ndgardengirl

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T19:45:00.003-06:00

Hello stranger!

It's been a mighty long time since I've checked in here. I hope all my blogging friends are doing well and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2011. The more snow we get, the more I miss my cheerful flower garden! :O)

Hope all is well in your world - happy holidays...

B

A little fun in the sun ...

2010-06-27T07:50:00.003-05:00

Not a lot of blogging - or gardening - has happened at our house in the last 8 days. I've been out of town ... as in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Beautiful Puerto Vallarta - with its lush mountainside and green waters of the Pacific. My husband and I treated our girls to a little Mexican R&R and what a delight it was. Mommy's Little Helper (MLH) poses next to the famed arches on the Malecon.

The weather was very warm but it was just what we needed. Lots of fun in the sun and ocean. All-inclusive resorts are the best - especially with kids. MLH must have had 30 "Version Strawberry Daiquiris"! This is what we looked out at EVERY DAY.

I never tired of the sunsets. I looked around at some landscaping but nothing was really all that impressive to take photos of. Besides I was there to smell like a coconut for a week and sit my lily white Midwestern self on the beach to celebrate my birthday and my eldest daughter's. :O)

My husband and daughters snorkeled off the shore near Puerto Vallarta at Los Arcos - a national park. They loved it!

So now back to reality and back to my normal life. The garden looked a little tattered when I got back home. Rain and wind had caused some havoc and the newly planted shrubs in the firepit area were in desperate need of TLC. This will be a busy week getting stuff looking good again ....

Hope to post new garden photos soon as I think some new blossoms are a week or so away.

Oh Caesar's Brother where art thou?

2010-06-13T09:46:00.004-05:00

I never was a huge fan of irises. I called them the "devil" once to a neighbor, as I found them to be very pesky in the garden with their deep roots and mangy growing habits. It wasn't until a few years ago, that I decided to give them another try.

I found the Siberian Iris "Caesar's Brother" and irises are back on my good side. I love the compact clump it makes and the bright purple blooms. They are nothing like the iris that were at our previous house and I'm glad I didn't discount them altogether. Caesar's Brother is nestled between coneflowers (which have yet to bloom) and this petite "East Friesland" salvia in the front garden bed.

These gloriosa daisies have a very odd leaf/bloom shape to them this year -and are definitely different than others that I have in a different spot of my garden. Does this look normal?

One of my goals this year is to plant a perennial that has the name of each one of my children. Without getting into too many details ... I have two plants that have done just that ... I have three very stately hydrangeas, I just added this loosestrife (can anyone guess the name) and now I'm on the lookout for a plant with the name of "Kate" in it.

Any suggestions?

My darling Clementine!

2010-06-04T18:07:00.014-05:00

Last year I raved about the Clementine Columbine and how I was going to try different varieties. Well, they are blooming now ... let me know what you think.

Clementine Blue. Love the deep violet.

Clementine Red ... much like the Rose I planted last year that's at the top of the banner of my blog.

Clementine White ... it's just ok for me. Not nearly as showy as the colorful varieties. Clementine Salmon Rose was a no show, unfortunately.

This was a plant from the free garden .... any ideas on what it is ... it kind of looks like a Forget-Me-Not but it's about 8'' tall. I'm stumped.

I had a lack of spring bloomers but my "Silver Princess" Shasta Daisy was a nice addition. I love daisies - kind of like Meg Ryan's character in one of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail." Daisies - they're so happy!

Help me out here! My master gardener friend said I dug up a weed from that free garden dig. I think it's a sedum. Look at the rubbery leaves?!?!?'' Any ideas?

Every nice shady spot deserves a coleus. I couldn't resist this "Colorblaze Dipt In Wine". I have it in a cream can on my deck.

I planted this new "Fanal" astilbe in the front of the house. It really looks red against the green of the hosta but it's actually a lovely raspberry color.

The rest of the weekend I'll be digging out rock to add some shrubs in a new firepit area that we cleared out. It seems as if some friendly chipmunks found a cozy home in our hot tub over the winter and ate right through the electrical wiring. We were pretty bummed because the hot tub is not worth fixing. So we thought, "Let's make this area a nice fire pit spot!" And so the project begins .... I'll leave that for another post!

Perennial smorgasbord

2010-05-21T12:44:00.016-05:00

The email started off innocent enough ...

"Special Gardening Request!"

"Good day to you and Happy Spring to all my gardening friends! I have a first time home buyer who just moved into their new home ... It came complete with " a whole lot of perennials and ornamental plants. They have asked me to pass along the word that they would love some gardeners who could and would remove the perennials to a new home - Could this be YOU?"

Yes, it was me!

It took me, oh I don't know, maybe two minutes, to respond back to the realtor who sent this out to a mass list of area gardeners. (How she got my name is still beyond me). But nonetheless, within minutes I was in contact with the homeowner and I had set a date to come over with Mommy's Little Helper, gloves and shovel. I was psyched!

I had no idea what the house would behold but I can tell you it was overwhelming and overgrown. The previous homeowner was quite ambitious in both the front and backyards - even boasting a small pond that used to be stocked with fish. The new homeowners, just young kids, have no interest in gardening and really want to have a yard for a future family and a dog. I don't blame them ...

But where to start?! There were irises, tiger lilies, tulips, lambs ear, daylilies and chives everywhere. And groundcover, oy! ..... Half of which I had no idea what it was.

It was hard to know what to choose as a lot of things weren't in bloom ... I had to pick and choose based upon foliage which isn't always easy to do. Some of the ground cover was so thick that I couldn't even dig up some things that I wanted - which included Johnson's Blue geranium, hyacinth and dianthus. I was bummed.

I loved this look of wild phlox and pink tulips. I took some of the phlox but it didn't take the transplant very well. And boy, did this stuff SPREAD. They had it in every area of the garden. Probably not a good choice to put in my garden after all ....

But we dug, and dug, and brought home some beauties: overdam and blue fescue grasses, yellow and purple iris, this really cool groundcover (ajuga) that seemed non-invasive, and what I think to be neon sedum. My good friend and I will go back this weekend to dig more out and plant at the school. (see previous post)

At the end of the day, I was very grateful for the offer to take what I wanted, even though my planting space at home is getting smaller. I brought home some smart additions to the garden that are sure to be blooming for years to come.

Happy spring gardeners!

2010-04-16T14:39:00.006-05:00

I'm back in the blogosphere !

We've had a wonderful North Dakota spring .... little to no flooding and no SNOW in April so far. The grass is green and the perennials are starting to poke their heads out of the dirt. It instantly is a mood lifter.

The highlight of my winter was attending a gardening seminar of the Renegade Gardener Don Engebretson of Minnesota. What a treat it was to hear him in person. I have been reading his blog for the last few years and love his irreverent and no-nonsense approach to gardening and landscaping. He gave us great ideas for container plantings that I am sure to incorporate this summer.

I also have reassessed my garden and have decided to (gasp!) scale back. Of course, I say that now, and by June I'll be back daydreaming about expanding another bed. Why scale back? For lack of a more eloquent answer ... I bit off more than I could chew. By the end of last summer, I was tired of having so many different planting areas and trying too many things. I felt my landscape lacked "oomph". I had too much of too many different things. In other words, it just ain't workin' for me anymore.

It would be differently, surely, if I only worked part-time, and I would have more time to experiment and hand-hold my garden beds. But it just won't happen. I will make the first of many trips to the local hardware store and purchase grass seed and fill in areas that didn't work.

Somewhere, my husband is shaking his head and saying, "I told you so."

Sigh.

Spiffin' up the school

2009-10-03T16:45:00.016-05:00

My neighbor and PTA member Allison has asked for my help at our school. Not with school pictures or helping at a teacher appreciation day, but with landscaping.

"You seem to have a green thumb," she said. "We could use your passion for gardening at our school."

The front of our school IS pretty dull. There are overgrown daylilies and mangled shrubs. I look at it everyday when I pick up my daughter and it lacks color and interest. I knew that it needed a facelift.

"I'm no expert, " I tell her. "But if you need some help, I'm your person!"

And so it began ...

What to do with this eyesore? Yeesh. We have a handful of areas like this. Allison thought some bulbs might look nice here. Can I plant bulbs in this space and spruce it up with some Karl Foerster and some other grasses? I have little or no experience with bulbs - do I have to plant annuals over them once they die down?

What makes this planting tricky is that there is no one to take care of these plants once they are planted. They are on their own to survive.

We were supposed to plant tomorrow but recent rains postponed it until next weekend. The school's Boy Scout troop and their dads were going to do the tough work - dig out all the daylilies and rose bushes.

This retaining wall planter is attractive but look at the junk that's in there. (What were they thinking?) Should we put some perennials in there to give it some "bones"? I can see some wave petunias or sweet potato vine looking nice - spilling over the sides. Maybe a few morning glories? What do you think? What would be a good foundation for that planter?

We put out a call for perennials and so far I've yielded black-eyed susans, lots of irises, sedum and some coneflower. I have some May Night salvia that I split that we could use here too. It's a VERY long and narrow area. My master gardener friend Kathy suggested we repeat patterns: black-eyed Susan, monarda, Salvia, coneflowers - repeat. Problem is, not sure we have enough to fill the area.

All of these flowers are donated - and there's good and bad that goes with that ! I've had offers of snow on the mountain (no way!) and lots of invasive ground cover stuff. I hate to be picky but do you really want plants that are going to wear out their welcome?

Please share your ideas!

Dog days of summer

2009-09-19T19:23:00.018-05:00

It's been too hot here. Even Sasha the Schnauzer thinks so.

I know I shouldn't complain. It's in the 80s almost every day and the sun is a warm beacon in the sky. I should be overjoyed since our summers are short here in North Dakota and this one was cooler than normal.

But it's September and like my friend Kit commented in her blog, I am "so over" summer. It's football season and I can't enjoy a Vikings game indoors when it's 80+ degrees outdoors and I should be doing something constructive in the garden!

My "M.O." the past few summers is to fill several planters at the end of the season - or when the small plant shops or big box stores start slashing prices on annuals. I made this row of planers on my back deck and spent next to nothing for a swath of color I can enjoy from my kitchen window. The added benefit is that these will still look good until the first frost where as my annuals that I planted in the first stages of spring look like they've had it.

This has been the summer of rudbeckia. My friend Kit suggested this "Indian Summer" so I tried it. The leaves are huge and a buttery yellow. Mine are quite short but Kit says they'll get very tall.

This was a last-minute purchase when I wanted to add a little color to a part-sun spot. This rudbeckia hirta "Sonora" had interesting coloring with the cocoa brown rim around the centers. Neat ....

I think these are part of the rudbeckia family right?! These gloriosa daisies are from Kerri at Colors of the Garden. I started this whole section from seed - they grew effortlessly and have been non-stop bloomers for weeks. Love them ...

This plant has me baffled because it looks so different from the typical rudeckia. The tag said rudbeckia fulgida. The diameter of the flower itself is no bigger than 3 inches across and they are on very long spindly stems. The petals are very dainty and look cool next to the tall stalks of my verbena. It'll be interesting to see what it'll look like next year.

The recent warm weather really gave my impatiens a boost. I have this trailing variety in the small rock garden by one of my favorite garden inspirations - St. Francis of Assisi.

In my next post, I'll offer my garden awards for the year. Prizes will go to to the best plants and worst plants in the garden this year. Stay tuned ....

Meeting my Idol

2009-09-02T08:45:00.006-05:00

This is going to be a non-gardening related post. Please indulge me on this one ...

This past Sunday, my favorite American Idol, David Cook, had a show here in Fargo. Not only did I get to attend, but I scored backstage passes and got to talk to him and get my photo taken with him. It was so much fun and an experience I'll remember for a long, long time.

I loved his performances from Season 7 and have been following his successful solo career. He was a gentleman in person. We talked a little Chiefs football and he told me that I shared the same name as his mom. My sister-in-law told him we held him to the same esteem as Axl Rose! (A compliment to us - maybe not so much for him. Ha ha! :O) What a thrill for an old lady like me ...

Anyway, with back to school and some other shenanigans, there hasn't been a whole lot of gardening done at my house recently. I hope to post some photos soon.

Happy Labor Day everyone ...

Guest garden question

2009-08-11T14:37:00.004-05:00

My co-worker Sandy has a problem in her garden ...

Take a peek at this plant. She said the tag called it a "Tall Fall Daisy" and it's getting these weird brown stems - apparently they die off one at a time. As you can see from the photo - one is in full "die-mode" and there's one that's met its demise right next to it.

I have no idea what would cause it to do that. The other stems are seemingly happy but apparently they eventually falter too.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

Nuts for nigella

2009-08-03T20:00:00.013-05:00

I haven't visited all the latest posts from my dear friends in the blogging world for weeks.

My life has been filled with summer fun. A quick trip to the Twin Cities with my husband and girls and a girls weekend in Kansas City - what a great time! All the while, my garden has suffered slightly from neglect. I bribed the girls into watering for me during my KC trip. It worked for the first day but the rest of the time - not so much.

I came home and the tomato plant had pretty much died. The annuals needed a good drink too. But thankfully, some plants came to life and here they are.

The two photos above are my first try with nigella or Love in a Mist "Persian Violet", recommended by Connie at Notes from a Cottage Garden. Connie - I'm so glad you suggested these!!!!! First of all, the colors are stunning (and match all the different hues of purple and pink I have) and they are so carefree. I am surprised at how many people (and fellow gardeners around here) weren't familiar with this annual - but now they are after seeing these beauties. Thanks for the tip!

The story behind this plant - I received a $20 gift card to a local nursery from the lady whose chocolate lab ate my bush morning glory! So I picked up this double purple coneflower. It's a lot shorter than other coneflowers that I've grown - not sure if this will be different next year after its roots mature. Isn't it cool?

Kerri from Colors of the Garden - here is your blue larkspur!!!! These have really taken off and are very tall and sturdy. I love them. The gloriosa daisies are about ready to bloom and hopefully will be able to post some photos for next time. I started both of these from seeds this spring.

What is the proper way to collect seeds from annuals so that I can do this again next year?

Hope all is well in your gardens. It has been very dry and cool here. We could use a good soaking and some nice warm August days .... and I have some serious weeding to do!

Making a case for the blues and brandy ....

2009-07-13T12:44:00.013-05:00

Readers of this blog remember how much I gushed about the bush morning glory. This week it finally bloomed and it's more lovely than I remember.

I'm not a huge fan of blue. Maybe it's all those years of having to wear royal blue in high school that has turned me off. And it typically isn't a color I am drawn to in the garden either. But this nautical blue is a dazzling sight. In the sunlight it's a bright blue but on an overcast day, it almost has a purple hue.

I sowed these seeds in late May/early June. They were fast growers and were not high maintenance to get going. They do have that trailing habit so I can see why the packet said it would be good in a rock garden. Next year, I would like to spread these out a little more for that nautical flash in a couple of spots.

I planted this laurentia not because of the beauty of the plant (albeit it's pleasant enough) but because of the name "Beth's Blue." I couldn't resist. It actually is more purple and blue. It's been blooming non-stop for weeks.

You can see on this photo that I opted for black mulch in my front yard beds. So far, the experiment has worked well. The soft black of the mulch is very forgiving for gardeners like me that are constantly moving things around. It's true test will be a hard rain or a wind storm!

I had never grown an annual rudbekia until I saw "Cherry Brandy". I've tried to incorporate more red in the garden basically to appease my husband - a big fan of red flowers. Red can look garish so I add it sparingly and with much trepidation.

Cherry Brandy's petals are as soft as velvet and I love the burgundy - almost black cherry - hue. What a bummer that it's only an annual ... although on some sites it says it can be a perennial.

Has anyone else grown it? Can it reseed itself as a perennial?

Wacky leaves

2009-07-07T07:00:00.009-05:00

Every so often my coneflowers have what I call yellow leaf disease.

The White Swan coneflower continues to grow - you can see the buds - but the leaves get a sickly yellowish-green. I am baffled by this. I thought the conventional wisdom was that if your leaves were yellow your plants are getting too much water. Not so in my case. If anything - they probably don't get enough.

To further complicate this, weird brown spots appear on the leaves too. My purple coneflower did this two years ago and were so diseased toward the end of the season that I yanked them out and never put them in my garden again. But I love the White Swan and I'm bummed that this is happening to them.

Do you know what might be causing this? Bad soil? Not enough fertiziler?

On to fun things ....

Better Homes and Gardens gives their recommendations for plants to try each year. This year they suggested the double wave petunia. I'm not a big petunia fan but I was smitten by their photos of them and decided to give it a whirl. The picture above is the pink. They are in a planter mixed with blue double wave petunias, pink million bells and purple fountain grass. The double blooms are gorgeous and require next to nothing in maintenance. My kind of annual! I'd buy these again in a heartbeat.

Iris quiz: I was given this very tall iris last year. Can anyone tell me what kind it is? Love the colors - perfect for all the Minnesota Viking fans in our house!

Crazy for cosmos

2009-06-29T21:11:00.016-05:00

One of the best things I did was to try the Ladybird dwarf cosmos. I planted the seeds indoors in April and they are beginning to bloom and I love how dainty and pretty they are already.

The ladybird comes in creamy yellows and bright oranges - they stand only a foot tall with the ferny foliage of the regular cosmos.

I can't say enough about cosmos. The seeds are easy to start indoors, they transplant extremely well and they can take a lot of beatings from Mother Nature. We have had cold snaps, hard rain and unrelenting wind and those cosmos seedlings never flinched. I've moved them around to fill holes and they always bounce back. They are also a nice alternative to marigolds. And they look great next to purple.

I first tried the dwarf variety last year with the Sonata seed mix through Renee's Garden. I know a lot of people like cosmos but they're not crazy about their size. That's why these were so appealing to me.

The Niobe clematis has lived up to the "sleep, creep and leap" promise. After moving it three years ago to a more accommodating home on the eastside of the house, it has really taken off. Ironically, the Earnest Markham that I planted next to it never came back - neither did the Ken Donson. Hmmmmm..... clematis can be so fickle!

This was a new plant I had tried this year. The St. Johannis Anthemis is planted in full sun and is about 2 feet wide with nice airy yellow blooms. The plant tag showed orange flowers with yellow centers. These ended up to be quite different but I still like them. Not sure if they were mismarked or maybe with different soil they bloom differently? The best part of this plant - the bunnies haven't touched it ONCE!

I also wanted to try helichrysum (strawflower). At first I was disappointed that this turned out to be white but I have grown to like it. I have it next to my campunula Blue Clips and it's a striking combination. It's almost daisy-like.

Not sure if I'll post anything before the 4th - but here's hoping all of you have a safe and happy Independence Day!

Mystery plant

2009-06-24T12:36:00.004-05:00

I have no idea what this is. Help!

A friend was cleaning out her perennial garden last fall and gave this to me. It is already about 2 feet tall and thriving in its full sun location. The leaves are very jagged and large.

Does anybody have a guess?

Happy Birthday Annabel!

Pinks, purples and bye-bye juniper

2009-06-17T21:33:00.019-05:00

Recent rains have brought some new color into the garden. I was so excited to see what this centaurea montana was going to look like. So far there's just one bloom but there's more to come. This plant has really taken off and is probably one of the healthiest in the front yard right now.

This perennial geranium "Alpenglow" is front and center in a bed near the berm. It looks fantastic next to my purple salvia.

Not much different from the Alpenglow is my "Max Frei". Doesn't get as large as the Alpenglow but the color is nearly identical.

I posted this Firewitch dianthus in one of my first blog posts two years ago - and it continues to be one of the most popular pages on my blog. People obviously like their dianthus! Honestly - it's hard to beat the beauty of the plant and impossible to not notice when walking or driving by the house.

I attempted cleome from seed but it just didn't seem to take off as I had hoped, so I cheated. (I clearly admit I'm an impatient gardener.) I bought two from the flower shop and it's a striking companion plant with the salvia.

I bought this Northern Lights tufted hair grass recently. It really lights up the landscape with the golden hues. What I liked most is that it only needed part sun and that's where I had some holes to fill.

I committed a cardinal sin of gardening. I didn't read the package label to my California poppies very carefully and now I have an issue.

I did not thin the poppy sprouts when they started to grow. Now I have this huge patch and to try and thin them now might be tough. I tried pulling a few and the roots were quite deep already and I ended up yanking out about 6 healthy seedlings. Do you think I'll still get blooms? Any ideas?

Sayonara juniper!

My patient hubby took out that blasted tree last weekend. We tried cutting the top off first and it looked brutal. Finally, he said - "I never liked that damn tree anyway" and out it went.

I brought in some dirt and compost and that area is prime for growing. It gets a good 5 hours of sun each day. I put in some rudbekia, more columbine, monarda, profusion zinnias, a "Butter and Sugar" iris that was underperforming in another area and a new cushion spurge.

One of the first things I put in the old juniper space was another clematis (more good advice from Connie at Notes from a Cottage Garden). This Jackmanii Superba will crawl on the pole near the water spout.

More rain on the way today ....

One of my new favorite flowers

2009-06-09T21:07:00.007-05:00

I've fallen in love with columbine. Not just any columbine - the Clementine variety.

I selected the columbine "Clementine Rose" on a whim last year from my favorite perennial stop - the Plant Ranch. There had to be 10-12 different columbines to choose from on the clearance sale and for some reason I choose this one. What a beauty she has turned out to be. It is so nice that I went back to the Plant Ranch this week and bought every Clementine variety I could find - blue, white, red and the salmon rose. I loved their compact shape and the petite blooms.

Right now, my garden lacks color. It hasn't helped that we've had a cold spring. We had rain over the weekend and that was a definite boost - now we just need warmth!

This is about the only other thing blooming - the chives. But they sure look good! I planted a lot of purple and pink this year. I wanted that soft look in my beds this year.

This past weekend my son graduated from high school. What a whirlwind week. Hubby and I worked hard to make the yard and garden as glorious as it could be for all of our open house guests. We thought it looked great and hopefully our friends and family did too. And because it was our open house - we didn't do anything drastic with that silly juniper yet!

Hopefully I'll have more things blooming in my next post ...

What to do with this juniper?

2009-05-29T07:37:00.001-05:00

We planted this juniper shortly after we moved into our house in 2003.

I thought it would provide a sturdy anchor for the front landscape. But it is getting quite tall and too narrow for my liking. Recently, a blackbird created a nest in it and everytime I went out to garden, I'd have the mother bird flying around the tree, chirping - just to make sure I knew her eggs were inside.

Neither one of us huge fans of birds anyway, my husband and I carefully removed the nest and put it in another evergreen away from the house. The mother bird found it and I think she's just as content.

Can you cut the size of these down? Would I damage the tree by doing so? Would it look awkward? I'm clueless.

Maybe an arborvitae would have been better for that more round look. What's that cliche, "hindsight is 20/20"?

So some advice please - can you reshape it (or shave off some of the top) - or should I leave it as is? Is there a special technique? I don't want it to look as if Edward Scissorhands got a hold of it!

Happy Mother's Day to all

2009-05-10T07:29:00.013-05:00

My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.
- Graycie Harmon

Today, I will celebrate Mother's Day with my family - mainly outside - working on projects that need our attention. The sun is shining and I can already feel it will be a nice and productive day. My hubby and our teenager have a busy day a head of them with my to-do list.

I think one of the cutest Mother's Day traditions is the school projects kids make. Flowers seem to be the central theme which would make me smile anyway. My oldest daughter decorated a terracotta pot with translucent beads and sparkles and filled it with snapdragons and pansies. That's a keeper.

Mommy's little helper, a first-grader, could hardly contain her excitement when she handed me a large envelope. In it was a poem, her handprints and a packet of seeds. She told me her teacher gave her three flower choices. She chose cosmos, she said, because she remembered I liked them because we had planted some together at home. What a sweet Mother's Day memory. That encapsulated what Mother's Day and the love of gardening is all about for me.

It made me think of my own mother. I'm sure today she is busy tending to that big garden in the sky and how glorious that must be. I posted a photo of impatiens today - one of her favorite flowers - in memory of her.

I read this quote recently and I think it's quite fitting. Happy Mother's Day to all of you. Enjoy your day with your moms, your kids or in the great outdoors.

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.

- Claudia Ghandi

My garden, my friend

2009-05-05T12:58:00.013-05:00

I am enjoying getting lost in my garden again.

I can't wait to get home from work and see what grew in those eight hours since I last checked them. It's such a welcome reprieve from the stress that I feel lately - like when I'm having a bad day at the office, or the family is driving me nuts or when life is giving me lemons and I'm too exhausted to try and make lemonade.

It is then that I turn to my good friend - my garden. She rarely disappoints me, and if she does, I'll always find a reason to forgive her. She has been with me in good times and bad and no matter what comes my way, I can always find comfort in her. And this week, I need her.

Enough of my drivel. Let's look at what's happening outside ...

This lungwort is almost blossoming and is very lush. I think the pink blossoms are a week away. I love the spotted leaves.

This terra cotta-colored yarrow is getting quite big already for being only early May. I hear these spread rapidly. God only knows what this will look like in August. Yikes!

I transplanted this perennial bachelor button (Centaurea montana) this spring. I was a little nervous having it in the backyard after all the deer feasted in their growing area so I moved it to the front of the house. It transplanted incredibly well.

My good friend Ang gave me this special breast cancer-themed dahlia. Problem is.... the tag doesn't indicate if it's a perennial or annual and I've never grown dahlias. Can someone tell me what to do with it?!?!? Is it better potted in a container or in the ground? This plant has extra special meaning to me as my mom (aunt and first cousin) all had breast cancer.

I'm trying to keep the field rock look in my backyard and took out all the pavers around this portion near the deck. For Mother's Day, my husband said he'd create a nice sunny corner for me near the deck too (pictured below). I can always use another sheltered sunny location.

Any ideas for this area?

And now to my "What is up with this?" section:

This cushion spurge is barely there - I'm afraid it has winter kill. Does this look healthy to you?

Same goes for the Russian Sage - I see it starting to come up all over town but not in my backyard. Does this look like it's gone? Is it OK to Miracle Grow these plants - or is it too early?

Computer withdrawals and a seed update

2009-04-27T21:02:00.009-05:00

"Flowers changed the face of the planet. Without them,the world we know. . . would never have existed."

- Loren Eiseley, US anthropologist

I have been computerless at home for nearly a week. Some awful virus attacked my computer (no thanks to a file-sharing software that one of my wonderful children installed). Well, after a week's wait and $140 later, here I am finally able to post again. I have learned some valuable lessons this week: Don't download any file-sharing program, make sure all of your photos and music are backed up (which I thought I did but then later found out I didn't) and have a good anti-spyware program. Sigh ...

Anyway, on my last post I told you I was going to start some seeds indoors and in one week's time - I have healthy sprouts. The last to appear was the cleome. Like the seed packets suggested, I put the California poppy and the nigella straight in the ground. Apparently they like a cooler start and I live in the perfect climate for that. This is the kind of weird weather North Dakota has: Last Thursday it was 83 degrees and then the next day - in the 40s! Only here!

It didn't deter me much, I still worked out in the garden beds and even moved a few perennials around. I also sowed the blue larkspur too (thanks Kerri!).

Now it's just wait and see ... if only I was a patient gardener!

Sow what now?

2009-04-16T14:19:00.010-05:00

OK all you gardeners ....

Is it too late to start seeds indoors? When I had wanted to start seeds indoors it was the height of the flood. Now I'm about 3 weeks behind and wondering if it's even worth it.

Typically, it's not safe to plant seeds (or any potted plants) until AT LEAST Mother's Day around here (Chris from ND can vouch for this). Some years, it's not safe until Memorial Day. Even if I started the seeds for 4-5 weeks, is the seedling going to be strong enough to survive the spring transplant?

I wanted to start cosmos, bush morning glory and maybe even my cleome. I don't have a sophisticated set-up for my seeds indoors - just lots of sunlight in a south exposure window.

What do you think ... wait and just sow the seeds in mid-May or get a headstart now and take my chances with some grown indoors for a few weeks? Help!

Happy spring!

2009-04-12T11:42:00.008-05:00

These beautiful green buds from a Siberian Iris was a welcome visitor this Easter Sunday. After nearly six hard months of winter, this was a lovely sight.

Temps are in the 50s for the next few days and much of the snow has melted - all but the front of my house which faces north and still has lots of compacted snow. So today, I got out the shovel and moved the snow around to sunnier locations. I'm sure my neighbors were wondering what the hell I was doing shoveling the grass and garden beds. I'm just getting a jump start on gardening people!

I was out with Mommy's Little Helper who watched me shovel while she skated around in her new inline skates she received for her birthday. It was a great morning to be outside - the sun was shining, the sun was clear and it instantly uplifted my spirits. I was surprised to see a Red Cross truck driving around our neighborhood again - I'm sure they were checking to see if there were any people working on our dike and were offering beverages and treats. How nice of them to come by on Easter ...

Anyway, here's some of the things I found underneath all that snow ....

This is one of my geraniums.

I believe this is a pink columbine?!?!!? Regrettably, I did not mark my plants last fall and I planted SO MANY new things and now I am lost as to what and where I planted. This is atypical of me and I am so frustrated! I think back to September when I would normally do this and I was so sick with my gallbladder. So that's probably why I neglected this garden chore. Oh well - it does add an element of surprise to spring ...

I haven't had much experience with grasses. This is one of my prairie grasses and not sure - do I cut this down even more. Do I wait for new growth to come and then do away with this?

Flozzard

2009-03-31T11:20:00.010-05:00

I heard someone coin this phrase today regarding our blizzard and flood - sounds pretty apt to me!

Well, the winter storm they had warned us about certainly came roaring in last night. We have had several inches of snow already and it's falling pretty steadily again along with 20 mph winds. Our office was open for a few hours and they sent us home at 11 a.m. So many roads are closed for us and now with the blizzard, we only have one way out of our development and it's compacted with snow. The scary part is that this side road has ditches full of water that if you should happen to slide off the road you run the risk of going under. Not good ... I took it nice and slow on my way home.

So far, the snow and the wind hasn't caused much damage at all to the dikes. I listened to the daily press conference by city officials and they seem pleased with how the levees and dikes are handling the stress of the recent storm weather.

I'm settling in with the kids today (they are back now that the river has receded some) and just put a chicken in a stockpot to cook all afternoon long (chicken noodle soup or knoephla soup - such decisions!) We'll pop in a DVD, I'll read a flew blogs and we'll spend the day inside safe and warm.

Flood '09: Holding steady

2009-03-29T08:36:00.016-05:00

Saturday was a more quiet day in Fargo. Most dikes around the city held and the river was holding steady. Our dike has been strong and we have built it to nearly 44 feet in most places. It gave all of us a sigh of temporary relief. I think most of us caught up on sleep and probably took a nice warm bath to soothe our tired old bodies!

Some reports from the National Weather Service said it had crested already at 12:15 a.m. Saturday at 40.82 feet. By early Sunday, the Red River had dropped to 40.25 feet. City officials tell us there is more water south of town that needs to flow through the Red - so we are cautiously optimistic that it will not crested to the dreaded 43 feet that was once predicted.

Our development is directly across the river from Oakport Township in Moorhead where they have had lots of problems and lost homes. We are so fortunate to have had strong neighborly support of time, manpower and equipment to get our area where it needed to be.

By yesterday, I had sent the girls to friends' homes that are away from the river. They needed a break and I think the stress that we were feeling was getting to them. They seem to be having a good time elsewhere and it has made life easier for us. School has been called off already in the Fargo area for next week too.

For right now, our main course of action is dike patrol. As a neighborhood, we have to "man" our own dikes 24 hours a day for seepage and of course, breaches. Shifts are divided into 2-hour increments - four people are needed per shift. We were told that all shifts were covered until this coming Tuesday - which is fantastic.

Kyle and I had our shift last night from 6-8 p.m. Although I was on patrol, I couldn't help but bring my camera. This is a historic event. The photo above is Kyle checking one of the sump pumps.

The sun was still shining when we went out but toward the end of our shift it was bitter cold. The routine is that you walk the 3-block route and check the bags and the sump pumps. There is seepage from the bottom that is pretty much contained with the pumps and is considered normal. We were told to look for "sabatoge" of bags from the dike (who would do that?!?!?) and leaks from the middle of the sandbag pile.

We were met by National Guardsman on a couple of occasions. They were here from South Dakota helping with the effort. We still have roads closed into our development and the Guard is still cornered at each entry. It is a comfort to know they are there if something should go wrong.

The Red Cross has been so good to us! They have been here several times, leaving all kinds of food, water and cold and warm beverages for us - even for us on dike patrol! They dropped off warm roast beef sandwiches for us yesterday (which were delicious, by the way). I talked to one of the workers and he said that the area "church ladies" donated an astounding 2,000 sandwiches in one day to them.

One of the the main pumps in our development - notice the water that is being pumped back into the river.

This is one of the main houses that we sandbagged around. It is at the end of our cul-de-sac and if this dike was breached - we would have the river pouring down the street toward us. That is Kyle checking one of three sump pumps at the owner's house.

I'm sure this archway was quite a ways from the river at one point.

A long and winding trail of sandbags protects the cul-de-sac on our street.

This was a routine sight for the last week, mounds and mounds of sand on our street, waiting to be bagged and placed behind these rows of houses. We had about 100 people making sandbags for the last three days. Saturday was the first day we didn't have to do it. This sand is for us if we have an emergency. After this ordeal, the only sand I want to see is the stuff you find in Mexico!

The flood has also disrupted the natural habitat of the deer. Instead, they have found solace in our backyard. This has been a common scene this week. We have had as many as 9 deer in our yard - eating berries that have fallen from one of our trees (that I would LOVE to remove from our landscape - but that's a different story). The problem I have is that they are eating some of my ground cover on my garden beds and I don't want them to think this is an OK feeding spot for the future. They are driving Sasha nuts! Oh well, unique circumstances, right?!?!?

Thanks again for your concern and prayers ... it is much appreciated and best of all, I think it is working! We are putting up a valiant fight ....

Beth

Flood update: More sandbags, please

2009-03-26T22:41:00.004-05:00

After 24 hours and 300 volunteers frantically working around the clock, our dike is no longer deemed safe by the city. And recently, the Weather Service announced this afternoon that the Red could crest to 43 feet - which is how high most people have built their dikes. This is such a blow to us and the rest of Fargo!

We are hearing of more evacuations and it's becoming very scary for us. We have readied as many sandbags as we can this evening and hope that everyone turns out tomorrow for one last push before the anticipated crest on Saturday. We are all tired and emotionally drained. All schools are closed, most business are closed and no travel is advised for most of the city. We have the National Guard out on every corner of our development. My kids feel like a prisioner in their own home .... it's an awful feeling.

The worst part is that you just have to wait and see what will happen with the river on Saturday morning. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature and I hope she will be kind to us. I will post an update as much as I can. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers blogger friends!

Beth

Flood Fight

2009-03-25T09:16:00.005-05:00

As many of you are probably aware through national and local news, Fargo is in a desperate fight against the Red River of the North. The last few days have been surreal with the overwhelming effort of the community to sandbag and volunteer. I am in awe of the unselfish nature of others to help their fellow man.

My neighborhood borders the river and we have been frantically making sandbag dikes at the end of our street and two streets north of us. My husband, son and I have been volunteering - in fact, I haven't seen our son very much in the last two days - school is let out for high schoolers and college kids to help and he's been in all parts of Fargo - doing his part. And it's hard work! Some of those sandbags can weigh up to 30 lbs! It's a human assembly line to get them laid down to protect these homes.

So far, we are safe and dry and city engineers came out to our site and we are confident our dikes will hold - others in different parts of Fargo-Moorhead have a tougher fight. As a write this, I hear they are evacuating people in south Fargo already. It's very disconcerting. I hope and pray that we can hold off the floodwaters and Fargo-Moorhead suffers minimal damage.

In the past 48 hours we've dealt with rain, thunder, lightning, rising waters and now a winter storm with 4-8 inches of more snow. It's a good thing we are resilient.

Here is a link that shows photos of what is happening on my street. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36626034@N07/

If you want to find out more - please visit http://www.inforum.com/. Other areas of the state are dealing with flooding and evacuations too.

Please keep the people of Fargo - and all of North Dakota in your prayers!

Spring? Soon? Please?

2009-03-04T18:44:00.012-06:00

Hello blogging world!

As you can see, we have quite a bit of snow left - and expecting more this weekend. Argh ...
I got a little spring fever today as the temperature hovered in the mid-30s. It was wonderful but I'm afraid it'll be a long time before this white stuff is gone and the region is very worried about spring flooding.

This winter I have noticed lots of deer feeding off remnants of my garden. It's ok I guess. There was a family of deer and how could I deprive that little Bambi of nourishment!

I'm getting ready to order my seeds soon .... that's the fun part! I have enjoyed all the colorful catalogs that make it to my mailbox.

When I'm not enjoying all the seed catalogs, I've managed to watch my favorite show - American Idol! I admit, I'm addicted. And unfortunately to my kids' dismay, I've found Facebook! I have had so much fun. I'm astounded at the number of people that are on there. Young, old - you name they're on there. It's been a blast connecting with friends and colleagues. Just one more thing to keep me on my computer! :O)

Lastly, I mentioned that I took a hiatus from my blog when school started and my son's hockey season rolled around. Thought I'd share this photo from parents night. It's not very often that you can get your teenager to give you a hug - but that night he did and I just beamed. It was so nice ....

Hope everyone is doing well in their corner of the world! Hope to be on here more soon!

So long for now ...

2008-10-10T06:12:00.004-05:00

It's at about this time where I take a hiatus from my garden blog. The garden is nearly put to bed although there are some things that look as good now as they did back in July (especially the geraniums). North Dakota got its first taste of snow last night (thankfully on the western side of the state) so I know it's gotta be coming our way soon. Ugh ....

With the end of fall comes the beginning of our son's senior hockey season that we have been looking forward to a lot. Coupled with the girls' activities - it will be a busy five months. These are all good things - just very exhausting! I am also preparing myself for gallbladder surgery next week. The sooner the better as I've been quite miserable for some time .... it's no fun not being able to enjoy all the food I like to eat!

I have met lots of very cool people this year - it's been a treat. I hope to stop by your blogs throughout the winter and see what you are up to. Thanks to all who have been faithful readers - you make it all worthwhile. We'll connect again after the new year.

Best wishes,

Beth

Droopy sedums and the best zinnia seeds

2008-09-21T18:32:00.019-05:00

It's been two weeks since I've written anything! The kids are back in school and my weeks have been busy with their activities. And as you might have guessed, gardening has taken a back seat and it shows. I spent a few hours yesterday cleaning things out -removing spent annuals and cutting back perennials. It was good to be out there again as I had missed it a great deal.

I read on one blog recently - I think it was the Patient Gardener who hails from England - and she described cutting back her sedum in June for a more compact attractive plant in the fall. Hmm ....

I have two kinds of sedum in my garden this year - one that looks very stately and upright in the front yard (above).

And one that looks messy with little to no shape in the back yard. Sedums have become somewhat of an annoyance to me. I mean, I like them but when they don't look good, it gives what I feel is a sloppy presence in the landscape. They haven't reached the disdain that I have for the Stellas(which I put in the compost pile this weekend). Sedums have just become so ordinary - in particular the Autumn Joy.

When I yanked out the daylily, I replaced it with this lovely coppery orange mum. I wonder if it'll make through a winter? I heard they are very tender that way.

The goldenrod has really burst out. These are new plants and they have been battered from the wind. Their stalks are almost at a 45 degree angle! Staking them has helped - until the next windstorm .... I sure do like them though.

I planted three types of zinnia seeds this year and I was very impressed with the seeds I purchased from Renee's Garden. My favorite was her Hot Crayon Mix which was a beautiful selection of scarlet reds, citrus orange and vibrant yellows. The best part of these flowers were the petals - they were huge. The envelope said they were Benary's Giant zinnias but I haven't had zinnias that have looked as good as these. What I also liked was that the packet of seeds offered a beautiful watercolor portrait of the plant with personally written descriptions - a nice touch.

Renee's also had the knee-high cosmos mix which was probably one of my best performers this summer. I started them indoors in March and only two survived but those two are still blooming in the garden - and it's the end of September! You can bet that I will be a repeat customer of hers.

For those of you reading this blog last year, my cousin Dolly from Kansas sent me some of my Grandma K's marigold seeds for next year - and yes, I am going to try them - despite the rabbits!

A fickle coreopsis

2008-09-08T07:03:00.018-05:00

This "Sterntaler" tickseed coreopsis is really baffling to me.

I have watched it grow to nearly triple in size from when I bought it in late June and it has yet to bloom. The tag from the nursery says it blooms in early to midsummer in full sun. It gets five hours of sunlight a day so I don't think that's the problem. It appears healthy but its blooms are nowhere to be found. I was told that sometimes coreopsis doesn't bloom its first season at all and the next year it'll go nuts. My sister-in-law said she grows this variety as an annual because it won't make it through a winter.

As you can see, it's quite large. I've been wondering if I should just let it be, chuck it or maybe divide it to promote blooms for next year? Any ideas??!!?!?

When we moved in to our current house five years ago, I had picked out this "Angel's Blush" hydrangea. The landscapers planted it on the northside of our house - and we're talking very dense shade. The hydrangea never got taller than 2 feet and never bloomed. I was about ready to toss it in the garbage pile when it occured that maybe moving it would help (and this epiphany came four years later). Duh!

I nursed this hydrangea back to life this summer and by gosh, a pink bloom has appeared - in fact, several of them have. Isn't it pretty? In retrospect, I should have asked more questions when the landscapers came. Then again, I wasn't into gardening back then and probably wouldn't have asked the right questions anyway. So when they said it grows ok in shade - it didn't mean for "my kind" of shade. Only the homeowner knows what kind of sunlight exists in certain locations and it ultimately was my responsibility to speak up and say so. Lesson learned ...

This late-blooming ligularia looks great!

Canna update - they did bloom! At what point do you dig up the bulbs for next season? After the first frost?

Thanks Susie ...

2008-09-06T17:32:00.020-05:00

Susie from Digging in the Dirt has bestowed a special blogging award to me, and what can I say, I'm honored!

This whole blogging thing started last year on a whim but I have really enjoyed this endeavor. I have met some of the nicest and most knowledgeable gardeners. I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to comment or even stop by to browse. There are soooooooo many other garden blogs on the web and I am humbled that you happened to stop by mine in little 'ol North Dakota.

As the rules go, I need to nominate other blogs that are worthy of this esteemed award. Some people like to participate and others don't and that's ok. So here they are ....

Linda (Illinois) at Garden Girl. She has my dream job! :O)

Melanie (Long Island, New York) at Old Country Gardens. I learn something everytime I read her blog.

Connie (Idaho) at Notes from a Cottage Garden. A North Dakota girl at heart.

Kerri (upstate New York) at Colors of the Garden. She has some of the most beautiful flowers and photos.

Laurie (Amish Country, Pennsylvania) at From My Garden to Yours. We have similar garden styles and I like to see what's she doing.

Kris (Minneapolis) at Gardens by the Lake. Although Kris is on blog sabbatical, she's the one that got me interested in blogging in the first place. Comeback Kris!

Thanks again Susie!

Kit and caboodles in her garden

2008-08-29T21:16:00.030-05:00

I was visiting with my co-worker Johnny about my love of gardening one day when he suggested, "You need to come over and talk to my wife, Kit - she loves to garden too."

So last weekend I took him up on his offer and went over to their home to admire their garden. We had the best time! We talked gardening, and dirt, and mulch and seeds and everything garden - we were all in heaven! They have transformed their twin home landscape into a caleidoscope of colorful perennials and annuals.

The goal of our meeting was to exchange monarda as I'm an avid collector of all colors. I took home a cutting of Kit's lavender-colored variety and I gave her a chunk of my "Raspberry Wine". We were like two kids trading baseball cards - both giddy to get their coveted favorite player - or plant in our case.

Kit is a lot like me in that we had no formal training in gardening or have taken any special classes. We both developed this affinity for gardening by getting our hands in the dirt. We are on a constant mission to beautify our surroundings. She also told me one of her favorite places to shop was the Plant Ranch too! (See earlier post "Flat Sale"). Indeed, Kit and I were kindred spirits.

Kit had some interesting blooms in garden - some of which were completely new to me that I wanted to share with you, my blogger friends.

Kit raved about her Brazilian Verbena (Verbena bonariensis). Of course, when she said verbena I'm thinking about the trailing plant you see in containers but this was completely different. She said this plant grows in even the worst soil, takes little space in the garden and has an airy feel that doesn't thwart the growth of other plants. I caught a bee on a verbena cluster above. Kit is giving me seeds for next summer. Yes!

This was my favorite of the day - a Bush Morning Glory. I had never seen a ground cover plant quite like it. Kit planted these by seed in June and it was a prolific clump of beautiful blue blooms with yellow eyes. It was fabulous. That's going on my wish list. Love, love, loved it.

Scabiosa or pincushion flower. I'm trying this next year.

Loved the combination of profusion zinnias (which looked WAY different than mine), tickseed and balloon flower. Here's another photo below of the profusion zinnias.

I thought profusions were always small?! They did such a nice job with the rock edging too.

This dainty white flower delphinium "Summer Morning" was front and center in the back bed. (I thought it was nicotiana at first glance).

This perennial lobelia was next to the delphinium as well. I had tried this plant before but the bunnies got it ... (sigh).

This was the oddest looking plant - a "cleome" or spider flower - which Johnny said looked like giant jellyfish. It was huge but a very cool accent in the garden.

Here's a glance at how everything works together....

I hope you enjoyed a look at Johnny and Kit's garden. It was a Sunday afternoon well spent.

Happy Birthday Sasha!

Memories of mom and fern peonies

2008-08-26T08:00:00.013-05:00

My sister-in-law Peggy, a garden enthusiast in her own right, shared a special story with me recently. Many years ago, my mom had given her a fern leaf peony. This plant has followed my brother and his wife through a handful of moves over the years and it now thrives in their Minnesota garden. I was touched that one plant could mean so much to them and what a wonderful memory and tribute to my mom who died in 1992.

If you've been on this blog before, perhaps you've read some of my melancholy posts on my mom. I wish she could have seen and enjoyed this garden hobby with me. I was only 25 at the time of her death - still wallowing in apartment living - years away from cultivating any sort of green thumb at my own home. At that time, I probably couldn't have even told you what a peony looked like!

I now have the opportunity to cherish a piece of mom's garden history. Peggy asked if I wanted to share this fern peony (pictured above). She felt I should have have something of mom's - garden-related naturally. I am honored. Problem is, neither of us know how to split a fern peony. And because of the precious nature of this plant, neither one of us want to botch this job and leave us both plantless ....

Does anyone have any experience doing this and can offer us some advice?

Here's a few garden photos from Peggy ... Oh, there's one four-legged friend on here too.

Dwarf Garden Phlox "Pink Flame"

"Baby Sun" Coreopsis

Winston watching over the garden.

Thanks for sharing Peggy ... let's get this fern peony thing done!

Cheap labor

2008-08-20T20:13:00.022-05:00

Raising a teenager is one of the hardest jobs you'll ever have. And whoever said that raising teenage boys was easier than raising teenage girls has not lived in our house.

Aforementioned teenager got himself in a little hot water recently. Aside from the normal punishment of no cell phone (gasp!) and no keys to his truck, his father thought of a more creative way to earn back privileges.

"You have some garden stuff to do outside?" he asked me. "If so, put him to work."

It was music to my ears.

On a really hot sunny day, aforementioned teenager dug out the area I was hoping to have tilled this fall. He did a nice job and I watched his work with the eye of a disapproving mom and a landscape forman.

"You missed this spot over here!"

"Watch out for that underground sprinkler head! - Good grief!"

Once his landscape work was completed, we went to the city landfill where I had him fill several buckets of beautiful black compost to add to my new area. My husband and I edged it with field rock that the previous homeowners had around the house. My new garden bed was complete and his detention was served. The photo above looks pretty sparse but next year, it'll be lovely.

I moved my foxglove over to the new area and surprisingly, I have blooms already. Aren't they cool?

I took this gloriosa daisy home from the nursery this week and planted it in the new bed.

Black-eyed susan were late this year but boy, were they worth the wait.

Even the "Arizona Sun" gaillardia bloomed this year for me after an abysmal start. I hope they survive the winter.

Next blog installment ... photos from guest gardens!

Taste test in the garden

2008-08-13T12:30:00.003-05:00

I found this fun garden quiz from the blog Cold Climate Gardening - actually dubbed a "taste test." Copy this list into your own blog and highlight your own choices in bold. I did vary this slightly from the original - basically to accommodate my gardening style ...

1. Lilies: oriental or asiatic?

2. No-till or till? We still prefer to use a shovel. Let's clarify that ... MY HUSBAND prefers to still use a shovel.

3. Bare hands or garden gloves? (I won't be hired to do any Sally Hansen ads, that's for sure)

4. Garden tchotchkes, no or yes? (I highlighted both as I do have small things in my garden to add interest: child's tricycle, small statue, bird feeder.... But if you're thinking gnomes, Disney characters or a God-awful, bloomer-showing cutout of a lady bent over weeding - than NO!

5. Purple coneflowers or black-eyed susans?

6. Do you normally plant in odd numbers - yes or no

7. Stella D' Oro daylilies - love 'em or hate 'em (sorry!)

8. Petunias: Of course or they have their place just not in my garden

9. Bachelor buttons or zinnias?

10. Impatiens: double or single?

11. Do you plant marigolds? Yes or no? (and several varieties)

12. Arborvitae or juniper?

13. What do you like to use for edging in your garden? Right now, it's field rock. Looks very cool.

14. Asters or mums?

15. Least favorite garden chore: Weeding or watering

16. Morning glory or clematis?

17. Favorite trailing plant? Sweet potato vine

19. Orange or pink?

18. Best gardening advice: Compost!

19. Barberry bushes or spireas?

20. Garden bed shapes: formal or informal?

21. Do you listen to music when you garden? Yes or No

22. Least favorite garden critter: rabbits

23. Sedum: dried flowerheads standing over the winter or cut down in the fall?

24. The flower that always makes me smile: Cosmos

25. Garden stroll time: dusk or dawn? (But really, is there EVER a bad time?)

Make your own taste known! Append! Amend! Object! Applaud!

That's the fun part ...

Protecting her turf

2008-08-10T10:13:00.009-05:00

I had to share this photo. This brave little squirrel found its way near the garden this morning - undaunted by the fact that a wiry Schnauzer was watching its every move. Sasha, tied up on her long rope so that she can roam the yard, was quite intrigued by this little guy. At one time, rubbing noses with it.

Annaboo took this snapshot.

The bliss didn't last long - the squirrel got a little too close for Sasha's liking and they tussled for a little bit. Ego bruised and with a few scrapes, the squirrel found its way back to the wooded area in search of a new place to eat. Horrified by their dog's behavior, my girls were saddened that Sasha didn't treat the squirrel nicer. It was a quick lesson for them on the natural instincts of dogs - in particular Schnauzers and the terrier breed. You just can't fight nature ...

Mulch a do about nothing

2008-08-07T19:59:00.018-05:00

Black mulch with tickseed.

Good friends of ours decided they want to landscape in front of their lake cabin. I brought down some cuttings from my garden and some sun-friendly perennials. I was all set to plant.

To my surprise, they had laid down black mulch in the bed and around the shrubs they had already planted. Black mulch? Hmm.....

"The guy at the nursery told me I would really like it. It camouflages the dirt when you start planting - especially if you move things around a lot," my friend explained.

So I put the black mulch to the test. And you know what, I liked it. Once you started mixing in the plants with the dirt and the mulch - it did seemingly blend well together.

I have a love/hate relationship with mulch. I try different mulches like Lindsay Lohan tries boxed hair color. I like how mulch looks right when you put it down. Everything is neat, organized. Then I get bored and I move something around and all of a sudden, I have mulch mixed in with clumps of clay-like soil. Not very appealing.

For a few years, I tried cocoa bean hulls. The front of our house smelled like a giant bottle of Nesquik. It drove my husband nuts. Whatever ... (!)

This was my feeble attempt at cypress mulch - gross. I took it all out this year. Plus I didn't have edging on this bed and it was messy and wind-blown all the time.

For some reason, I didn't mulch this year and the soil and plants look particularly parched. Although a lack of rain would have something to do with that too.

Do you mulch in your gardens?

Mid-summer questions

2008-08-02T08:08:00.021-05:00

We've been enjoying the sunny warm days we've been having at the lake. There's been a few issues popping up in the garden and wondering if you bloggers can tell me what you would do or have done in similar situations.

OK, I'll share the fun stuff first - the white liatris is here!

I love these Q-tip shaped flowers. My girls always comment about how cool they look in the garden.

Combination of Sedona and Rainbow Volcano coleus. I initially liked the orange but a lot of the leaves faded fast. I prefer the red, actually.

I posted earlier on this blog about messing up at the nursery and buying a "Stargazer" oriental lily instead of an asiatic. Well, this is actually what I got when it bloomed. It looks nothing like a Stargazer. Does anybody know what I have here? Jury is still out on whether I like it or not. It probably would look really nice with purple.

This is the area that I recently "created" it was full of overgrown (and old) spireas that did nothing to the landscape. It's a mostly shade spot but gets more sun toward the Annabelle's at the end. I put a lot of my flat sale plants here - albeit temporarily.

On to the problem areas ...

This silvermound should be huge - at least twice this size and by this same time last summer, I had already sheared it back. It looks as it has little beads at the tip of its leaves - almost as if the growth was stunted somehow. Symmetrically, it fits into my garden but I know it's not completely right.

This container used to burst with color and now, my million bells have nearly disappeared. Too much heat? Too much water or fertilizer? Even the Marguerite daisies are a fraction of their blooms (and size). Thankfully, the sweet potato vine is happy or else this really would be an eye-sore.

How do you tidy up daylilies? Do you clip the pods after blooming? Will they come back? These Stella D' Oros were here when we moved in and I've divided them at least three times in the last five years because they get so big. I know the Renegade Gardener thinks these are the most overrated plant out there. I tend to agree. They are grossly overused in commercial and residential landscapes.

Happy Birthday Peggy!

Flat sale

2008-07-23T20:02:00.014-05:00

My neighborhood "white hoop" shop "The Plant Ranch" is closing up for the summer. Along side of their tent was the greeting "Flat Sale - $8.00". I had to stop in.

The Plant Ranch is famous for the "99 cent perennial". Of course, with the price of gas and the general state of economy, the 99 cent perennial soon became the $1.29 this year - still a good bargain. They have hundreds of perennials - grown locally in little Pekin, North Dakota. The selection is superb - if you're a patient gardener and can live with a small cutting of something. Me? I'm impatient by nature but I decided that this is a great time to try some new things - since I'll have a new part-sun area come fall.

I was surprised at the wide selection this late in the year and how good their stock looked. I had 10 minutes to get home so I did a quick shop and here's what I took home:

Grasses: Korean Feather Reed Grass, Blue Hair Grass, New Zealand Wind Grass and, I couldn't help myself, "Heavy Metal" Switchgrass. Rock on dude! I've been Googling photos all night of these. I'm especially excited for the Korean Feather Reed Grass.

Perennials: I am finally trying a "Camelot Lavender" foxglove, an "Alba" Armeria, St. Johannis Anthemis (which came up as chamomile online), Campanula "Blue Clips", Gayfeather and Eupatorium "Chocolate" - which looked really cool online. It has purpley chocolate leaves with small white flowers. Has anybody grown this?

I also picked up a few New Guinea impatiens to bright up a shady spot. All this, ladies and gentlemen, cost me a whopping $8.00. Now that's what I call a good day.

Here's a few favorites right now in the garden ...

Gazania Tiger Mix - I wish these stayed open all day long instead of just when the sun was out!

Profusion white zinnias.

"White Swan" coneflowers - always a favorite.

Another open canvas ...

2008-07-19T07:31:00.028-05:00

My co-worker Jane and I went on our annual garden tour of homes this week. I wish I took pictures of this one home - it was definitely worth sharing in the blogworld and a source of inspiration. Ponds were a very common theme at many homes. To me, it's a lot of work and most of them had live fish in them. Yuck ... I'm terrified of fish (love to eat 'em, just don't ask me to touch or look at them). That story is worth a blog entry on its own ... but let's just stick to flowers!

When I got home that day, I realized just how lame my landscape really is! :o( Ok, maybe that's too harsh - I'm learning to do the right things but I find my growing space and circumstances are a little trickier than the gardens that I was attracted to. Most were smaller and completely fenced in with little chance of garden predators. Plus, I think most of the people were close to or already retired and can devote countless hours to development, hard labor and TLC. I'm green with envy ...

This is the view from my deck each morning. Our property extends past the evergreens onto a major county highway. We are also next to a river so I get all kinds of wildlife walking through the backyard. Our development covenent also prohibits fencing so to try and block that off is a mute point. I've simplified this area and have kept most of the garden space near the deck where the animals are less likely to venture. So far, so good this year!

Jane suggested that I develop another area off the deck - still far away from the back but yet close enough to me to enjoy. The area is sloped - which means I'll have to add a lot of black dirt to level it off. This partial-fence area (I don't know how it got past the developer) sits in partial-shade. Jane offered the services of her wonderful husband and his tiller and would be willing to dig this up for me for fall transplanting. Linda, from Garden Girl, do you make house calls to North Dakota?!

Here's what else is going on this week ...

My ligularia "Little Rocket" is flourishing in the front garden. Wow - I love these. I also have the "Othello" but that doesn't show any blooms - lots of leaf activity though. I hope that's not a bad sign. This one is planted in partial sun - but mostly shade and it seems to suit it perfectly. I have another in the back that gets more sun and I see it looks a little more stressed. Put that one down on the list of things to move this fall.

I purchased this hummelo betony on the clearance sale at one nursery last fall. I knew nothing about the plant and it offered no blooms last season. I'm enjoying what it's doing now. It's planted next to my "Helen von Stein" lambs ear and rudebekia.

The coral reef monarda are begging to show their color. I planted this one next to the "Cherry" profusion zinnias which form a nice burst of pink.

New things I've put in the ground this week from the "clearance rack":

"Arizona Sun" Gaillardia - I gotta try this one more time!

False indigo

"Baby Gold" Goldenrod

Need to go ... I gotta yank out some unsightly spireas.

Behind the wheel

2008-07-09T19:51:00.012-05:00

Salvia, Galliardia and sedum - oh my!

I spent most of last week out of town. My sister was home from the East Coast and we ventured westward to attend a family reunion. We made a stop in Valley City, ND and visited the Medicine Wheel Park - a scenic display of perennial gardens, a solar system replica site and Indian burial grounds. I wasn't too interested in the astrological stuff but I loved the gardens ... go figure.

They were well manicured with lots of different kinds of perennials - and I mean LOTS of perennials that I couldn't list them all if I tried. I think I was about 3 weeks too early because soon they will be fantastic in color. Here's what caught my eye.

LOVED this creeping sedum - so much that I bought some when I returned home. It reminded me of cushion spurge and but that is so short-lived!

Asiatic lilies, irises and pink yarrow. Like the color combination.

I've never tried asiatic lilies and was inspired to do so after this trip. Trouble is - I didn't look at the tag too closely at the nursery and realized after I got home that I bought an Oriental Lilly vs. an asiatic (moron). But I planted the "Star Gazer" anyway. Wish me luck.

After our day at Medicine Wheel, my sister and I - along with my young girls in tow - visited my mother's grave to tidy up the plants our dad had planted. He didthe usual cemetery fare - geraniums and petunias. I've been meaning to plant a perennial on mom's grave so before we left town, I stopped by one of my favorite nurseries and picked up another red coreopsis.

This is the one I bought one for myself this spring and this is what it's doing now where it is front and center in my corner garden with full sun. It's an absolute showstopper. Next to it is the Lemon Gem marigold. I am so pleased with these too! I'll never buy another Moonbeam coreopsis again. These look like a coreopsis but are less invasive, form a nicer mound and you can't beat the price of a cell pack! I hope this red coreopsis will look nice on mom's grave. Maybe next year I'll plant a salvia next to it.

Meanwhile, things are looking good on the homefront ...

This is my shady corner in the backyard - I added a statue of St. Francis in a small area by a fence and planted an astilbe "Rheinland", hosta and assorted impatiens. The blue stone was painted by Annaboo in loving memory of our mini Schnauzer Henry who took off for doggy heaven prematurely. Although not the patron saint of gardeners (that would be St. Fiacre), St. Francis is a close second and he is the patron of saint of animals. I saw this quote and thought it was quite fitting ...

A garden without its statue is like a sentence without its verb.

- Joseph W. Beach

Amen brother.

This is my "Gardenview Scarlet" about ready to burst. I can't wait!

Hotter than you know ...

2008-06-24T20:28:00.008-05:00

It was terribly hot today - when I drove home the bank temperature read 93 degrees. What happened to our beautiful 75 degree days.

I gave the garden a good soaking when I got home as my newly planted annuals looked a little stressed. Some things in my garden are a good three weeks behind with the late spring we had. I knew that some of my clematis didn't come back. But what I forgot is that I transplanted a Niobe late in the season last year that was beset with all kinds of problems ranging from rabbits to lack of sun. Imagine my surprise when I saw this lovely crimson bloom. It obviously likes its new home as their are several blossoms waiting to greet me within the next few days.

When we moved into our house nearly five years ago, my flower bed in the backyard was an odd-shaped kidney bean. It lacked edging and over the years, the planting area has gotten smaller as grass was starting to fill. Nothing grew well there under the big cherry blossom tree. It seems as if the tree had zapped all the nutrients from the soil and my flowers were doomed for a life of inadequacy.

Not the most aesthetically pleasing piece of grass right now ....

I said to heck with it and I planted grass seed and my husband and I created an oval-shaped bed with brick pavers. It's amazing how finished your garden space can look just with a few well placed bricks.

Happy Birthday Annaboo.

My annual rant

2008-06-19T20:18:00.019-05:00

At one time I was a perennial prude.

I used to think that a true gardener only planted perennials and by my planting only perennials, I would somehow be awarded the golden green thumb. I have a friend, dare I say, is still that way. "Annuals are so boring," is what I heard and I believed her. I wanted to be that sophisticated gardener that stayed away from the garden stalwarts of petunias, marigolds, impatiens and geraniums. I used to think they had no place in my garden.

Well, let's just say I have embraced my inner annual.

I admire my sister-in-law's gardening philosophy. Be bold! She isn't afraid to plop an annual wherever she darn well pleases. She was blessed to buy a house that had beautiful existing perennial beds. But she uses splashes of color to brighten vacant spots. A fuscia here - a million bells here - a profusion zinnia there. It's just enough color to make her beds interesting and colorful and that's what I'm learning to do too.

Let's face it, perennials gardens can be kind of bland between blooming periods and without annuals here and there, they can get kind of "green." That's not a bad thing it's just, well, kind of boring.

So, in comes the annuals. Here's what I've been planting:

Heliotrope - great purple blooms. Some say they have a vanilla scent but I'm not smelling it yet. Looks great with my pink dianthus.

Bacopa (Snowstorm Giant Snowflake) - the best trailer I have planted in years. Always blooming and needs very little care. This beats an ivy any day.

Gazania - I have the Tiger Mix variety with blooms of yellow, orange and white stripes. I have it in my "all-orange" planter along side signet marigolds and a trailing peach million bells.

Cuphea - I saw a webcast where they put together colorful planters and they used this red accent plant. I bought one on a whim. Jury is still out though ...

I love what I'm seeing with this combination of Zinfandel Oxalis, osteospermums and orange profusion zinnias. The Zinfandel has yellow blooms that come up when the sun is out - very pretty.

My favorite planter - I love the red and pink together.

Signet marigolds in "Lemon Gem" - they really smell like lemons!

I'm embarrased to say that I finally tried these for the FIRST TIME:

Coleus (Sedona) - I feel in love with the orange. I first made the mistake of planting it in full sun where it took a beating. I moved it to the the northside and added some small red coleus to the planter. It has bounced back nicely.

Baby's Breath - What a novice, I know! And I thought I could use it only in the dried variety. This is beautiful!

Wax begonias - Gasp! I've never been attracted to begonias but I thought I'd try one in a mixed planter.

Perennial wisdom

I don't want to disrespect the perennials - they are the staples to every garden and I do love them. I have two favorites so far in this growing season.

My May Night Salvia has never looked better. In fact, I have people that stop in the middle of the street and stare at it. One lady knocked on my door and asked me for a leaf to bring in to a nursery to find out what it was. That's never happened before to ME. I'm usually the one knocking on someone's door!

This lady's mantle has been a pleasant surprise. I bought this late in the season last year when it only had about two leaves and it was on its last leg. I have it in mostly shade and it's about ready to show its chartreuse blooms. I liked it so much that I bought one for a small area in the backyard that I recently dug up and am making a small "shade sanctuary". Photos of that to come ...

My canna experiment is working!

Wild and Windy Night

2008-06-15T10:53:00.013-05:00

What is with the weather lately? Tornadoes, floods, excessive heat ....

Here in North Dakota, we've been able to escape the wrath of Mother Nature but we got a dose of her fury last night.

I was alone with all the kids when signs flashed across the TV about tornado warnings. I've been fascinated with thunderstorms and ominous weather since I was kid and my curiosity got the best of me. I grabbed my oldest daughter ("Annaboo") and we walked outside to see the impending storm.

The sky was a combination of blue, black and gray with swirling clouds abound. We were in awe - but only for a minute as within seconds the wind blew and trees were bent. We ran back home only to realize we had left Sasha outside on her chain and Mommy's little helper was playing in the yard with friends. I was terrified that a tornado was within minutes of touching down.

The momma bear in me kicked in.

"Grab Sasha and get in the basement with your brother," I yelled. I grabbed Mommy's little helper from outside and Annaboo, by this time, had Sasha in her arms and was wrestling with the screen door to get in the house.

Envision Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz sans the flying cows and witches flying around on broomsticks.

The lights flickered and the wind howled as we waited out the storm in the basement. My teenage son was home (atypical for a Saturday night) and I was relieved that I had all my children in the house. The neighbors were gone and had called to tell us that their two young children were alone with a frightened babysitter. They asked us if we could bring them over to our house for safety. Through gale-force winds, my son volunteered to get them and he brought them to our house where we sat around and listened to the radio and ate Goldfish. I was very proud of him and his initiative to be the "man in the house" last night. I think the kids were more calm than me!

The storm blew past Fargo and we were fortunate that no funnel clouds touched down near us.

I took a tour of the house and garden and noticed little damage despite reports of 50-60 mph winds. The basketball hoop - a heavy beast to begin with - was moved about 10 feet and one of our flood lights on the house was blown out and dangling by a thread. And the gardens .... they were unscathed except for lots of branches and leaves mixed in with foliage and blooms.

I hope others were as lucky as us.

Good morning Sunshine

2008-06-07T07:03:00.011-05:00

It's a Saturday morning and Sasha the Schnauzer was up early - somewhere around 5:20 a.m. It's the weekend - I wanted to sleep in!

But it was not meant to be. The pup needed to go outside and I obliged. I put on my daily pot of coffee and headed outside and was greeted by this beautiful "Butterfly" Marguerite Daisy (I misidentified it earlier as a osteospermum - they look so much alike!. I had to share ...

Last year I purchased the "Lemon Symphony" but I have to say, I prefer the buttery yellow of "Butterly". I mixed in red and fuschia million bells and sweet potato vine -a welcome display of color by my front door.

I love this low-growing catmint, "Little Titch". Never mind the grass clippings in the photo. Little Titch is always an early bloomer and will bloom for most of the summer. The best part of about this Little Titch is that it doesn't overtake its space - unlike the Walkers Low. Mine is beautiful right now but it is overshadowing my cranesbill geranium that is finally doing something this year.

Ever have two exact same kinds of flowers - planted right next to each other - same soil, same light, same moisture, etc... And one thrives and one doesn't? That's happening with my White Swan coneflowers. One looks great - and the other looks like an overgrown weed. I don't get it!

Do you think it'll just catch up or do perennials just regress and never really bounce back?

Yew got to be kiddin' me?

2008-06-03T18:58:00.012-05:00

What do you do with a yew that has winter burn?

I tried to reshape it, trim its brown branches and now I have what looks like a Charlie Brown shrub - misshapen and forlorn. Ugh!!!!

Anybody have a remedy for this sad shrub? You know it just wouldn't be Beth's garden if something didn't go down the toilet at some point or another ...

Speaking of going down the toilet, I did my morning walk around and noticed the rabbits chewed four marigolds plants and a monarda which left a mangled mess. They've eaten my marigolds before - but monarda! Bee balm was supposed to be indestructible!

On a happier note, I finally did what I've been reading about for the last few years - I brought in compost and I can honestly say the perennials in the front of my house have never looked better. The city was offering free compost to those brave souls ready to get blisters and backaches from shoveling it into empty containers. So one Saturday morning, I grabbed Mommy's little helper and headed to the landfill. We filled four recycling tubs full of beautiful black compost. I liberally spread it around all my flowers and worked it into the soil and have watched my perennials take off. Recent rains have helped even more.

Why didn't I do this years ago?

Garden vs. Suppers

2008-05-26T08:47:00.010-05:00

My husband has given me the talk already ... in fact, I think I've gotten it twice, maybe three times. It's 5:30 p.m. and the family is getting restless.

"Dear, I know you love your garden and tending to it and looking at it. But you're neglecting some things - like suppers."

My first reaction is defensive-mode. What do you mean? I always fix something for the girls. Ramen noodles, chicken noodle soup, salads - and on a good night - fishsticks! The kids are outside, the teenager is gone and somtimes I postpone that whole idea of "dinner."

But I know what he's getting at. My husband has an absent wife on most nights from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Once I get in the door from work, I quickly don my garden gear: baggy shorts, ratty T-shirt and my knock-off Crocs. I strap on my iPod or radio headset and listen to the Twins game while I go about my business of weeding, introspection and frustration.

"I'll do better," I tell him.

But I've heard the girls fuss a little more too.

"Mom, aren't we going to eat"?

"You love that garden more than me!"

"I'm going to eat at the neighbor's house."

My sister used to tell me that I needed a wife. I think she's right - I'm now ready for one. And if you find one for me, tell her to put the roast in the oven .... I gotta move this iris before the Twins game comes on.

Spring at last!

2008-05-18T17:47:00.021-05:00

A labor of love from my husband for Mother's Day

Hello bloggers - it's good to be back! I haven't been writing lately because, well, I've been gardening! The snow has melted (the last snowfall we had was about 10 days ago - it's May for crying out loud!) and there 's been a lot to do since then.

As you can see in the photo above, my husband promised to expand my garden this spring and I held him to his promise. With shovel in hand, he dug, and dug, and dug and loaded fresh dirt into a larger space in our backyard. He finished it off with new edgers that look great against our newly stained deck. I've been busy filling it with perennials I've moved or divided. I think in another month it'll start to really thrive.

With spring comes the inevitably inventory of what made it through the winter. Sad to say these plants didn't make it:

Sunray coreopsis

Gaillardia

Veronica

Ken Donson clematis

one barberry bush

Jacob Cline monarda (I know - monarda! Just when you thought nothing could kill it)

One catmit (that's because the snowblower got it). It still might be salvageable!

Oh well, a lot of my other transplanted stuff is thriving - the ligularia and lungwort are going gangbusters and the one phlox I thought I destroyed has sprouted to life again.

Mommy's little helper in the garden

This time of year is pretty tough for me as I have no willpower. I've visited the local white hoop flower shop in the grocery store parking lot at least 5 times since it's opened last week. I've been to darn near every nursery in Fargo, not to mention big box retailer garden centers. I have to see what's new and am so enticed by all the colorful blooms. Here's what I've done new this year so far:

Cannas! My co-worker dug up all of his canna bulbs when he moved from Indiana to Fargo and graciously shared them with me. He came in to my office with no less than about 40 bulbs. Really, you can only have so many cannas. I probably planted a good 7 or 8 and the rest I shared with friends and other co-workers. Not sure how a tropical-looking plant will look in my landscape but I'm willing to give it a shot. I hear they are no-maintenance and rabbits don't care for them. Nice ...

A new clematis - Ernest Markham. It's supposed to have reddish-pinkish flowers that I think will look tremendous next to my salvia caradonna and rudebekia. Clematis and I have had a tough relationship over the years. Let's hope a new variety will be good karma for me.

Red coreoposis - different than the sunray coreoposis - more mound-like. I hope it doesn't get as invasive as the pink - I was digging those out of my garden bed for two years.

More to follow ...

A new year, a new addition

2008-01-21T19:33:00.005-06:00

I've taken quite the hiatus from my blog - since October 19 after the tragic loss of our family dog, Henry. Much has happened in our home since then and the best news that I have to share is the addition of our new four-legged friend, Miss Sasha Sioux.

We got Sasha on the day before Thanksgiving and she's been healing our hearts ever since. I told my husband I don't think I could ever live without a mini Schnauzer. I love the breed so much and both of our Schnauzers have given us so much joy. I am especially encouraged by Sasha's growing interest in chasing rabbits in the winter landscape. Already, she's got a beat on them, chasing them away from the remaining stalks of my sedum. Atta girl! I have big plans for you sweetheart!

Have you ever experienced a winter in North Dakota? It's god-awful and I can say that being a lifelong resident of this state. This last stretch is some of the coldest weather I can remember. I tell out-of-staters if you can live through December 15-March 15 in North Dakota, then you've done well. The rest of the year is all good ... or at least tolerable!

Several seed catalogs have made their way to my mailbox. I'm ordering zinnias from the Harris Seed Company and am still on the hunt for the best California poppy and signet marigold seeds. My fellow gardener and co-worker Jane turned me on to Harris seeds as she and her husband bought their seeds from them last year and they had the most beautiful zinnias. Robust and absolutely spectacular in color. Aren't the lime ones gorgeous? I gotta try them.

Perusing through a retail supercenter garden section recently, I saw some of those pre-filled trays where you plant seeds and water. Anyone ever tried that? I went on to Connie's blog and she really does it the right way! This tray thing seemed pretty straightforward, effortless. Almost too easy? I'm a little hesitant as I'm not sure where I would put a tray of fledgling seeds when I have a playful puppy that already likes to jump on garbage cans. Direct sunlight isn't the problem - it's finding a peaceful resting place for them to grow. I'll have to think on that ....

Another encouraging sign for 2008: My husband said to me last week, "How did we say we were going to expand your garden this year?" What a guy .... you see, he finally IS coming around!

Stay warm everybody.

A sad October day ...

2007-10-19T05:32:00.003-05:00

Henry McEnroe (April 25, 2006-October 18, 2007)

I'm writing to tell you of the passing of our sweet dog, Henry. If you were on this blog in July, I posted this photo of him swimming in the lake. He died unexpectedly Thursday.

Prior to an appointment for being neutered on Wednesday, the doctor withheld surgery after detecting a heart murmur and unusual noises from his heart. We had an x-ray and EKG done. We received the results Thursday morning that everything appeared OK. Within an hour of speaking to the doctor, Henry suffered what might have been congestive heart failure. Only our two oldest children were home at the time and were the only ones to witness his final moments. Henry was only 1 year old.

Words cannot describe the grief I feel. He is the second dog we've lost in less than 2 years. Josie, our 12-year-old Westie, had failing health last year and we gracefully put her down and ended her suffering. It was a hurt that I thought I wouldn't feel again in many years. I was horribly wrong.

Henry was challenged from the get-go. He was the runt of the litter and even when we got him, he needed extra TLC. His littermates had been unkind to him and he had open wounds on his underbelly that needed immediate attention. Undaunted by this, we took him home anyway. He bounced back from his early adversity and was a loving member of our family. He craved human companionship - and we reciprocated. I joked that he was my "boyfriend" and he was! He was so much a part of my daily routine from morning until night. My heart aches at the injustice of it all. His life was just beginning.

We are dog people and for others like us, losing a pet is so personal. I am only comforted in the fact that we made his short life on earth a good one. He was cared for, nurtured and oh, so loved! I cannot tell you how many kisses we gave him and how many more he gave us. Henry's needs were simple: a warm lap and a kind hand.

We will miss you buddy. You are forever my boyfriend and little Schnauzer boy and we all love you ...

I hope you find a warm lap to sit on in heaven.

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached, unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way."

- Author unknown

Until next spring ...

2007-10-14T19:09:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to bid a temporary farewell to my handful of blog friends who have visited over the past few months. As the growing season comes to an end, I have found little to no time to tend to my blog (and garden) for that matter. I am slowly putting my garden to "bed" for the winter and thus, this blog will go on hiatus until next April. The next few months will be busy with many hockey games (I am the communications volunteer for my son's high school team which includes lots of emails, web editing, newsletters etc...), Girl Scout outings and various school functions. Such is the life of a working mom with three active kids.

So for now - so long. I will periodically check everyone's blog as time allows. Have a wonderful fall and winter season!

Great Garden Quote ...

2007-09-16T20:03:00.003-05:00

This sent to me by my wonderful sister ... thanks Barb!

When you see a beautiful flower garden, try to meet the owner. Beautiful gardens are often tended by the nicest and most interesting people.

- H. Jackson Browne, Life's Little Instruction Calendar

Tomorrow would have been my mother's 80th birthday. My mom took off for heaven 15 years ago after battling cancer. Not a day goes by when I don't think of her - whether in a funny or melancholy way. Anyway, I can't help but think that she would be proud of this new passion I have found in gardening.

We lived in a very modest house growing up and mom didn't have a lot of garden space. Our house faced north and I remember she had the most beautiful impatiens. She nurtured those plants all summer long and they were glorious in color - salmon, pinks and purples. I remember her going out in pouring rain to collect rain water from the spouts just so she could nourish her flowers with that precious water. Only now do I understand why she did what she did for her flowers.

So Mom, happy birthday. And if you're looking down on me and my garden today, I hope you give me a thumbs up for effort!

Fall musings

2007-09-15T08:01:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything! Been very caught up with getting kids to school, practices and the normal school-year routine. My garden time has been cut short (as you might imagine) but it's supposed to be nice this weekend so I plan on having a little "mom time" in the dirt.

One blogger (thanks Kate!) asked if we had any frost yet - no, but it's getting awfully close. As I look on my desktop this morning it's 37 degrees. The cherry tomatoes are still blooming and I still have annuals. My sedum has turned a beautiful brick red so now I know it's autumn.

Earlier this week I stopped over to my friend's house (Kathy, the master gardener) with shovel in hand. She wants to redesign her garden and simplify. (Refreshing memory: She had removed all of her grass in her backyard and filled it with perennials and ornamental grasses.) She has a lake home that she is landscaping plus maintaining her regular home. I guess the garden work for both was getting to be too much.

Anyway, she let me have anything I wanted and as much as I wanted. I was like a kid in a candy store.

I took lungwort (with pink and purple blooms), another ligularia (the kind that I couldn't identify earlier), astilbe, primrose, neon sedum, liatris and a cool plant I had never heard of - Kathy called it Pig Squeal?!?! I Googled it and came up with Pig Squeak or bergenia. It has real rubbery leaves like the sedum. Good - maybe rabbits won't eat it.

In anticipation of my "shopping" at Kathy's, I cut down seven potentilla (sp?) shrubs that were dying and had several layers of rock underneath (see photo). (back-breaking work) I was rewarded at the end because the dirt underneath the rock and landscape fabric was excellent and not clay-like.

What I couldn't fit in the front of my house, I placed in this new area. A temporary home, if you will.

Hillside beauty

2007-08-28T12:34:00.002-05:00

I went back home to see my Dad last weekend and he kept telling me about this spectacular garden that I had to see. The home was nestled on a hillside and it's an absolute garden oasis. I've never seen so many different hostas, coleus and unique landscaping. Perched at the top of the hill was a darling indoor greenhouse where the homeowners must sow her annuals each year. She must have had 4-5 different seating areas on the hill, a small gazebo, unique antique ornaments and wide variety of perennials.

I brought my girls with me and one of them quipped, "Mom, imagine if this was YOUR backyard!" I can't! I don't know if I would get anything done otherwise. You can tell that this garden was well-tended and given the utmost TLC. It was a treat to visit ....
Enjoy the photos!

I couldn't identify this plant - anybody know what it is?

Heirloom seeds

2007-08-21T06:53:00.003-05:00

My aunt recently stopped at my house and perused my garden. After walking around my house and gardens she then posed an interesting question to me, "Would you like some of grandma's marigold seeds?"

Wow! Something of Grandma's - and garden related! Grandma K has been gone for 20 years and I am amazed that my aunt still has her seeds. Grandma didn't have a big garden area at her home but I do remember she had colorful annuals all around the house. My aunt kept the seeds and have planted them over the years. Amazing ...

My problem is that I don't have a place to sow these indoors and honestly, don't have the time (or patience) to babysit them. If I plant them in the ground in the spring, I will be waiting until the end of July to see them bloom or worse, risk losing them if the rabbits get them in the early stages. Argh ...

So as much as I love the idea of having something from my Grandma's garden, I do so with much trepidation ..... am I looking at this wrong?

Speaking of marigolds - has anyone tried growing the Signet marigolds? I saw them in a garden tour and they were lovely and very dainty. I'm guessing I'd have to grow those from seed too ...

Sedge adds an edge ...

2007-08-16T08:25:00.001-05:00

This time of year my flowers tend to look a little spent. Most of the perennials (aside from the coneflower, rudebeckia and sedum) have bloomed already and have been cut back. I've already moved some around and planted them in my new space. To give my garden a little pick-me-up, I recently purchased some annual Red Rooster sedge to fill in the bare spots - wow! What a difference that can make. When I bought it, the woman told me that I can cut it down to about 3 inches and bring it inside and replant it in the garden landscape or, use it in a pot next spring. It is a beautiful coppery color that will be a nice accent for fall and winter. What a nice (and inexpensive way) to give your garden a fresh look during the waning days of summer ...

Cause for celebration

2007-08-11T08:02:00.001-05:00

I finally grew my very first cherry tomatoes.

I know it's not much of a feat. Some of you experienced gardeners might even roll your eyes and say "Big deal!" but for me it's quite an accomplishment.

I've tried to do the patio tomato plants only to toss them out after a few good rain storms. Tomatoes and me have never gotten along. Love to eat 'em - but loathe to plant 'em. I've never had much interest in vegetable gardening. Maybe because I associate it with the back-breaking weeding my dad had us kids do in his garden at my grandma's house. Everytime I smell dill, I still think of dad's garden.

My faithful co-worker and vegatable gardener Barb inspired me (or dare I say "challenged" me) to plant a cherry tomato. She'd come to work boasting about her homemade salsa and tomato sauce. And I actually was pretty envious of her green thumb. Why can't I do that?!

So, late in June I was at a garden shop and found a whole section of robust cherry tomato plants (Sweet 100s) - for only $.60 each. What the heck - I grabbed three and they've been going nuts ever since. My first real tomato greeted me this week and it was delicious.

I've come to realize that tomato plants (at least mine) really do need to be in the ground. We dug out an overgrown area in the back that is nestled in full sun and I put them there. It obviously was the right spot for them and I am reaping the benefits.

Thanks Barb!

New plant update ... the Grand Parade Monarda

I picked up this new Canadian monarda and it's now producing wonderful blooms. It's a petite variety - nothing like the Jacob Cline or Marshall's Delight. It's a nice grower -compact with dark green leaves and a lovely purple/pink color. I think I'd like to split this apart this fall and expand the area. I like it way better than the Petite Wonder.

Critter free - almost

2007-08-05T09:21:00.001-05:00

Every year I complain about rabbits in our backyard. We live on the edge of town and near the Red River where critters have found happy homes. I have tried all kinds of concoctions to fight them off: cayenne pepper, dog hair, moth balls, coyote blood, fox urine - you name it. The only thing I haven't done is the BB gun, and Lord knows I've thought about that too.

I have found that the best thing is to maintain plants that they don't like. It was a hard lesson for me to learn. The first growing season at our house I lost hundreds of dollars just because I didn't realize how bad the rabbits were. Within days of being planted, those little *?!*@#* had eaten darn near everything to the ground. It was like laying out a buffet table.

Plus, it was exhausting. I was out there early in the morning looking for any overnight damage. I'd come home on my lunch hour and give it another check - and well, you can imagine what I did during the evening too.

So here's what I realized what rabbits won't eat - at least in my garden. I also like these plants because they give me some color.

Salvia (I have the May Night, Caradonna. Marcus and East Friesland)

Monarda (I have five different varieties - and they won't touch 'em)

Catmint (see earlier post about how much I love catmint. I have the Walker's Low and the Little Titch)

Sedum

Daylilies

Cushion Spurge

Blue fescue grass

Silvermound

Lamium

Bellflower (I thought sure the flowers would be a for certain appetizer)

Geraniums and sometimes marigolds (they got to mine this year)

Celosia

Dangerous items to plant in rabbit zones:

Liatris: both the white and purple

Coneflower (they've eaten all varieties - apparently they're very tasty)
Rudbeckia

Clematis

Spiderwort

Hostas

Annuals in general (petunias, lobelia, alyssum - it's like tossing them a salad.)

In an earlier post I had successfully grown zinnias this year but I do believe it's because the area was surrounded by salvia. They usually ate the zinnias plants when they were about 3 inches high.

Another reason that maybe the grasses will be a good idea ...
Feel free to add to the list!

My "Maiden" voyage to grasses ...

2007-08-03T12:48:00.001-05:00

Got a way from posting after the tragic Minneapolis bridge collapse. I live in North Dakota but the shock of this event reverberated so strong. EVERYONE here has a friend or relative in the Twin Cities and most of us were on the phone that Wednesday evening to check on their well-being. My thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one and are suffering as I write this ...

My bright spot this week is that my friend and garden guru Kathy came to look at my new garden and gave it a thumbs up. That meant a lot to me as Kathy is the one that nurtured this interest in me and showed me the ropes. I respect her opinion.

She has some good ideas, tips and a whole new design plan for my backyard. A plan that is pretty aggressive which I'm not sure my husband is all that crazy about it as of yet!

Kathy has always been an ornamental grass enthusiast. I think the Karl Forester is lovely as is Maiden Grass. But beyond that - I could take it or leave it. Anyway, Kathy wants to split up her overgrown grasses and has offered to design my backyard area into a grass oasis. Gone will be the daylilies, the salvia and the few scraps of monarda and geraniums I have now. It's kind of exciting thinking about a garden with a whole new look but it's kind of out of my comfort zone.

My husband isn't much for my garden but the only thing he DOES like is red in the garden - so this might be a tougher sell. I begged Kathy to keep the little rock garden - she relented but she's still trying to talk me out of red geraniums. She said it's something about red geraniums and cemeteries ...

I have to admit - that is my first early memory of flowers. As a little girl, my mom and grandma dutifully planted geraniums at graves where they produced endless displays of stinky flowers. And here I am, 40 years later, putting stinky red flowers into my garden.

More to follow ...

Dog paddling, vacation and open spaces

2007-07-29T18:38:00.001-05:00

Sitting lakeside with a margarita in your hand is one of life's small pleasures. We had a great time relaxing with family and taking in all the sights and sounds of the lake (aren't loons the best?), small shops, etc.. Oh, if every week could be like this! Our mini Schnauzer Henry tried swimming for the first time - what a trooper he was. Is he not the cutest guy?!

My sister-in-law and I couldn't resist the small-town nurseries and flea markets that were trying to get rid of their inventory. One place in Vergas, Minnesota had their perennials as low as $2.70 each! Of course, they weren't large plants but they were green and healthy and they begged me to take them home with me! Why not try some new varieties at that price? I bought a Sunray Coreopsis, "Goblin" Gaillardia and Lady's Mantle.

And now I have the space!

My poor husband survived the sweltering heat Saturday to expand my garden bed (original design is above) in the front of the house. He tried using a sod cutter but the blades were dull and it made the area even worse. So he got out the shovel and started diggin'. We put our 16-year-old son to work too. He created a small area in our backyard that will be a perfect home for zinnias and cosmos seeds next year. Nothing like some hard manual labor on a 90-degree day ....

Anyway, the space is wonderful - with at least 5 hours of sun in the morning/early afternoon. At its furthest point- the space extends about 5-6 feet. The soil is remarkably good - lots of worms which is always an encouraging sign. We added some fresh dirt and a little peat. I'll mix some compost in the area in the spring too.

Of course, that area will be a little barren until fall when I start filling it up. I'll divide overgrown perennials that have worn out their welcome and transplant cuttings from generous friends and relatives. I'm such a garden geek.

The challenge now is that I have a new canvas on which to draw on and at times it's quite overwhelming. Do I move the hostas even though the landscape has a slight slope? Do I bring the rudbeckias forward? Where do I put the Lady's Mantle? What about that ligularia I was going to buy?!?

As you can see, I have lots of questions and lots of yellow, green and white in my current color scheme. Any ideas for flower combos that would look good with what I have?

Beating the heat of late summer

2007-07-21T21:46:00.001-05:00

My garden is looking very good right now and wouldn't you know - this is the week that we leave on vacation and it's supposed to be in the 100s. My plants won't get my TLC! I plan to give everything a good soaking first and move my potted annuals into shade in my absence. Wish me luck.

Here's a look at what my purple coneflower is doing. This is from the plant that I showed earlier that was part lime green on the bottom and dark green on top. The blooms are magnificent. It's the best coneflower I've had in years.

The best news to report is that my husband has let me expand the garden! We are going to expand out front where it is part-shade and part-sun. I've been scouring the nurseries trying to figure out what to put in there - here's what I know for sure: astilbe, ligularia and maybe some Early Sunrise coreopsis. I went on a garden tour this week and found one garden full of California poppies - it was lovely, but I'm afraid I don't have enough sun for that ...

See you in a few days!

Zinnias in bloom ...

2007-07-18T12:37:00.001-05:00

We moved into our home in September of 2004, and every year I've tried to grow zinnias from seed. This year was the first time I have succeeded. Why, you might ask? RABBITS. We live on the edge of city limits where rabbits are everywhere. They're destructive, despicable creaturesthat if hungry enough - will eat anything (they even ate my marigolds. MARIGOLDS!!!).

So at a weak moment at my local CVS store, I picked up a pack of zinnia seeds and said what the heck. I planted two packs on the east side of my house and to my surprise, the rabbits didn't go after them. I did nothing differently from years past and right now, I'm enjoying my first zinnia patch in yearsand lovin' it.

My friend Angie told me she has over 100 blooming right now with more to come. Now that's a zinnia garden! There are a few flowers that literally make me smile when I look at them. Maybe it's their color, their beauty, their foliage or their aroma, etc... but zinnias are one of them. They are the happiest flower. Vibrant, drought resistant and always forth coming. I especially like the "Envy" variety that are lime green. The one pictured above is a smaller variety - I typically like the larger ones. Either way - it's all good.

What rudbeckias SHOULD look like!

2007-07-18T12:34:00.002-05:00

Let's not confuse this with the batch that I complained about earlier. I bought this plant in late May and planted it in a different spot in my garden. Fortunately, they didn't suffer the fate of my other BES.

Rudbeckia update

2007-07-11T09:12:00.001-05:00

I consulted my gardening mentor (former neighbor and master gardener Kathy) and she confirmed that my plants have black spot (see earlier post and ugly photo under "Trials and Tribulations"). Her advice was to just take off the worst leaves. Black spot doesn't hurt the plant, but it is ugly. She also suggested to simply cut it down to the ground and wait until next year (and toss in some fast growing seed of some sort just for this year). Kathy said sometimes rudbeckias do that - leaves and no flowers. She said hers did that a few years ago and this year, they are triple everything.

There is hope after all ... but until than I have to look at a barren patch in my front yard. Gasp!

Catmint gone wild!

2007-07-10T21:54:00.001-05:00

When they said Walkers Low catmint is the longest blooming of the catmint family - they weren't kidding.

This plant (front center of photo) has literally been blooming since early May and has not stopped. In fact, I've had to shear it twice to keep its shape. The catmint is happy and showy and no matter how much rain, wind or paws that walk across the bed, it always bounces back. One of the plants got so big this spring that I dug it up and split it four ways and each new transplant has thrived. What a great purchase ....

Annabelles - how I love thee

2007-07-08T18:51:00.001-05:00

I'm crazy about the Annabelle hydrangea. I think they're a must in every perennial garden. Their large chartreusse globes are so round and robust. They make a powerful statement in anybody's garden. Of course, I am a little partial to them as I planted one in honor of my daughter, Annabel. Little did I know that our love affair would last over nine years. I think it's here to stay ...

I was a little disappointed this year when we hired someone to powerwash and stain our front deck. I asked the guy to be careful with my Annabelle. He said, "Oh no problem, plants usually bounce back." Well, he hammered my Annabelle and the poor thing is a little lobsided now - and that's been over a month ago. I have resigned myself to the fact that this year I'll have to make do. Come next spring, I might give it a fairly hard cut and start fresh and have all the branches at about the same level. Right now, I have large branches and stubby ones from where the powerwash had ripped them to shreds. Sigh ...

I've never tried vinca before and this year I thought I would try it. One of my favorite hobbies is antiquing and flea marketing. My sister-in-law and I go to the Shady Hollow Flea Market in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota a few times each summer. We bought some cream cans and I filled them with vinca and verbena and they are flourishing! The bright pink vinca really bring out the charm in those old cans. I'll have to plant those again next year .... plus, they are so easy maintenance. Sorry, but I'm sick of petunias!

Trials and Tribulations

2007-07-08T18:30:00.001-05:00

We haven't had rain in weeks and my garden is slowly starting to show some ill effects. I kept everything hydrated very well but the one thing I noticed that is WAY behind is my rudbeckia. Plus, I'm seeing these odd brown/black spots.

I am very discouraged. I thought Black-Eyed Susans were some of the hardiest of the perennials and I've never experienced this. In fact, I was boasting the merits of this plant to my sister and gave it to her as a gift for her garden in coastal Maine. I hope she has better luck with it than I am! Of course, it is only July 8. I'll post new photos in a few weeks to show you how it's doing. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome ...

And here's another weird one. Have you ever seen a plant that is yellow at the bottom and green at the top? I think it must have got too much water at one time so I cut back. I used to hook up the hose right behind the plant (see it on the house?). I think that did it in ...

Once I stopped using that faucet, I noticed that it did get a little greener. This coneflower did NOTHING last year and now it's huge - despite the odd coloring. There are several blooms on it so we'll see how it does in a few weeks.

P.S. I mulched my whole front and side gardens with cocoa bean mulch. I went on a tour of homes last year and one gardener told me how much she liked it. And I admit, it was a very neat-looking garden without the whole mess of wood chips. I tried it and now I'm a believer. Cocoa bean mulch looks good, smells good and doesn't completely upset your garden if you like to move things around all summer. I just put a new dressing on my beds this weekend. With the high temps and humidity, I felt my beds needed a little extra TLC.

My Monarda is starting to bloom. Honestly, I can stare at my Monarda all day and I am amazed at its beauty. I know a lot of people don't like it because of its invasiveness but so far, I like that it's a prolific grower and it hasn't become a pest in my garden whatsoever.

My Marshall's Delight and Raspberry Wine (pictured) are both lovely. The Jacob Cline are nice but they really droop. I have been able stake them and that helps. I believe I read somewhere that deadheading will help in reblooming. If that's true, where do you deadhead? Man, this is a pretty color, isn't it?

Firewitch dianthus

2007-06-09T09:06:00.001-05:00

I planted cheddar pinks dianthus at the end of the season last year. They were just tiny little plants with no blooms. This year they have flourished. Planted in full sun. I added a little organic matter to the soil when I planted. Only thing I've noticed is that the wind can really wreak havoc on them and they have a tendancy to get flattened out when stray basketballs find their way into my garden.

At the end of June, I sheared them back and now I see little pink blooms slowly coming back. Now if we only got a good rain - then I think they would really go!

Welcome to my garden blog!

2007-06-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

I am a recreational novice gardener which means I spend countless dollars and time in my garden to make it look like those pictures in Better Homes and Gardens. I have no formal training - what I know I learned from fellow garden freaks, books and experience. It's truly become my refuge from a long day at work or a break from the monotony of everyday life.

I enjoy reading about other people gardens and viewing their accomplishments. Maybe it's the camaraderie I feel when they're proud of something or the frustration they feel when something bombs. Believe me - I've been in both spots.
Anyway, I'll post photos, rantings, questions and general observations. Feel free to add your two cents. Who knows, we might both learn something!