiful edible gardens of neighbors in Oak
Park, Forest Park, River Forest and Austin. Visitors will learn about
urban agriculture, organic gardening, raised beds, successive planting
and more. Cycling from garden to garden is encouraged.<br /> <br /> Highlights of this year’s Edible Garden Tour include:<br /> <br /> Back by popular demand: The Ioder Goat Farm housed in a backyard garage in the Austin neighborhood, Chicago<br /> <br />
Examples of successful community gardens including Wonderworks
Childrens Museum, The Longfellow Family Garden Club Garden, the Forest
Park Community Garden and the Dominican Priory Garden<br /> <br /> A private home in North Oak Park that completely converted their front and back yard into an orchard and vegetable garden<br /> <br /> A private home in South Oak Park with a children's garden including a cucumber teepee<br /> <br /> <br />
“This year, we’re really seeing more people trying their hand at
growing their own food,” said Jill Niewoehner, chairwoman of the Edible
Garden Tour. “The number of families raising chickens has increased too.
This event is ideal for those curious about gardening with edibles and
for people looking for inspiration to try something new and different in
their gardens.”<br /> <br /> Tickets are limited and may sell out. Order tickets online in advance at <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsugarbeetegt.brownpapertickets.com%2F&h=xAQFxt0HD&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://sugarbeetegt.brownpapertickets.com/</a>
Co-op Members are $10, General Public $12 and Kids are FREE, but
everyone must register. Become a new member of The Sugar Beet Co-op the
day of the Edible Garden Tour and your tickets to the tour are free!
Walk up ticket sales, check in, and map pickup the day of the tour is
from 9:30-2pm at future site of The Sugar Beet Co-op 812 Madison, Oak
Park.<br /> <br /> Also, raffle tickets will be sold at The Sugar Beet Co-op
for a chance to win a $250 garden consult and or a signed copy of the
book, “From the Ground Up,” by Jeanne Nolan the Organic Gardener
responsible for the edible gardens at the Lincoln Park Zoo.<br /> <br /> The
Sugar Beet Co-op will be open to the public in early 2015.
Member-owners of the Sugar Beet Co-op will receive store discounts,
voting rights, and patronage dividends. Membership is open to everyone
and can be purchased through the Sugar Beet Co-op’s website. <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sugarbeetcoop.com%2F&h=DAQG6DzGO&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.sugarbeetcoop.com</a> <br /> </span></span></div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-30793996770588091362014-03-19T10:04:00.002-05:002014-03-19T18:14:28.510-05:00For Love of George<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil17fxzgQ6xyWf0w-uj_HzBcEv3qNVFckcMO8tp8fVVy2cet-lQ3U0J-eE0YY4Kv5_3258uvEpVxwn34uFbd3DYDuKU4Bwle7YlehbbAfphddflCXff6jf1OMYtuyuypEVLQRPokJz2w1g/s1600/DSC02328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil17fxzgQ6xyWf0w-uj_HzBcEv3qNVFckcMO8tp8fVVy2cet-lQ3U0J-eE0YY4Kv5_3258uvEpVxwn34uFbd3DYDuKU4Bwle7YlehbbAfphddflCXff6jf1OMYtuyuypEVLQRPokJz2w1g/s1600/DSC02328.JPG" height="323" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter<br />
Little darling, it feels like years since </i>(I've)<i> been here . . .</i> </div>
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<i><b>~</b></i> George Harrison</div>
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Not<i> that</i> George . . . <b>this</b> George!</div>
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Our sweet old boy had his thirteenth birthday just before Christmas. He's the primary reason I've been absent from the blog so long. </div>
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Back in early 2012, we received the presumptive diagnosis of Degenerative Myelopathy - the explanation for mysterious, progressive neurological symptoms we'd been seeing in our sweet boy since late summer of 2011. DM is a disease of the canine spinal column, believed to be autoimmune, where the body attacks the myelin sheath that protects and insulates nerves in the spine. It's believed to have more than one form - a form that resembles Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in humans, and another that's more similar to ALS.</div>
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As the disease progresses, it eventually causes the dog to lose the use of its back legs, and later as it progresses up the spine, the front legs as well. Left to its natural course it eventually affects the organs of the respiratory system. Few dogs make it that far, and most either die of other causes or are euthanized due to complications of the disease, or often, due to another illness.</div>
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The average lifespan post-diagnosis is only a few months. Many dog guardians have their dogs euthanized almost immediately after diagnosis, and others, once the dog loses use of their back legs. </div>
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Some, like our sweet old boy, have guardians who opt to do what it takes to keep them happy, healthy, and enjoying life for as long as possible. It's a lot of work, but for many of us who opt to wait until our dogs are ready to leave us, it's very rewarding, and very worth the effort for these loyal, loving canine members of our families.</div>
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We have some special equipment for George. This was his first doggie wheelchair/a/k/a cart. Over time, as his front legs compensated for the paralysis in his back legs, this cart got to be difficult to use. An Angel donated a different cart to us. It's counterbalanced with a variable axle, and transfers more of his weight to the wheels, taking a lot of extra weight off his shoulders, and giving his freedom for walks and backyard romps back to him once again.</div>
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There's also this harness (below). You can't see the top since he's busy rolling around in last fall's leaves, but it has handles in the front and back, making it easier for us to lift him and help him get around. Our sweet old boy is still happy, enjoying life, and doing all the things able-bodied dogs can do. He just needs a little help.</div>
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There's no sugar-coating it though, eventually we'll lose him, either to DM or a complication, unless something else gets him first. A dog's life is just much too short. In the meantime though, as long as he's still happy and otherwise healthy, and as long as I can take care of him, we're taking life one day at a time, putting in the effort needed to make sure he gets plenty of exercise and play, good food, lots of supplements targeted for the disease, and a medication that helps slow down the progression in most dogs lucky enough to try it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_xHGOCWeN1kBSkHJXzgxVYZ8eiFyyyGCLD5aHwvwQ4PRo2n_iaKNTtssCYSVq9NkLMK730TvjScTxCr_8HtDhYjf13cvNzeHPXFw_PtUDOiQ5byzaSDTYrbLJhxwNa0laynUI1Gtq92_/s1600/DSC02203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_xHGOCWeN1kBSkHJXzgxVYZ8eiFyyyGCLD5aHwvwQ4PRo2n_iaKNTtssCYSVq9NkLMK730TvjScTxCr_8HtDhYjf13cvNzeHPXFw_PtUDOiQ5byzaSDTYrbLJhxwNa0laynUI1Gtq92_/s1600/DSC02203.JPG" height="362" width="400" /></a></div>
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We feel fortunate to have had our sweet boy so long. He's a big dog - a Lab/German Shepherd Dog mix, and he's already outlived the expected lifespan of both breeds. It's never long enough when you love a dog, but we are blessed still having him with us. Every day is a gift.</div>
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Keeping a dog with Degenerative Myelopathy healthy and happy is a lot of work. It's physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging, and it takes a lot of time and focus. </div>
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His smile, his happiness, and the love . . . they make the sacrifices worthwhile. Some pictures are worth a thousand words.</div>
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So I'll try to make it back here to the blog when I can. In the meantime, if anyone's looking for me, I've just been a bit busy and preoccupied. It's all for the love of my sweet George.</div>
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<i>Here comes the sun, here comes the sun<br />
And I say it's all right<br />
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun<br />
It's all right, it's all right.</i></div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-80800002792563398932013-08-28T09:10:00.001-05:002013-08-28T09:20:46.936-05:00Wildflower Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlvNAHxz-edJNYz4_i0Ry8xLcIBCZiHmy-RhjhYR2m0mGkXyezsT63VvKFH2oOSixoZtuVZgSpD2puZWXRz0QE0iCUyB7EjsBjNVjniPaXTqNHkHCHLL0h19kzJcNIrVxGsTwDiigVwfV/s1600/DSC00535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlvNAHxz-edJNYz4_i0Ry8xLcIBCZiHmy-RhjhYR2m0mGkXyezsT63VvKFH2oOSixoZtuVZgSpD2puZWXRz0QE0iCUyB7EjsBjNVjniPaXTqNHkHCHLL0h19kzJcNIrVxGsTwDiigVwfV/s640/DSC00535.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Normally starting to bloom in July,<i> Lobelia cardinalis</i> (cardinal flower), like quite a few others this year, is blooming a bit later than usual. The cooler-than-usual spring and early summer may be responsible, or maybe it's because I pinched them to help prevent sprawling. It's the first time I've pinched them. I hoped it wouldn't prevent them from blooming, and it didn't. I definitely like them better more upright. I don't think the hummingbirds care. Cardinal flowers attract hummingbirds here like nothing else except the fuchsias we pot up every year.</div>
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<i>Spigelia marilandica</i>/Indian Pinks are reblooming! They usually do, though not as prolifically as their initial bloom in June.</div>
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<i>Helenium autumnale</i>, a/k/a sneezeweed, just getting started.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4u5nSl6yfhVQXG8h1avl9V2iSPty_bL3Ij_jzU5ab0Sap89MB8M1JnVDhFddNYXfzmOecz1Q244ws7QiHlHK-20BWEROUxqacuOoxPVfaLKDwt9GjMBhUlXl1ymVxnL4UvOSDUinbwvvb/s1600/DSC00578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4u5nSl6yfhVQXG8h1avl9V2iSPty_bL3Ij_jzU5ab0Sap89MB8M1JnVDhFddNYXfzmOecz1Q244ws7QiHlHK-20BWEROUxqacuOoxPVfaLKDwt9GjMBhUlXl1ymVxnL4UvOSDUinbwvvb/s640/DSC00578.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Earlier in the season somebunny chewed <span class="st"> <i>Elymus hystrix</i> (</span>bottlebrush grass) to the ground. It rebounded, and is blooming here for the first time. We started bottlebrush grass from seeds Monica sent in spring 2012. She sent seeds for several native grasses, and all were very easy to start and grow. I put it here in this messy-looking border in front. I'm still working on convincing the Lawn man we <i>need</i> to yank the ugly yews and Euonymus. I think I'm getting closer . . . </div>
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<i>Monarda fistulosa</i> isn't blooming in the original spot I planted it. I moved a clump to a sunnier spot this spring, and I'm happy to see it doing so well here. </div>
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Joe Pye weed, formerly known as <i>Eupatorium purpureum</i>, now <i>Eutrochium purpureum</i>, was a flopping mildewed mess and hardly bloomed at all during last summer's heat and drought. They've recovered beautifully this year, though not quite as tall as usual. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really wish 'they' would quit re-classifying and re-naming plants. It took me a long time to learn so many botanical names, and I'm getting too old for this!</div>
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Related to Joe Pye, I believe, this volunteer mystery plant appears to be a eutrochium/eupatorium. For the first time, it decided it wanted to turn a nice dusty pink this year. We lost a spruce that gave this plant a lot of shade in previous years. The shade never prevented it blooming, but it's much taller this year, and it's nice to see the pink! In the past this plant produced white flowers that faded to a rather unattractive gray. This year they started white and aged to pink! Whatever it is, it attracts an unbelievable number of bees of every kind.</div>
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Please visit the host of Wildflower Wednesday, <a href="http://www.clayandlimestone.com/" target="_blank">Gail at Clay and Limestone</a>, where today she's featuring Blue Mist Flower/hardy ageratum. Her in-depth posts on natives she grows in her garden are educational, entertaining, and feature gorgeous photography, as well as links to many other Wildflower Wednesday posts. </div>
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garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-64279037245162002402013-08-15T00:00:00.000-05:002013-08-15T06:29:24.746-05:00August Blooms<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">New here this year, complements of <a href="http://www.perennialresource.com/" target="_blank">Walters Gardens</a>, this is 'Midnight Raider', a semi-evergreen tetraploid daylily. They have made a beautiful addition to an area where there's lots of morning sun. 'Midnight Raider' is a reblooming daylily. It may not rebloom its first year, but I'll be hoping, and watching for more of these beauties later this summer or in early fall.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmUQQjgotQJzVeuPe9q4SZhaYjw605TW89zOGsUeRjvkiEEHI3UIUtxC1ruTKKr8sXQOEegYQxyjgRgB6L36X1Nvr45vrd8M0ZJIu-15uWlBmAeounCP-nJb807SGp48cSD878L81Rpl_/s1600/DSC09449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmUQQjgotQJzVeuPe9q4SZhaYjw605TW89zOGsUeRjvkiEEHI3UIUtxC1ruTKKr8sXQOEegYQxyjgRgB6L36X1Nvr45vrd8M0ZJIu-15uWlBmAeounCP-nJb807SGp48cSD878L81Rpl_/s640/DSC09449.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another trial plant sent to us by Walters Gardens this spring is this beautiful hardy hibiscus, 'Heartthrob'. And yes, mine does (throb) when these gorgeous , dramatic 8" blooms open.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of a bunch of hanging baskets here. This one is New Guinea impatiens and scaveola (fan flower). I haven't tried scaveolas here before - didn't think we'd have enough sun for them to bloom well. Apparently I was mistaken - so glad I tried them, and will definitely grow these again here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The foliage is nothing fancy on this hosta, but the 4 foot scapes loaded with double blooms in light pinky-lavender are pretty awesome. I look forward to the blooms of <i>Hosta rectifolia</i> 'Fujibotan.' all summer, and so do the hummingbirds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Surprise lilies were divided and spread around last year. Some are sulking (as they often will after moving or dividing) and didn't bloom this year, but we do have a few small clumps like this. Phlox, bellflowers, and coneflowers are blooming in the background.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wax begonias are substituting for impatiens this year - maybe every year going forward. They are so much less thirsty than impatiens, and are great in part sun.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Phlox paniculata</i> 'David', with Diamond Frost euphorbia.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After last year's drought, agastaches are a shadow of their previous selves this season, and one didn't return this year. It was a surprise, as they've always seemed so drought tolerant. Hopefully the remaining ones are gaining strength with our cooler, wetter summer, and will return big and strong next year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUEOQeXIkHgzM6ThrtLWLkJp0xCrdq_DhM-UMJBzYJhhPZnf_CZNgEq5yxGybQGXjieoqEEMeTnyrmBOi2NB9QG1yed6JyXC7hD_X_Fdd2xcFKu_V5u4taEMhQXziOqQlaIOAzJMMQ6U9/s1600/DSC00311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUEOQeXIkHgzM6ThrtLWLkJp0xCrdq_DhM-UMJBzYJhhPZnf_CZNgEq5yxGybQGXjieoqEEMeTnyrmBOi2NB9QG1yed6JyXC7hD_X_Fdd2xcFKu_V5u4taEMhQXziOqQlaIOAzJMMQ6U9/s640/DSC00311.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is 'Crystal Palace Gem' pelargonium. I love the chartreuse foliage so much, I'd grow this geranium even if it never bloomed. I took cuttings from last year's plants, rooted and overwintered them in our basement greenhouse.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGsYeaUj5yhuuyuWvIfy1w97bu1lWVrwzJjMchIsVbaH_Ce1cg-KwzeTOwOicgxmiZNgn5fFn01PkQuzjCWwpC1FvYPhuBHorTvXJDfdf8KPYT8KYbnXfq-gafRrKJAfORBvE9vYsX7FKn/s1600/DSC08623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGsYeaUj5yhuuyuWvIfy1w97bu1lWVrwzJjMchIsVbaH_Ce1cg-KwzeTOwOicgxmiZNgn5fFn01PkQuzjCWwpC1FvYPhuBHorTvXJDfdf8KPYT8KYbnXfq-gafRrKJAfORBvE9vYsX7FKn/s640/DSC08623.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Echinacea purpurea 'Butterfly Kisses' is another trial plant from Walters Gardens. At maturity it will be a diminutive 18 inches tall. In its first season, it's under a foot tall - perfect for this border of small and miniature plants, and oh, so cute. That's dragon wing begonias in the hanging basket, and more Diamond Frost euphorbia in the basket and in the background. I overwinter Diamond Frost, and they get bigger and better every year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5vLNazcdHKAECcMjyuXjmW5zN66s1dkxJ1UupH6YSYBi5OGjsixM4036tzdaq2bFMFZCAEeX2bhGTxeGhJd7G8xr1AQ9mKGz6BgO3na5qccnkP-LVvT4QecESPEcTYeuuMnADEA01dRa/s1600/DSC00166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5vLNazcdHKAECcMjyuXjmW5zN66s1dkxJ1UupH6YSYBi5OGjsixM4036tzdaq2bFMFZCAEeX2bhGTxeGhJd7G8xr1AQ9mKGz6BgO3na5qccnkP-LVvT4QecESPEcTYeuuMnADEA01dRa/s640/DSC00166.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another surprise lily, with calamint, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, and agastache. About to bloom is a pink Japanese anemone. The tall yellow coneflowers in the background are 'Herbstonne', also known as 'Autumn Sun'. They languished in last year's drought, stunted, mildewed, and hardly bloomed. They're in their glory this year, like nothing ever happened. None were lost. 'Herbstonne' may do best in full sun with moist soil, but they do extraordinarily well in our dry, part sun garden.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">'Blue Paradise' phlox is blooming again, here with a pelargonium I've overwintered for years, more coneflowers, catmint, calamint, surprise lilies, and 'Mocha' heuchera villosa. 'Mocha' blooms all season, from late spring through frost - the longest-blooming heuchera I've ever seen. Hummingbirds love 'Mocha' blooms in our garden, along with many other heuchera flowers. The cooler weather seems to be keeping 'Mocha's foliage more greenish purple this year. Most summers the foliage is a beautiful mocha-brown color. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaFcUZgowdXFG73Ou2nAAJ2U1Q2uKcAmOtNi83RWVR8FweXSOESQgdFugku4dSjJG9N-08TE4PzzDYopoY1dofMLYKX3lAGUwlE0jlqBSE_DIyk3umerSrsroBDbqnJNQMETWQmGAZQlM/s1600/DSC00477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaFcUZgowdXFG73Ou2nAAJ2U1Q2uKcAmOtNi83RWVR8FweXSOESQgdFugku4dSjJG9N-08TE4PzzDYopoY1dofMLYKX3lAGUwlE0jlqBSE_DIyk3umerSrsroBDbqnJNQMETWQmGAZQlM/s640/DSC00477.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Phlox was one of the first perennials I ever grew, and they remain long-blooming favorites in our summer garden. This one is 'Laura.' </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy Bloom Day everyone. To see more August blooms, please visit <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens</a>.</span></span><br />
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garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-78789360142135072092013-07-24T08:28:00.000-05:002013-07-24T08:29:06.212-05:00Wildflower Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx2q-0SpIEjN1kSB1xukPz8kURFz8Unfln8DJESGoSTtg545tipOHKeQKCvHwDP4iHCBLMVLGJCRi5AzRWH8AyLE3BINCPG7dgOC7_SA51Te_aLxs-b9DFzG9_bre126QzbjhAiBQpVs_/s1600/DSC08675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx2q-0SpIEjN1kSB1xukPz8kURFz8Unfln8DJESGoSTtg545tipOHKeQKCvHwDP4iHCBLMVLGJCRi5AzRWH8AyLE3BINCPG7dgOC7_SA51Te_aLxs-b9DFzG9_bre126QzbjhAiBQpVs_/s640/DSC08675.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i> </i>It's the fourth Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time to show off the native plants blooming in our garden.</div>
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<i> Veronicastrum virginicum, </i>or Culver's root, is one of my favorite natives. The dark green foliage stays clean and beautiful all season, and the candelabra blooms are pretty cool. Culver's root is easy to grow, very well-behaved, a beautiful plant in the garden, and we just love it here.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDd6YepvN8lqUZ0cJ1Fv8anj_h3IrF-ixRKop6x2GoTSydBrh9XOor11vzSb2I7P3GvidC7ETG1kSymT7vbtPq4wqSOwFrPxefDzDavB4iOkJ_WMy7y3Bx58iTvUioiFc-TuguzusCCfGu/s1600/DSC08686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDd6YepvN8lqUZ0cJ1Fv8anj_h3IrF-ixRKop6x2GoTSydBrh9XOor11vzSb2I7P3GvidC7ETG1kSymT7vbtPq4wqSOwFrPxefDzDavB4iOkJ_WMy7y3Bx58iTvUioiFc-TuguzusCCfGu/s640/DSC08686.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Stokesias are just about finished,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4q-8oml6Dr6CZWA7Z0l5s85o_Z49a3tfRPsTLCSdzJ1UoUpIf-PncyC4WSJvelmxeGYNi_qtDceO4Aqo7p8EZ_h_MorSFKiK3x7VaN2ftYfPXfm1yztUkEV2APcL6kIWOrJYzPkTqrMQa/s1600/DSC08688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4q-8oml6Dr6CZWA7Z0l5s85o_Z49a3tfRPsTLCSdzJ1UoUpIf-PncyC4WSJvelmxeGYNi_qtDceO4Aqo7p8EZ_h_MorSFKiK3x7VaN2ftYfPXfm1yztUkEV2APcL6kIWOrJYzPkTqrMQa/s640/DSC08688.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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while purple coneflowers are just starting to bloom. </div>
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This ginormous plant way in back looks just like Joe Pye weed, with white flowers instead of pink. It's a volunteer, though I've no idea how it got here since nobody surrounding us grows it. Wherever it came from, I'm glad it planted itself here.</div>
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<i>Liatris spicata </i>needs protection in our garden, lest somebunny eats them. These get only morning sun, and seem to be doing fine. They've been here three years, and these are their first blooms. Last summer after they were mowed down by critters yet again, I fenced them. They join the growing list of plants with little fences surrounding them to thwart the dastardly rodents.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSjGEC61v5iLNsmijvMvBh1Zl_4dXSLiAWTzU0VY-A4LW6omeIndu5_nWMUKfZcgJ6-xN2RsZFkb0mI9mJZbhRWTmJp8Yx9qTMxJgt-1cPoNcG-TIuloq2VY9j3eY8eVcVFXTxHOelWG1/s1600/DSC09088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSjGEC61v5iLNsmijvMvBh1Zl_4dXSLiAWTzU0VY-A4LW6omeIndu5_nWMUKfZcgJ6-xN2RsZFkb0mI9mJZbhRWTmJp8Yx9qTMxJgt-1cPoNcG-TIuloq2VY9j3eY8eVcVFXTxHOelWG1/s640/DSC09088.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Asclepias tuberosa</i> is blooming for the first time. Added four years ago, it's a thrill to see it finally bloom. They went dormant last summer during the drought, and that makes these blooms extra special. I wasn't sure if they were dormant or dead last year.<br />
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What wildflowers are blooming in your garden this month?<br />
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To join the celebration of natives and other wildflowers blooming around the country and around the world, <a href="http://www.clayandlimestone.com/" target="_blank">please visit Gail at Clay and Limestone</a>. </div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-79430514252296210772013-06-26T22:18:00.001-05:002013-06-28T08:31:00.732-05:00Wildflower Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHL5cLd63-tpvoWbdw27aAfb0XIsCsM2gfo0L4S_dclbQcQYLSiGNEC7ysgQeGrwVt4mANegioZ-IZImdWRiX727GKyblBK6j2IA4EWXthaDIEqV9-NokxOezqL6chwAFVNwgXAGjkhLJ0/s1600/DSC08098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHL5cLd63-tpvoWbdw27aAfb0XIsCsM2gfo0L4S_dclbQcQYLSiGNEC7ysgQeGrwVt4mANegioZ-IZImdWRiX727GKyblBK6j2IA4EWXthaDIEqV9-NokxOezqL6chwAFVNwgXAGjkhLJ0/s640/DSC08098.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Crazy weather seems to be the norm in the Chicago area this spring, and now summer. A derecho blew through our area suddenly last night, but didn't seem to cause much damage in our garden. The minor hail damage on the foliage in this post is from another recent storm. In spite of our crazy weather so far this season though, wildflowers are thriving in our garden. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="search">I may have made peace with <i>Ruellia</i> <i>humilis, </i>a native petunia who likes to sprawl and seed herself all over the place. I pinched them back hard in early May, and even with our record rains, they are standing upright. As for the rampant self-seeding, last year after they bloomed I cut them way back again, and this spring we've had only a few seedlings. So as long as I can keep them in check, they'll be sticking around.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZQikKv-uqubsaXziCzJdDaFVwXD0Xjzi7VWMisHEHfpybTE3PNxPhz45IJ5BGASRILxZE3nfz4QN-hVXHNl_IL-BV8MHnYhd-aHqMIh4T9r1_bmvRt_wycempcFyOOt9ZUeq9-mxwODz/s1600/DSC08113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZQikKv-uqubsaXziCzJdDaFVwXD0Xjzi7VWMisHEHfpybTE3PNxPhz45IJ5BGASRILxZE3nfz4QN-hVXHNl_IL-BV8MHnYhd-aHqMIh4T9r1_bmvRt_wycempcFyOOt9ZUeq9-mxwODz/s640/DSC08113.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Tradescantia Ohiensis </i>- Ohio<b><i> </i></b>spiderwort is another purple-flowering native blooming in our garden this month. The spiderworts bloom well in a pretty shady area, while the ruellias weren't happy there at all and are now situated in full sun in our front foundation landscape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-oOaAuFKuFIsfwZQZirmn-m1nxItHiyD9COEzU1vcoLBnQZg3UKazKsk7iC28dfnrsl2mVdfyzm5cEW_E9uOs9VYE-FBK7pWkhu2XA-MtAJeu7fVhirxhTMFdIa8cK1FulPqA3Es0Y0I/s1600/DSC08133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-oOaAuFKuFIsfwZQZirmn-m1nxItHiyD9COEzU1vcoLBnQZg3UKazKsk7iC28dfnrsl2mVdfyzm5cEW_E9uOs9VYE-FBK7pWkhu2XA-MtAJeu7fVhirxhTMFdIa8cK1FulPqA3Es0Y0I/s640/DSC08133.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="search"><i>Asclepias</i> <i>purpurascens - </i>purple milkweed<i>, </i>has been here a few years, and has never set set seeds yet. I've seen hummingbirds nectaring on these blooms for the first time this year, and hope they're doing some pollinating in the process. I'd love to be able to collect seeds from this gorgeous plant. It's the only asclepias that has thrived and bloomed in our part-sun garden.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnVn6xqxv2LFGHsn70roBjIS2jRRkZUa6OC-sCoHrSMj7nHc0eUeK8bf04_yR-VxezBYTu-qCMqMU0vXKlNGn2FgUcrZ4bfwWy0WKzxUb-K34-YgpUs-xOFBXs4olOj9n_d4FLfGZq7js/s1600/DSC08164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnVn6xqxv2LFGHsn70roBjIS2jRRkZUa6OC-sCoHrSMj7nHc0eUeK8bf04_yR-VxezBYTu-qCMqMU0vXKlNGn2FgUcrZ4bfwWy0WKzxUb-K34-YgpUs-xOFBXs4olOj9n_d4FLfGZq7js/s640/DSC08164.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="search"> I think this is <i>Oenethera fruticosa</i>
- narrow-leaf evening primrose. I had these many years ago in a
previous garden. They were passalong plants back then, and the gardening
neighbor who shared them with me called them sundrops.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivYIwRQ0rfSX0KkUIzgUyFJWGoNnnwO8f3lUnje8NWSRY9HQvtI9S18xDAVYFrF2TkPwRuqEhRvRR_aEX8NsXIhc0zxpgIuSVrystzvIqNjY0gyxrzPU6Cu4L0f9h411lsI6Q5bvaidZel/s1600/DSC08241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivYIwRQ0rfSX0KkUIzgUyFJWGoNnnwO8f3lUnje8NWSRY9HQvtI9S18xDAVYFrF2TkPwRuqEhRvRR_aEX8NsXIhc0zxpgIuSVrystzvIqNjY0gyxrzPU6Cu4L0f9h411lsI6Q5bvaidZel/s640/DSC08241.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's hard to pick a favorite June-blooming native in our garden. If I had to, Indian pink<span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i>(<i>Spigelia marilandica</i>) </span>might be the one. Their red and yellow blooms are unique and so interesting. Although hummingbirds are said to love these, I've yet to see them visit ours. I'd hoped to see some seedlings here. Since none have appeared after four years, last fall I divided our single plant and now there are two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.clayandlimestone.com/" target="_blank">Each month, on the fourth Wednesday, Gail at Clay and Limestone hosts Wildflower Wednesday, a bloggers' celebration of native plants and wildflowers growing in gardens around the country and around the world. This month Gail is featuring Bottlebrush grass. Be inspired to add some/more native bloomers in your garden - check out Gail's post this month, and please visit the other bloggers showing off natives and other wildflowers blooming in their gardens this month</a>.</span></div>
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garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-38332260512247364742013-06-15T00:45:00.000-05:002013-06-15T22:06:05.908-05:00June Bloom Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been an extraordinary June, and an all-around extraordinary spring in the Chicago area. It's been the polar-opposite of spring 2012. Last spring was hot and very, very dry. This spring has been very cool, with record rainfall. </div>
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The garden is lush, full, green, and a little bit holey thanks to an old-fashioned thunderstorm complete with hail and a flattened garden earlier this week. The photos were taken that day, before the hail that left its mark in the garden and on our patio furniture. The blooms are all still here though, even the bellflowers the bunnies usually mow down. The ones blooming are guarded with little fences.<br />
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Purple alliums are done, and white ones are just starting. The bunnies never touch the alliums.<br />
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The mini-rose the Lawn Man gave me years ago still thrives, and just gets better every year. The bunnies prune it for us every winter. <br />
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'Rozanne' is a little slow getting started this year.</div>
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'Marmalade' has been here a long time. 'Mocha' is a more recent addition. I will admit to a minor heuchera addiction.</div>
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Geranium 'Biokovo' is winding down. That old potted pelargonium in the background has spent many winters in the basement.</div>
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'May Night' salvia<br />
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'Blue Hill' salvia. Might be time to divide these. </div>
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'Happy Returns' daylily is staying warm within the foliage this June.<br />
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'Black Lace' sambucus is blooming. Elderberry wine anyone?<br />
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Three 'Pure Joy' sedums, for three granddaughters. Last year at <a href="http://www.waltersgardens.com/" target="_blank">Walters Gardens</a> Media Day, I won one for the pure joy of our identical twins' birth. This year the nice people at Walters Gardens sent me three more to trial. The one from last year is for my grandson now, because he's the oldest. The new ones are blooming already, and the one I received last year is so cute with it's mounded self and pretty foliage. Sedums do fantastically well in our part-sun, normally very dry garden. It's not dry this year, and the sedums are equally as happy with all the rain.<br />
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I love lamium. It really lights up a shady spot.</div>
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These Alpine strawberries were grown from seeds from <a href="https://www.reneesgarden.com/" target="_blank">Renee's Garden</a> a few years ago. From sometime in April, all the way through frost these pretty, runnerless plants bloom, and I eat a handful of little berries almost every day. </div>
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<span id="dnn_srTitle_lblTitle"><i><span class="genus-style">Geranium</span> <span class="species-style">sanguineum</span></i> <span class="infrarank-style">var.</span> <i><span class="subspecies-style">striatum </span></i><span class="subspecies-style">is native in Great Britain, and thrives in our garden.</span></span></div>
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Can't remember now which nepeta this is. It's shorter than Walker's Low. </div>
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'Husker Red' penstemon in a newer bed way in the back corner. All the little fences thwart the bunnies. They work, and we don't see them from a distance.</div>
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This gorgeous paniculata hydrangea came home with me from Walters Garden last summer. It's even bigger and better this year. Can't wait to see 'Quick Fire' bloom any day now. It has a little fence too. It's the only way hydrangeas survive around here. I've lost a few hydrangeas to bunnies.</div>
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Winterberry hollies will be blooming any minute. This one is the male. I took this photo yesterday - you can see some minor hail damage on the foliage. It's mostly unscathed though, since it's in a protected spot.</div>
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Dragon Wing begonias . . . love . . .even with a few holes in the foliage now.</div>
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We're doing less pots around here this year, and zero impatiens. But the Lawn Man was looking back at old garden photos and found one of New Guinea impatiens and bacopa in a hanging basket. He wanted to do that again. I substituted <span class="st"><i>Scaevola</i></span> for the bacopa. I think it holds up better all season long. He doesn't remember what that hanging basket looked like in August, but I do. Next year I might do this again with orange New Guineas and blue <span class="st"><i>Scaevola. </i></span></div>
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<span class="st">It's been a very unusual spring in Chicagoland. It's so, so green. It's beautiful relief after last year's drought. We've had more than enough rain so far. We could do without the hail and severe weather. I hope it will be a good year for farmers and gardeners. We all could use a break.</span><br />
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<span class="st">To see more Bloom Day posts, please visit <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens.</a></span></div>
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garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-70296214972353988512013-05-01T18:43:00.001-05:002013-05-01T18:45:24.206-05:00Wild Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yep - we're more than just a bit late for Wildflower Wednesday. We do have a few wild things blooming though. Just check out these colorful blooms above! Ed and Zelda have been hanging out here a lot lately. </div>
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Last summer we took down a spruce that died suddenly in September, 2011. We hadn't noticed anything wrong with the tree, and it was a green as ever. I was out on the patio one windy afternoon, and suddenly out of nowhere it was raining spruce needles. Everywhere. It didn't stop until the old spruce was completely bare about an hour later. Ed seems to be enjoying the stump. He rested here all afternoon, after swimming in the swale all morning. Zelda's there too - beautiful in her own right, just a little more shy than Ed. They make a cute couple, don't you think? </div>
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They're so much fun to watch. April's record rainfall, and a full swale have brought them back frequently. They seem to have settled in and made themselves at home.</div>
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Spring beauties (<span style="font-style: italic;">Claytonia virginica,</span>) have been blooming for a couple of weeks. I just love these tiny striped blooms. The clump has gotten larger this year, and there are new clumps forming in other spots in the garden. Ants may have planted the seeds for us. </div>
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<i> </i><span class="st"><i>Sanguinaria canadensis</i>, also known as bloodroot, came from Mom's woods a few years ago. This clump has grown quite a bit too - from one small leaf and one bloom, to this nice little clump and a succession of blooms, each lasting only a few days before the petals fall. They're fleeting, but lovely, and the large, leathery leaves are pretty cool too.</span></div>
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Celandine poppies (<span style="font-style: italic;">Stylophorum diphyllum</span>) are just getting started. These are the first blooms. They'll continue blooming all spring and into the summer. Celandine poppies are the longest-blooming natives in our garden. I love the lacy foliage on these plants. </div>
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Tiny bunnies, eyes not even open yet are 'blooming' in our garden this month too. I have fantasies of rabbit stew, but they're too cute and precious to harm. I think that now, but those fantasies will be back when they start mowing down the garden. We don't call this place Bunnies' Salad Bar & Grill for nothin'!</div>
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Virginia bluebells (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mertensia virginica</span>) are just getting started too. They're among my favorite flowers in spring. </div>
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After a long winter and a slow spring, it's warming up here just in time for May. After a slow start, the garden has come alive in the last couple of weeks, and everything is appreciating the extra rain after last year's drought and heat. </div>
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I hope you're enjoying beautiful spring blooms, and plenty of rain (but not too much!) in your little corner of the world.</div>
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To see more Wildflower Wednesday posts, please visit <a href="http://www.clayandlimestone.com/" target="_blank">Gail at Clay and Limestone.</a> Thank you for hosting, Gail!</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-83664891298559250812013-04-15T00:51:00.000-05:002013-04-15T01:12:12.937-05:00April Bloom Day<br />
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Life's been more than a little hectic in recent months, and I've been taking a break from blogging. All's well here though. Life has been going on as usual, and spring is upon us once again in the Chicago area. Snowdrops are fading,</div>
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Hellebores are blooming,</div>
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scillas too.</div>
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This hellebore may be reverting to single blooms. There are more singles than doubles. These blooms are on the same plant as the doubles up above. Last year this plant didn't bloom at all. Maybe it didn't like the early-spring heat.</div>
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This hellebore is still doing what it's always done.</div>
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Warmer weekend weather coaxed a few daffodil buds open.</div>
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I love these split-cup daffodils. </div>
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We're way behind in blooms compared to last year when March brought temperatures in the 70's and even 80's. This has been a more normal spring, actually a bit cooler than usual, and a lot rainier than last year. I'm grateful. Last spring's hot, dry weather continued through summer. A cooler, rainier summer would be nice this year. Can we order that? Trees and shrubs, everything flora and fauna could use a break. </div>
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Hope you all here in the northern hemisphere are enjoying normal spring weather, and enough rain. To see more April blooms, please visit <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens</a>.</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-25961450503086892692013-01-15T15:16:00.000-06:002013-01-19T17:00:43.668-06:00January Bloom Day<div>
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It's another relatively mild winter so far in Chicagoland. The snow thrower hasn't moved from its storage spot yet this winter. We've had a few snow flurries, and a little rain. Drought in our area continues.<br />
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Again this month we have no outdoor blooms. A single <i>Helleborus niger</i> (Christmas rose) bud continues growing in the garden, showing no sign of opening anytime soon. Maybe next month.</div>
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We do have this kalachoe blooming in our dining room. Kalanchoes kept indoors here tend to get somewhat leggy, and not so pretty when left to their own devices. So after they bloom I'll cut them back, strip the bottom three or four sets of leaves from the cuttings, and let the cut end dry out for a day, maybe two. Next the cuttings go in a pot filled with moist soil, deep enough to cover the stripped leaf nodes. The pot will be watered sparingly, but enough to prevent the soil from drying out until the cuttings have rooted. Then we'll have more of these sweet, colorful blooms next winter on new
plants. The old plants don't seem to recover very well from being
hacked, so they'll probably be composted.<br />
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Cactus potting soil works well for kalanchoes. I don't bother with special soil for them though. All-purpose potting soil works fine here as long as the pots have drain holes. These get watered once every week or two at most. <br />
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Kalanchoes thrive on neglect. They like this sunny south window, and they like to dry out between watering once they're well-rooted. In December they get a little fertilizer, and by sometime in January they bloom. </div>
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The African violet has been blooming for over a month - cheap thrills and winter color. </div>
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The Thanksgiving cactus bloomed on time, and again at Christmas. This month it has a few fat buds and one about to open, with many more small buds still growing. This plant will often rebloom through spring if I remember to fertilize it now and then.</div>
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I hope you're enjoying a few blooms this month, either in your garden or indoors. To see more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, please visit <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens</a>.</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-81780919280243829852013-01-01T12:36:00.000-06:002013-01-01T12:36:22.143-06:00Happy New Year<div style="text-align: center;">
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Enjoy - breathtaking, inspiring, and sublime, complements of Mother Nature, and the indomitable human spirit.</div>
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Happy New Year - one beautiful moment at a time.</div>
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<br /></div>garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-83899512659557099542012-12-14T23:22:00.000-06:002012-12-15T12:43:20.077-06:00December Bloom Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's that time of year again, when we turn to indoor blooms for entertainment. The African violet gets little attention during the gardening season, but now that the outdoor blooms are gone for awhile, she gets some love, and a little fertilizer, and she'll bloom off and on all winter. African violets are cheap thrills - this one came from the grocery store for under $5.00. She's perfectly happy with a little water, good drainage, and some fertilizer now and then.</div>
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African violets can get leggy, floppy, unstable, and start looking unattractive as older, lower leaves wilt and fall off. The solution I've found for that is every year, maybe two, I re-pot. All I do is carefully remove the pot, slice off an inch or two of roots at the bottom, and add a little fresh soil to the bottom of the pot - just a little. I leave enough room in the pot to sink the plant down enough to cover the leggy stem and stabilize the plant so it's not floppy anymore. Then I add more soil to the top of the pot, water, and fertilize. It renews the plant beautifully, and it looks brand-new again. I've done it twice with this one, and I'll do it again whenever it needs a fresh start. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: normal;">A few things are blooming in the basement greenhouse, including this little fuchsia. If she makes it through winter, she'll be visited by hummingbirds in the garden again next year, spring through fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: normal;">I hope you're enjoying a few indoor blooms this month too, or you're somewhere warm and still enjoying blooms in your garden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: normal;">Happy Bloom Day all! To see more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, please visit <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens.</a></span></div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-82449998654360739012012-12-11T16:33:00.000-06:002012-12-12T09:05:01.464-06:00Peeling Garlic the Easy Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do you grow garlic in your garden? I have, but garlic does best with full sun - a luxury we don't have in our veggie beds. When I've grown garlic here it was delicious, but the bulbs were very small. <br />
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Mom and her Garden Buddy grow garlic every year, and share some of theirs with us, both fresh, and their homemade garlic powder. We like to call it Life-Changing Garlic. Yep - it's that good! </div>
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If you're like me you may love cooking with garlic, but could do without the peeling. Here's a quick, easy tip I learned a couple of years ago for peeling it the easy way, in just seconds. It's easier and neater than the smash-and-peel method, and your fingers don't get all garlicky.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_2EweghzxnM_ISLgb9uBhSEZukSlfj0FAK8CDsaoK6XisLog_FCDmogMmGsnLbFDaZ-bEILfPLqejujT3UBYc5QGXNmtLP1Jw9tqOWsRtD7b0jM729tz9BEorD0bR91FEJwLk6k6U2-j/s1600/DSC05060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_2EweghzxnM_ISLgb9uBhSEZukSlfj0FAK8CDsaoK6XisLog_FCDmogMmGsnLbFDaZ-bEILfPLqejujT3UBYc5QGXNmtLP1Jw9tqOWsRtD7b0jM729tz9BEorD0bR91FEJwLk6k6U2-j/s640/DSC05060.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You'll need two same-sized metal bowls. Medium-to-large-sized bowls work best, as you'll want some space for the garlic to bounce around in. Separate the garlic bulb into cloves, and place the cloves into one of the bowls. Place the rims of the two bowls together as in the photo above. Use both hands to hold the rims together, and shake vigorously for 15 or 20 seconds. Separate the bowls, and your garlic will be peeled, just like the photo at the top of this post. That's it! Now it's ready to slice, press, or use whole.</div>
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Did you know this trick already? If not, try it - it works!</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-7682626373991094882012-11-15T09:33:00.001-06:002012-11-15T10:26:18.539-06:00November Blooms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This will probably be the last month for outdoor blooms here in our zone 5b garden until next spring. There are still a few hardy hangers-on in sheltered spots, in spite of frosts we've had each night this week.
Borage seedlings are sheltered near the foundation of our house. Even so they probably won't last much longer.</div>
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I'm not sure I've shown a shasta daisy photo on Bloom Day before. I always forget about them because they're in a spot where there aren't many other things (yet!) They're in a very dry spot where the soil is pretty sandy. In spite of the heat and drought this year, they thrived, and bloomed all summer. This last single bloom somehow escaped the clutches of bunnies who eat so much of our garden.</div>
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We've had some good rains this month that helped revive this hardy cyclamen. The blooms are declining now, but the beautiful foliage will remain until it goes dormant in late spring. It was great to find the other two cyclamens come back after the rain. They didn't bloom this year, but the foliage is still beautiful and I'm happy knowing they survived the drought.</div>
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If we have any outdoor blooms left by December, they will likely be on this mini-rose. It often retains its foliage and flowers into mid-or-late December.</div>
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Sedum 'Matrona' was extraordinarily long-blooming this year. These tough plants laugh at drought.</div>
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Geranium 'Rozanne' lives in a sheltered spot, and this year she sports three last blooms that, while on their way out, still managed to retain their color after several frosty nights.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJSEzWfRCHmRAfMQaEoIXQkhcJqTJVsivlojTS-31qqjj6ptwxBcButM1h2muTSeeRYRYQNq3hLPuJ_KKh_3quOkUOnZYntTdzRzySoIjnlMEaqPMe4aalO01_71IdOoctP3fCg93WyDH/s1600/DSC04515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJSEzWfRCHmRAfMQaEoIXQkhcJqTJVsivlojTS-31qqjj6ptwxBcButM1h2muTSeeRYRYQNq3hLPuJ_KKh_3quOkUOnZYntTdzRzySoIjnlMEaqPMe4aalO01_71IdOoctP3fCg93WyDH/s640/DSC04515.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pink mums are still hanging on. The blooms on the orange mums are all gone - eaten by something, most likely rabbits. I'm amazed there are any mum blooms left. The orange ones are always the first to go, and these are probably not long for the world. Every time I'm in the garden now, a couple of bunnies skitter out of their leafy, insulated garden hiding places.<br />
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As the gardening season draws to close here in the Chicago area, we're already busy planning for next season, while tending our basement greenhouse, bursting at the seams with tender plants already blooming again after being cut back and brought indoors last month. Every sunny window upstairs is lined with even more of them. <br />
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Happy Bloom Day, and to see more blooms in gardens everywhere, please visit <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens. </a></div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-23609966239911108092012-11-09T07:07:00.000-06:002012-11-16T09:15:46.011-06:00Holiday Wreath Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8trt1Q4_SH7bUlt7M0wbm-9CHIGP85vhGZvYifl7b5c3aW3aDu8pzQ0EAYhnAOevkkmrw3CbUgNpAJboHGqSVyEF2ufzOpSMB9qoysljQ4RRTG9Ks_BmYdaWvYeu8CPaOphobwzsFq5f/s1600/holiday+wreath.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8trt1Q4_SH7bUlt7M0wbm-9CHIGP85vhGZvYifl7b5c3aW3aDu8pzQ0EAYhnAOevkkmrw3CbUgNpAJboHGqSVyEF2ufzOpSMB9qoysljQ4RRTG9Ks_BmYdaWvYeu8CPaOphobwzsFq5f/s640/holiday+wreath.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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Today's my birthday, and that makes it a great day to kick off a holiday giveaway, don't you think?</div>
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I'm celebrating my birthday on the blog this year with a giveaway sponsored by <a href="http://www.pallensmith.com/garden-home-partners?company=97" target="_blank">P. Allen Smith's Holiday Collection</a>, with this beautiful, fragrant wreath from Allen's new Lodge Collection. The Collection is inspired by National Parks lodges from the turn of the 20th century, and honors American craftsmanship and artistry. </div>
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The 20" wreath is made from fresh, sustainably-harvested, hand-tied Noble Fir and pine, with pinecone, birch and snowflake accents, and can be used either indoors or outdoors.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynZ5IzzlXHH0sjDQbgWvfOOn04c09RLE4N3hO0qczBi-IOe84Nt8chrwxld3wBy-ii88mV2q8lhM9894InE1tu0kPlRSm01TvhT9W0l_spOUxMpuD-w0JspEfkb1Zhr3Zq-55LFXHjPml/s1600/Holiday+wreath+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynZ5IzzlXHH0sjDQbgWvfOOn04c09RLE4N3hO0qczBi-IOe84Nt8chrwxld3wBy-ii88mV2q8lhM9894InE1tu0kPlRSm01TvhT9W0l_spOUxMpuD-w0JspEfkb1Zhr3Zq-55LFXHjPml/s640/Holiday+wreath+2.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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The giveaway is open to US residents, and here's how it works: Leave a comment on this post telling me where you'll use the wreath if you're the winner, or alternatively, share your favorite holiday memory, or your favorite holiday recipe - one entry per person. </div>
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For a bonus chance to win, leave a comment on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SSGardenGirl" target="_blank">facebook page</a> and tell me how <i>you </i>spell the cone of a pine tree - pinecone, or pine cone, or share any fun holiday anecdote you wish! Inquiring minds want to know! (Or is that <i>enquiring</i> minds?) Have fun, and be as creative as you like.</div>
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I'll need to be able to reach the winner, so be sure your email address is easy to find, either through your blogger profile, on your blog, or linked through your comment. I'll need to hear back from the winner within 48 hours after emailing you. If I can't track you down, or if you don't respond in time, an alternate winner will be selected.</div>
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The winning entry will be selected on Friday, November 16, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Central Standard Time, via <a href="http://random.org./">Random.org.</a> Once the winner is selected, I'll update this post. </div>
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Update 9/16/12: Congratulations, Thea - you won the wreath! I wasn't able to find your email address so I contacted you both through your facebook, and google+ page. Please contact me with your email address asap - no later than within 48 hours, or I'll need to select an alternate winner.</div>
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garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-69579126934257445532012-11-07T23:29:00.000-06:002012-11-07T23:29:29.129-06:00Wordless Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF5tErkkpXUU6LbNjeKXKaQdGIZ_N0axsaWAAnPmw8NSnaje_aMMZFvWCvjUAy3bSgoMEQ7TEOktzpwRtF9Z1XF4v2JirsZATwtIXszF5li_DexB8HdxQcBVZEeK_B20HZMcJ0yhRLGKD7/s1600/DSC04121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF5tErkkpXUU6LbNjeKXKaQdGIZ_N0axsaWAAnPmw8NSnaje_aMMZFvWCvjUAy3bSgoMEQ7TEOktzpwRtF9Z1XF4v2JirsZATwtIXszF5li_DexB8HdxQcBVZEeK_B20HZMcJ0yhRLGKD7/s640/DSC04121.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-6404607091429442522012-10-24T06:12:00.000-05:002012-10-24T06:12:33.701-05:00Wildflower Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbXYAcjLeEUPIGmb9Rs00R7Vgvz_wNyt6q4uviGtvvL-kznITphuA5iIgWsyQelYcGT8I0WPNvPgRbkULX-vX6W78PjM8nzO-XeiiOToguEHnPpoJTTvBdOf4iSX5F_mqFDJUyXp_mxJS/s1600/DSC04434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbXYAcjLeEUPIGmb9Rs00R7Vgvz_wNyt6q4uviGtvvL-kznITphuA5iIgWsyQelYcGT8I0WPNvPgRbkULX-vX6W78PjM8nzO-XeiiOToguEHnPpoJTTvBdOf4iSX5F_mqFDJUyXp_mxJS/s640/DSC04434.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Of course, 'Autumn Joy' sedum isn't a wildflower, but the sweet little pale lavender-pink asters are. They're the last native plants left blooming in our garden, and they just burst open this week. </div>
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I'm not even sure which aster this is, but my guess is <i>Aster lateriflorus, </i>or if you like those newfangled botanical names, <i>Symphyotrichum lateriflorum</i>, or if you're like me and find the common names more romantic, fun, easier to pronounce, and so much friendlier, calico aster. </div>
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Like many asters, this one likes to sprawl. I moved it behind the sedums last fall, thinking they might give it a little support. They do, and I like how the contrasting blooms and foliage are mingling together - a happy accident, don't you think?</div>
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To join in this monthly celebration of wildflowers blooming in gardens all over, please visit <a href="http://www.clayandlimestone.com/" target="_blank">Gail at Clay and Limestone</a>, where she's featuring tiny asters too; with wonderful photos of the pollinators that love these native autumn blooms.</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-4582232275567332802012-10-15T07:38:00.003-05:002012-10-15T19:30:44.713-05:00October Bloom Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUhTxoyX5cXEME1pIeSgRuEcfZLyhDrGWpBpIsgazXJR2YhiCqwFTDBe6u8eoJ-Nj4nGXdOQ3eOfW2lWMhTNsuxxlTMODDKUSbJHFRJnoY94cLwgNTntrVCI8ccqLjglhmi21N-fljJxn/s1600/DSC04234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUhTxoyX5cXEME1pIeSgRuEcfZLyhDrGWpBpIsgazXJR2YhiCqwFTDBe6u8eoJ-Nj4nGXdOQ3eOfW2lWMhTNsuxxlTMODDKUSbJHFRJnoY94cLwgNTntrVCI8ccqLjglhmi21N-fljJxn/s640/DSC04234.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Blooms around here in October are getting fewer, and further between. We haven't had frost yet, and there's still some color in our garden. </div>
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These mums were planted in spring three years ago, and they've returned each year. Planting them in spring helps with hardiness. Their roots get established and they're less likely to heave in winter. We think it helps not cutting them back in the fall too. Stems cut back in fall tend to hollow out and soak in moisture that can rot the roots. In our garden most things don't get cut back until spring. Fallen leaves tend to collect around the stems this way too, and that helps insulate and protect them until spring. That's calamint blooming behind the mums.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalI740is0j9kVAAoJALyr0WrH-abxFqmTJRKybJYs9LXhzIb9oCRUFqHsPhAR7Q-38OIPmFxXO6PJ2LxrtUFZBciTVXWUi6ftw9M2daGnjTuw3rSmoT8B_4yT3P9i0Vjr0f0GO79S_lEc/s1600/DSC04198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalI740is0j9kVAAoJALyr0WrH-abxFqmTJRKybJYs9LXhzIb9oCRUFqHsPhAR7Q-38OIPmFxXO6PJ2LxrtUFZBciTVXWUi6ftw9M2daGnjTuw3rSmoT8B_4yT3P9i0Vjr0f0GO79S_lEc/s640/DSC04198.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Our mini-rose has been blooming continuously all summer. It's never done that before. A couple of years ago it even bloomed through an early-December snow.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsG8gx1n5DN8i8My0tPoMwqvqsV3uj-Ds-j1u279wcrjUk-jnb2rWclPGhW_adJvPZVTWq0oHiF8bqte628BazWjeFa7-B9xeLApHT59zGc_ewow_5a-PlhdnoGwr3eTN_6JqXElokn_Z/s1600/DSC04220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="523" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRsG8gx1n5DN8i8My0tPoMwqvqsV3uj-Ds-j1u279wcrjUk-jnb2rWclPGhW_adJvPZVTWq0oHiF8bqte628BazWjeFa7-B9xeLApHT59zGc_ewow_5a-PlhdnoGwr3eTN_6JqXElokn_Z/s640/DSC04220.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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'Rozanne' has slowed down some, but she keeps blooming until frost gets her.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36yqiaJutQ_1U-ZWykkdrmgsIuI23TFrOGFI5VypYgUw6Q_eWlCqSxyyKmpm51C0oe2V8Nef5Mg7TlBLpDszkVtA7ZBIGZ3rWUaUm-t1bwz8Q5NAcOn-qLnYtsNiALMBPlxt0B5CSUWjv/s1600/DSC04212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36yqiaJutQ_1U-ZWykkdrmgsIuI23TFrOGFI5VypYgUw6Q_eWlCqSxyyKmpm51C0oe2V8Nef5Mg7TlBLpDszkVtA7ZBIGZ3rWUaUm-t1bwz8Q5NAcOn-qLnYtsNiALMBPlxt0B5CSUWjv/s640/DSC04212.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Gomphrena 'Fireworks' is still going.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPPZSfAMAknQXhMZPRjTFxyQbQdRbfDGDn6367-ISpr7j82YxPEWDAUVxiGeA1XBOg4NuNNCe7P1n84Z6kfpnicYfMsvC4l8OYTsxDERO09wZHCzus5mssh7DaayygtxJzzmJJK_YDGxu/s1600/DSC04226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPPZSfAMAknQXhMZPRjTFxyQbQdRbfDGDn6367-ISpr7j82YxPEWDAUVxiGeA1XBOg4NuNNCe7P1n84Z6kfpnicYfMsvC4l8OYTsxDERO09wZHCzus5mssh7DaayygtxJzzmJJK_YDGxu/s640/DSC04226.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Next year the lowly wax begonia will likely replace impatiens here. I'm tired of watering impatiens, and most of them succumbed to downy mildew this year - not only in our yard, but all around the area - both the singles and the doubles.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6fU2qQ_O7l37lAZIy4E3ioFhDqZYpvGUmfEj8r6F2Pu_y9LYUb81uxuR9e_lt2ReCrFRGaDZBu7AwN8EQv2SYx48soasbwRKkTZfrj3G9XjkyArW8Z_N5vneODEr1We9S5LKXU56Fuma/s1600/DSC04246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6fU2qQ_O7l37lAZIy4E3ioFhDqZYpvGUmfEj8r6F2Pu_y9LYUb81uxuR9e_lt2ReCrFRGaDZBu7AwN8EQv2SYx48soasbwRKkTZfrj3G9XjkyArW8Z_N5vneODEr1We9S5LKXU56Fuma/s640/DSC04246.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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They're not flowers anymore, but the brown balls Previously Known as Coneflowers will make good food for the critters around here well into late fall. It's not unusual for squirrels to bite them off and carry them away.</div>
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You may be able to see the work of critters here on these mums. Most years rabbits eventually eat all the mum blooms.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKsLE8kFtokphAXjq2EurOfvcsNrGfuyjkm4iddAA8vcZ0IOhIDVtiOiRdPS0F1Wl3HwXl_EYU4e_4_-_vF17HW4ZTkx2j_PieCMxoAZ502Q3-cjBkTkfAWEmOKQg-ZF3uJslcVbIK6ewE/s1600/DSC04252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKsLE8kFtokphAXjq2EurOfvcsNrGfuyjkm4iddAA8vcZ0IOhIDVtiOiRdPS0F1Wl3HwXl_EYU4e_4_-_vF17HW4ZTkx2j_PieCMxoAZ502Q3-cjBkTkfAWEmOKQg-ZF3uJslcVbIK6ewE/s640/DSC04252.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This group of sedums gets just a little afternoon sun. If I didn't pinch them early in they season they'd be flopping all over, but don't let anyone tell you sedums are just for full sun. They're great in dry shade, and pollinators love them in our garden. This is a spot where many other plants, both natives and cultivars, have been tried and failed. Here, the roots of silver maples, a serviceberry, and a hedge of mature arborvitaes all come together, and this spot is dry, dry, dry. But the sedums don't mind at all.</div>
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More wax begonias still going strong long after the impatiens bit the dust.</div>
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I'm not sure which asters these are. I do know pinching them a couple of times in late spring and early summer helps keep them from getting leggy and floppy.</div>
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This bunch of 'Autumn Joy' sedums got pinched too, even though they get a little more sun than the others. Pinching back tall sedums once or twice early in the season really does help with floppiness. Another NOID aster mingling with the sedums is just about to bloom. This one has teeny white blooms too, but it's got a slightly different form from the one pictured earlier, and it blooms later.</div>
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The last hardy cyclamen left is blooming, but not as prolifically as in previous years. The other two seem to have dissapeared. </div>
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Every two or three days since late spring, I've been enjoying a little handful of these heirloom French strawberries. I started them from seeds from <a href="http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/packpg/herbs/strawberry.htm" target="_blank">Renee's Garden</a> two springs ago. The flowers are cute, the berries are delicious, and the plants form pretty mounds. They can be divided, but there are no runners on these strawberries. They produce a nice little crop all season long, even in just part sun.</div>
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<i>Heuchera villosa</i> 'Mocha' blooms all season.</div>
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This is the latest I can remember still seeing phlox blooms around here. This one's a NOID from a fellow Master Gardener. Chocolate Joe Pye weed was also blooming in our garden, until something stepped on it last week and broke the stems.</div>
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After a very hot, very dry summer, October's been chilly. It feels more like November than early October. While we haven't had a frost or freeze yet, all the tender plants came in last weekend just to be safe. I'm always glad when that task is done! <br />
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In spite of the drought, fall colors have beautiful. And this weekend we had the first substantial rain here since early August.</div>
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Happy Bloom Day all, and to see more October blooms, please visit Carol at <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">May Dreams Gardens</a>.</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-78651227511191978242012-09-21T08:42:00.000-05:002012-09-28T09:29:17.331-05:00Troy-Bilt Cordless, Battery-Powered Cultivator Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYksk6i5tRkunVy3Be8e-KDjBI-dKXN7CGdlnAhQQQ8XWbYcCAyh_A2X5yPRn1RGeWUluUIJMOxJK1qFpFxaCJmA05oDbaNT77F8R5GEFZg17r-thpzaO3L4XYZLtDfOVz-cRpIdx5K_bf/s1600/21AK20VG766_prod_detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYksk6i5tRkunVy3Be8e-KDjBI-dKXN7CGdlnAhQQQ8XWbYcCAyh_A2X5yPRn1RGeWUluUIJMOxJK1qFpFxaCJmA05oDbaNT77F8R5GEFZg17r-thpzaO3L4XYZLtDfOVz-cRpIdx5K_bf/s320/21AK20VG766_prod_detail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Update, 9/28/12: Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I loved reading all your comments here and on facebook. Your comments made me kind of wish I had one of these babies to give away to each of you! </i><br />
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<i>Congratulations to SuzOh - you're the winner! Please reply to my email with your shipping information and your brand-new cultivator will be on its way.</i><br />
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Don't you just love blog giveaways? I sure do, especially when I get to host one! For one week, starting today and ending next Friday, September 28th, US residents can enter here for a chance to win this <a href="http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_14102_1622740_54974_-1#" target="_blank">Troy-Bilt Lithium-Ion battery-powered cultivator.</a></div>
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New this year, the TBC57 cordless cultivator has a rechargeable 20-volt lithium-ion battery - no smelly, expensive gasoline, and no extension cord needed! This light-weight cultivator is easy-to-use, and perfect for both beginner and experienced gardeners.</div>
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Entry is easy - just leave a comment here, telling me how you would use this cultivator in your garden.</div>
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Want an bonus chance to win? That's easy too - Be a US resident, 'Like' my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SSGardenGirl" target="_blank">facebook page</a> if haven't already, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SSGardenGirl/posts/121234411358959" target="_blank">leave a comment on this status update saying how you'd use the cultivator,</a> and share the status update on your own facebook page.</div>
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The winner will be selected next Friday, 9/28/12, at 9:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time, via <a href="http://random.org./">Random.org.</a> Once the winner is selected, I'll update this post. I'll need to be able to reach the winner, so be sure your email address is easy to find, either on your blogger profile, on your blog, or linked through your comment. The cultivator will be shipped to the winner directly by Troy-Bilt.
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Good luck everyone!</div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-42037921769507467022012-09-14T23:06:00.000-05:002012-09-14T23:16:59.390-05:00September Bloom Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcp-1z0F8oszWxPv6v4DQZ9x23sQWRNGGFwi4DVZtxqS85g0Td712_Snopx56cdidGq5rwl1FbeL9VJFoMETcdLvh4ONUfAIbbVpuMxqtiUrnmx0XhHmtJKBVTQyusfAllw3wZM0_k2UQ/s1600/DSC03869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcp-1z0F8oszWxPv6v4DQZ9x23sQWRNGGFwi4DVZtxqS85g0Td712_Snopx56cdidGq5rwl1FbeL9VJFoMETcdLvh4ONUfAIbbVpuMxqtiUrnmx0XhHmtJKBVTQyusfAllw3wZM0_k2UQ/s640/DSC03869.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Our long, hot, dry summer has given way to September's milder temperatures. We're still short on rain, but the cool nights and mild days, especially this week, have been welcome relief. <br />
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This overwintered canna has been blooming for a few weeks, making this one of my favorite spots in the garden lately.</div>
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Double impatiens and 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia are among my favorite hanging baskets this month.</div>
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'Rozanne' is my favorite geranium. Here, she's seen with my favorite oxalis.</div>
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'David's Lavender' is one of my favorite phlox varieties. Even during this very hot dry summer, this tall phlox kept all its foliage, and suffered no powdery mildew. It was one of the earliest phlox to start blooming, and one of the last still going.</div>
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Seen with Agastache 'Blue Fortune,' this was one of my favorite coneflowers this year. It had the most blooms of a single coneflower plant, and the goldfinches left its petals alone.</div>
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Sky blue aster, new last year, has upstaged the smooth blue as my favorite this month.</div>
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'Autumn Bride' is my favorite heuchera this time of year. Amazingly, the bunnies haven't eaten any of the flower scapes (yet.) Behind 'Autumn Bride,' 'Autumn Joy' sedum is just starting to color up. They're my favorite sedums this year, since I remembered to pinch them in June, and they didn't flop,</div>
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(unlike the un-pinched 'Matrona' flopping into 'Autumn Bride' on the bottom right.)</div>
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Hanging basket fuchsias are the hummingbirds' favorites, now that the cardinal flowers are finished for the season (and maybe finished for good after the swale went completely dry for the first time since I've here.)</div>
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Gomphrena 'Fireworks' is my favorite new annual in the garden this year.</div>
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The last black-eyed susan still blooming, just behind Japanese anemones, and next to an upright 'Matrona' I remembered to pinch.<br />
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Of all my favorite blooms in the garden this month, this is my very favorite-ist of all, shown at night when it's not only gorgeous, but amazingly fragrant too. 'Sunset' variegated angel's trumpet is in the midst of it's best show all summer, with two dozen blooms and as many buds yet to open.</div>
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There are a lot of favorites here during one of my very favorite months of the year. I can't remember a time when the mild days of September were more welcome.</div>
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For everyone who survived one of, if not <i>the</i> hottest summers on record in the Chicago area, the United States, and around the globe, I hope you're enjoying a mild September so far, with plenty of rain, and cool, refreshing evenings. Happy Bloom Day to all, and Happy Fall (almost!)</div>
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For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, please visit our host, <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens.</a></div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-24955988846658403872012-09-09T14:53:00.000-05:002012-09-09T14:57:07.709-05:00A Wedding in the Family<br />
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Last weekend family and friends from three continents gathered at the Chicago area's <a href="http://www.mortonarb.org/" target="_blank">Morton Arboretum</a> to celebrate the wedding of our middle daughter. The day dawned rainy and overcast. And then the sun came out. <br />
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The day before the wedding was a busy one, spent playing with succulents and flowers,</div>
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making boutonnières,<br />
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a corsage, </div>
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and the Bride's bouquet. </div>
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Her bouquet was made with a dozen roses, 17 hand-wired and wrapped succulents, orchids, baby's breath, and statice, all hand-tied, wrapped in ribbon, finished with an ivory bow, and blessed with a mother's love.<br />
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Rain and clouds, sun and warm breezes, family and close friends - it was an entirely beautiful day - one we'll remember with great fondness and joy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX5psuzo7nCOSBJ453yULWjg2JuaYj09ArKyuxUbh_xE9MxoTmcMqORju1xcRQbi4Qtl3nukgZvXNOHlAd5tmwpNjEHPQCNdBVy7iNOIWSDmUdJu8-BK-IsMI4iAq-YtAgutsy1FhpLhi/s1600/First+Kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX5psuzo7nCOSBJ453yULWjg2JuaYj09ArKyuxUbh_xE9MxoTmcMqORju1xcRQbi4Qtl3nukgZvXNOHlAd5tmwpNjEHPQCNdBVy7iNOIWSDmUdJu8-BK-IsMI4iAq-YtAgutsy1FhpLhi/s640/First+Kiss.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>It is written, when children find true love, parents find true joy. Here's to your joy and ours from this day forward</i>.</span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-Unknown</span>
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garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-84733221967753718422012-08-14T23:22:00.000-05:002012-08-14T23:23:09.723-05:00August Bloom Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5br0pO8FgYeUBecL9F50FDQOMYwSuGyuDlC2YKH4-efr2aekKHRoSQjr2IVyBIiZ2rmjZeL32VTqDd5lUwGsoKzUn8VEyUI7vF8ENk53Ymp7yV5vY48X5XLCtyz06M_6f7RLhDCik99i/s1600/DSC02710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5br0pO8FgYeUBecL9F50FDQOMYwSuGyuDlC2YKH4-efr2aekKHRoSQjr2IVyBIiZ2rmjZeL32VTqDd5lUwGsoKzUn8VEyUI7vF8ENk53Ymp7yV5vY48X5XLCtyz06M_6f7RLhDCik99i/s640/DSC02710.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's high summer here, and in the Chicago area we've been getting some welcome, and much needed relief from this year's record heat and drought. The garden is grateful, and so am I. </div>
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<i>Salvia x sylvestris</i> 'Blue Hill' has been oblivious to the weather, maintained its clean foliage as usual, and as long as it's deadheaded regularly, it keeps blooming all season.</div>
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Here in a small corner in front where lava rock has been pushed away and the ongoing battle with a neighbor's ivy is waged, an unnamed phlox, Sedum<i> </i>'Matrona' , a seedling baptisia, and young native grasses grown with seeds from <a href="http://gardenfaerie.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Monica</a> this spring have done well with little rain. </div>
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These are the delicate seedheads of petite purple love grass.</div>
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Here's the whole little plant, along with a couple of flopping phlox stems. This, along with four other kinds of grasses, are my first forays into native grasses. They were all easy to start from seeds, and didn't need much coddling in spite of the hot, dry weather. I kept them in gallon pots until mid-July. Now in the garden, they're all growing and thriving. I'm loving this little native grass and hoping the other larger grasses will bloom this year too.</div>
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Thank you for the seeds, Monica!</div>
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'Happy Returns' daylilies were sheared to the ground about a month ago to clean up the yellow and brown foliage. Within a week they were back up, and blooming again a few days later. Still blooming now, they're looking a lot better with clean foliage.</div>
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I wait for angel's trumpet blooms all summer. They're exquisitely fragrant,</div>
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and beautiful too, don't you think?</div>
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Combined with the fragrance from <i>Hosta plantaginea, </i></div>
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<i>Hosta plantaginea</i> 'Aphrodite' (fully-open bloom further down, below,) and Sambac jasmine (not pictured,) the evening through early morning scents on our patio and floating on light breezes through open windows are simply divine.</div>
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Double impatiens are staples in a couple of hanging baskets almost every year here. I like them with the airy blooms of Diamond Frost euphorbia. Is there anything Diamond Frost doesn't go well with?</div>
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We like impatiens in multiple colors.</div>
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Purple coneflowers are still looking fresh. So far this season, the goldfinches haven't pulled off all the petals.</div>
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Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' is about a foot shorter, with fewer blooms than usual. Pollinators ignore these cultivars. I'm thinking we need the natives. Starting native plants from seed takes patience, but it's rewarding, cheap thrills. </div>
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Here's <i>Hosta plantaginea</i> 'Aphrodite,' the morning after the first-ever bloom opened. They open at night. They're notoriously slow to bloom after planting. It took seven years for this one. Unlike most other hostas, The scapes barely rise above the foliage. The foliage is solid, deep green. I love the texture, elegance, substance, shade, and shape of it. The flowers make lovely icing.</div>
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Hibiscus 'Midnight Marvel' is a new introduction this year. All of us who attended <a href="http://www.waltersgardens.com/" target="_blank">Walters Gardens</a>' Media Day last week got to bring one home. How thoughtful it was to obligingly open its first bloom just in time for Bloom Day. </div>
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I've made peace with Agastache 'Blue Fortune's' grey-blue foliage. It performs well in our garden, returns faithfully each year, and while it's not as full as usual, it's tolerated the heat and drought here well. Although they're cultivars, pollinators are all over them.</div>
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Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' is a cross between two native rudbeckias. Pollinators love them in our garden, but they haven't performed nearly as well as they usually do in more normal summer weather. The plants are severely stunted and not blooming as much as usual. The two smallest plants have powdery mildew.</div>
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Hummingbirds visit this fuchsia multiple times every day.</div>
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Cardinal flowers are another hummingbird favorite here. They look better most years. I'm glad they survived the hottest summer here on record.</div>
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Here's 'Midnight Marvel' fully open a few hours later.</div>
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Late summer is one of my favorite times in our garden. This month, with it's milder temperatures and good rains so far, has been beautiful here. I hope you're enjoying beautiful weather, enough rain, and lots of blooms in your garden this month.</div>
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Happy Bloom Day, and to see what's blooming in gardens everywhere today, please visit our host, <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens.</a></div>
garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-43496534939442387882012-08-11T11:08:00.000-05:002012-08-12T10:05:16.133-05:00Peppers in a Grow Box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTt_Z6Zgnse07ZW8HWqKsQ3CNHVKhL8uBEmcbhV1e6z0CuTSFD2k-A-J_j8KpJiiSqtcps6Me0kuLLbNqCgAL4xDlCR4O9fZ3ApYsfOqAN1y4SZsMfEkXp06sNFhjNQGhpS6QB45xjKCKc/s1600/DSC02706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="558" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTt_Z6Zgnse07ZW8HWqKsQ3CNHVKhL8uBEmcbhV1e6z0CuTSFD2k-A-J_j8KpJiiSqtcps6Me0kuLLbNqCgAL4xDlCR4O9fZ3ApYsfOqAN1y4SZsMfEkXp06sNFhjNQGhpS6QB45xjKCKc/s640/DSC02706.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We grow lots of veggies in our two side-yard raised beds. The beds are relatively small, but since the soil is rich, we use succession planting, and we plant our veggies intensively, we're able to get a lot out of those beds even though they each get only part sun.</div>
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We extend our veggie-growing space using containers. This year we're trying out Grow Bags and Grow Boxes, compliments of the companies that make them. I'll show you what we did with the Grow Bags in a future post.</div>
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Last May, we were lucky enough to attend <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Garden2Blog" target="_blank">Garden2Blog 2012</a>, hosted by P. Allen Smith and sponsored by a number of garden industry companies he partners with. After the event several of those partners shipped us free products to trial. The Grow Box, along with Black Gold organic soil we received from event sponsors were used to grow these peppers. </div>
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For the second year, our peppers are growing in our front foundation landscape where we actually have full sun. We've grown peppers successfully in our part-sun veggie beds, but they ripen quicker and are more productive out in front. </div>
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We had a bumper crop of all sorts of colorful peppers in individual pots last year. The downsides of individual pots were how much time it took to water them, how much water it took, and the amount of space needed for all those pots. All the downsides are solved with the Grow Box. </div>
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As unbelievable as it seems, there are eight pepper plants jammed into this planter, and they are easily as productive, if not more so, than they were last year in individual pots. Thanks to the unique design of the Grow Box with it's very efficient use of water, they've needed a lot less water a lot less often.</div>
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<i>today's harvest</i></div>
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After trialing our Grow Box with peppers this year. I'm sold. They're a fantastic option for small-space veggie gardeners. They'd also be great for gardening with children, an easy-care option for patio and balcony gardeners, and wonderful for older folks who find traditional vegetable gardening too physically taxing. For me, they add precious space to our veggie-growing real estate and are attractive enough to plunk down amidst the flowers growing in full sun in our front foundation landscape.</div>
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Our veggies are grown organically, so naturally we use organic soil in containers. I've been pleased with the quality and performance of Black Gold. I love that Grow Boxes offer organic fertilizer as an option for their kits. New fertilizer and organic jute covers can be ordered separately, and the box and soil can be re-used in future gardening years. </div>
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Many thanks to the nice folks at <a href="http://www.blackgold.bz/black-gold%C2%AE-natural-organic-potting-soil" target="_blank">Black Gold</a> for the soil, and Garden Patch who makes the <a href="http://www.agardenpatch.com/" target="_blank">Grow Box</a> for letting us test their products.</div>garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-55261154074238976632012-07-25T07:05:00.002-05:002012-07-25T07:10:05.058-05:00Wildflower Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZ82uOU6XWXLHPQpbwRyiUNdkir_kd_GTcbhgVv3X0jYRrrnzV4_aPhyphenhyphens1y9hpMsWw7qndqyE0qIFabRZo0l9yy4hcQ_Su8zi7theo8T0c0X3LdEw9m0UgR3tihvQnFc0vQbVJ2DPnqh0/s1600/DSC02147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZ82uOU6XWXLHPQpbwRyiUNdkir_kd_GTcbhgVv3X0jYRrrnzV4_aPhyphenhyphens1y9hpMsWw7qndqyE0qIFabRZo0l9yy4hcQ_Su8zi7theo8T0c0X3LdEw9m0UgR3tihvQnFc0vQbVJ2DPnqh0/s640/DSC02147.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Monarda fistulosa</i></div>
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This summer's been rough on humans and wildlife, crops and livestock, lawns and gardens. Still, with a little extra help from the end of a hose, our garden is weathering Mother Nature's and climate change's challenges.<br />
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With our early hot weather, plants bloomed early. Now, in July, that seems to have mostly leveled out, with most bloom times pretty normal. What has been off is height. A lot of stuff is shorter than usual - in some cases several feet shorter.</div>
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<i>Lobelia cardinalis</i> have their share of challenges this summer. One disappeared, one got smashed by a fallen branch during a recent storm, and this one . . . well, at least it's blooming.</div>
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They like moist soil, and live in an area of our swale that stays moist all year, normally <b>. . .</b><br />
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This summer has been lots of things, and normal isn't one of them.</div>
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Most of the purple coneflowers are two feet tall and under. Most of the phlox, and everything in this part of the garden is shorter than usual.
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Joe Pye Weed is a few feet shorter than usual, along with way-shorter-than-usual <i>Rudbeckia </i>'Herbstsonne.' Besides being shorter, lots of stuff is less full too.<br />
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Nodding onions, <i>Allium cernuum, </i>seem oblivious of the heat and drought.
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Culver's root, about finished blooming, is weathering the weather well. </div>
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A volunteer eupatorium (or do you say eutotrichum?) seems unfazed by the weather. It's one of few July bloomers, whether native or cultivar, that's its usual size.</div>
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Our small corner of the world has been hot and dry most of the summer along with much of the country. Lately, there's been welcome relief with a few mid-80-degree days, and a few good deluges. The occasional breaks from lugging hoses feel luxurious.</div>
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<i>Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain. ~</i> Unknown</div>
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To see more Wildflower Wednesday posts, please visit <a href="http://www.clayandlimestone.com/" target="_blank">Gail at Clay and Limestone</a>.</div>
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<br />garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7447389184218295999.post-51371964368942432422012-07-14T23:30:00.001-05:002012-07-16T22:08:06.626-05:00July Bloom Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since the ballast shorted out for the light in our basement greenhouse late last winter and it took awhile to replace it, most of the overwintered plants looked pretty crummy this spring. Turning misfortune to opportunity, it's been pretty nice having a fresh crop of plants for many of our containers. The spindly, even leafless basement victims recovered in a sunny spot in the meantime, and now fill in pots and other spots in the garden. Purple fountain grass and the chartreuse-leaved pelargonium 'Crystal Palace Gem' are among the fresh faces this year. </div>
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Geranium 'Rozanne' sprawls over early-spring bloomers like bergenia and hellebores, churning out blooms from late May through frost, even in part sun. That's double impatiens in the hanging basket. </div>
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Watering has been a chore during this hot, dry summer. Most of the pots not directly in the garden have saucers to save water - especially the thirsty impatiens in little pots along this short path between patio and lawn.</div>
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The mini-rose has been blooming all season. <br />
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Hosta 'Fujibotan' has lavender-pink double blossoms on tall scapes. It's just starting to bloom, and will keep going for almost a month. This year it has twenty-one flower scapes! </div>
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I love this combo of Dragon Wing begonias and Diamond Frost Euphorbia. </div>
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The peachy pelargonium and petunia in the pot on the left are basement survivors. The geranium is five years old, and amazingly, <a href="http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/petunia/supertunia-vista-silverberry-petunia-hybrid" target="_blank">Supertunia Vista Silverberry,</a> fondly nicknamed Spring Fling Petunia, (gift from Proven Winners for participants at Garden Bloggers' Spring Fling Chicago 2009,) has survived three winters in the basement.<br />
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<a href="http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/petunia/supertunia-vista-silverberry-petunia-hybrid" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8ODakEM7gUBWDNtRGeRVDsSmbwJj9oOYkkPWdKR4npm6f3W9_Qtk2EwummCLsKchCEDbX6W472fvF0yFVPhmSdmUFBP1TIVbfL3BGUuE_MQEGDZ0AIGImzwnMFYNLlOXMQ93TF8L14w/s640/DSC01993.JPG" style="background-color: white;" width="640" /></a><br />
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Cardinal flower, <i>Lobelia cardinalis</i>, a native hummingbird magnet, just started blooming.</div>
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Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' hasn't much liked our hot, dry summer. They're two feet shorter, and not nearly as full as they normally are by the time they start blooming. The first flowers are smaller too. Behind the rudbeckias and coneflowers, Joe Pye weed is shorter than usual too.</div>
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'Sunday Gloves' daylily seems oblivious to the heat.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSA4mM86XYexA1ajJuM5jCWDzm_5olu366s27SbhFgHjH8UCWrQ3SRv3zKu1YT1k5i77WyIRPc1QEWIJImJCjCYNRFutuaPWxLJIo-_F8vgSKuQqCmAexdeZgdLpZm0uqy_mA-nDSDzhk/s1600/DSC01869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSA4mM86XYexA1ajJuM5jCWDzm_5olu366s27SbhFgHjH8UCWrQ3SRv3zKu1YT1k5i77WyIRPc1QEWIJImJCjCYNRFutuaPWxLJIo-_F8vgSKuQqCmAexdeZgdLpZm0uqy_mA-nDSDzhk/s640/DSC01869.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This brunnera was a volunteer seedling that popped up over here from a neighbor's plants. It's the first time I've seen a brunnera rebloom.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtKZ64H4c7rd4JphSVy3ImEjMO6DKQ2Q1OD6yMtjoQ0M9Uo5bYD32auysGDGImO-qjtuhIoYLTf9JR3GaKKY3-czYsweO3mWFs2m6QsZXEj4CdJUt9hfewyhKhKSbq3y7KiWvgAzXncg/s1600/DSC01870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtKZ64H4c7rd4JphSVy3ImEjMO6DKQ2Q1OD6yMtjoQ0M9Uo5bYD32auysGDGImO-qjtuhIoYLTf9JR3GaKKY3-czYsweO3mWFs2m6QsZXEj4CdJUt9hfewyhKhKSbq3y7KiWvgAzXncg/s640/DSC01870.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We have heirloom potatoes from <a href="http://www.landrethseeds.com/" target="_blank">Landreth Seed</a> growing in two of the samples the nice folks at <a href="http://www.smartpots.com/" target="_blank">Smart Pots</a> gave me last August at the Independent Garden Center Show at Navy Pier. Potatoes have nice foliage, pretty blooms, and they're fun to grow. We're looking forward to harvesting our first home-grown potatoes in a few weeks.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvgfeQJFJERkpIohhr3_4Wl8QDNiK3AsIHZBkzRsoO9U39RZx56Q-KYuy0SGvZyEaAEMNlpkkQZJ2Vb8F15_K1ITgSizMKnW34Vyq1fagxR4jv4G6JjqioydXJBOxytfndWuFkgCoNwY/s1600/DSC01970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvgfeQJFJERkpIohhr3_4Wl8QDNiK3AsIHZBkzRsoO9U39RZx56Q-KYuy0SGvZyEaAEMNlpkkQZJ2Vb8F15_K1ITgSizMKnW34Vyq1fagxR4jv4G6JjqioydXJBOxytfndWuFkgCoNwY/s640/DSC01970.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Culver's Root, moved last fall, seems to be thriving in its new, slightly sunnier spot along with a coneflower. In the background, 'Blue Paradise' phlox, new last year and still small, just started blooming. Geranium 'Biokovo' is reblooming for the first time, and barely peeking out from behind the tree, 'Jacob Cline' monarda is very popular with hummingbirds. </div>
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Here's a different perspective where you can see the phlox and monarda a little better. <i>Heuchera villosa </i>'Mocha' shows up in this shot too. Besides the nice foliage, this heuchera blooms all season long.<br />
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Bloom Day posts here tend to include a lot of closeups, so it seemed fun to change it up with some long shots this time. Hope you enjoyed them. To see more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts that will surely include closeups and long shots of what's blooming in gardens around the world today, please visit our host, <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol at May Dreams Gardens.</a><br />
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</div>garden girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13284047851881823280noreply@blogger.com33