Happy spring gardeners!

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.

Cheap labor

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!

Another open canvas ...

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.

Hotter than you know ...

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.

Spring at last!

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 ...

Fall musings

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

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?

My "Maiden" voyage to grasses ...

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

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?