Magnets Promoting a Greener Life

I recently designed a really cute "Make Earth Day Everyday" magnet for my car to promote awareness on protecting nature. My company has quite an assortment of ecology-minded magnets. It is important to me, especially as a gardener, to be as nice to Mother Nature as possible and share that thinking with others whenever I can. There is so much each of us can do on a daily basis to lessen our impact on the Earth. The website is www.mixitandstixit.com A little self-promotion never hurts.

Plant list for Carol’s Rain Garden

Tree peony ‘Banquet’: huge strawberry-red flowers

Herbaceous peony, ‘Charismatic’: bright pink blooms

Ornamental rhubarb ‘Red Select’: huge ruffled leaves

Salvia ‘East Friesland’: dark violet-blue, blooms all summer

Carpet rose: Blooms in red petals all summer

Sedum ‘Black Jack’: deep purple foliage, pink (?) blooms

Cushion Spurge: chartreuse yellow spring color in early spring

Aronia ‘Brilliantissima’: scarlet fall leaves with red berries, spring white, umbrel-shaped flowers

Lilac ‘Aucubaefolia’: white and green variegated leaves

Siberian Iris ‘Caesar’s Brother’: blue-purple blooms

Joe Pye Weed ‘Gateway’: 6' tall with mauve flowers in fall; butterfly magnet

Lilies, Asiatic ‘Lollipop’: white with raspberry-colored tips and Martagon lilies: golden blooms in summer

Sweet Iris, Iris pallida ‘Variegata’: green, white, cream striped, lance-shaped leaves with fragrant violet blue     flowers that bloom in late spring

Iris, ‘Dusky Challenger’: German Iris with deep, purple flowers

Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’: fast-growing vine with abundant, starry-white flowers in late summer/fall

Rose, old-fashioned David Austin climber with white and pink double blooms

Clematis ‘Blue Light’: large flowered, periwinkle; blooms in late spring, early summer

Sweet Woodruff: groundcover with white flowers

APHIDS!!!!

Ick...aphids on the underside of the ornamental rhubarb! Not a very attractive sight... Sue, you are not the only one battling the insects. My only hope is the aphids seem to have taken up residence on only two of the leaves which I have decided to remove before they spread to the rest of the plant. Since I despise the use of pesticides this seems to be my only choice unless you have an organic remedy to share. Where are the ladybugs when you need them?

Rain Garden Bursting at the Seams

Look what three weeks can do! The most obvious change is the Joe Pye Weed now reaches five feet tall. New flower buds are also appearing on the top of each stem. Wait until it blooms! Thought you would like to see the rain garden's progress.

As far as upkeep, I do have to shear back the salvia so they will be compact and rebloom again. This is easy to do because it is literally cutting each plant down to about 8 to 12" tall. Other than that, there are a few weeds growing on the west side which need to be tilled under about 5 minutes of work. Everything has filled in so much there is barely any room for weeds. Don't you just love when that happens?----Carol

First tomato!

I couldn’t believe it when my dad told me that someone in the Chicago area got their first tomato! Then, she sent me proof. It definitely looks like a homegrown beauty. What a prize it is, snuggled and protected in that plush container. She is a waitress at Sparky’s restaurant. I wonder if she shared it with her regulars?

I am anxious for my little green ones to turn red. My dad gave me a vigorous little plant in May. I didn’t plant it outside for a few weeks after that because of the cool weather. (sounds like I am making excuses... I am.)

I know it will be worth the wait.

Rain, that magical elixir

For all who missed the story on Carol’s rain garden on the Chicago Sun-Times’ GreenHouse page on June 22, I have posted the photograph that accompanied it. Carol will put an updated photo on our blog so you can see how it has grown in just a few weeks. It is a great way to use your rainwater runoff from a garage or house to supplement your watering regime. Carol also dug shallow trenches for a variety of her plants’ needs. That way, her plant list can be much longer. Even the Sedum ‘Black Jack’ are more robust with the added water. Everyone should see this as an opportunity to plant another garden or add more ‘free’ water to an existing one. Anything to add, Carol? 

We have a plant list if anyone would like it. We can post it too. Let us know. 

Also, EarthWild Gardens sells rain garden and native plants for the Midwest. It is good local company in Lake County, Illinois, that cares about making a positive impact on the environment by the plants that they offer.

More information at www.EarthWildGardens.com.

—Susan

It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.

I have to agree with Carol about the ‘Lollipops’ Asian lilies. Our mom likes these too. Maybe its a family thing. They are so hardy and keep naturalizing—a perfect plant, especially how Carol placed them in her rain garden.

 

I made a color error by placing red-orange geraniums in a container nestled among the ‘Lollipops.’  Omigod!  That is a frightening color combination. I actually forgot about the lily colors while I watched the tough green stems of the lilies emerge this spring. I was so excited about using the color ‘red’ this year that I filled my turquoise containers with orangey-red (Coral Sunset) geraniums, coral verbena and bright green basil. When the ‘Lollipops’ opened, I was horrified! Sure brings you back down to earth. Mother Nature would never do something that ugly.  

—Susan

River Birch: Site is Everything

This River Birch, Betula nigra, has been in my mind since I last saw it. I just couldn't get that amazing bark out of my head. But I say proceed with caution with this tree. Beauty is only skin deep here unless this tree is properly sited. It has an addiction to water, hence the common name, River Birch. Have a low spot in your yard where water seems to gather, well you better make sure it isn't anywhere near a concrete foundation or patio. The roots on this tree run close to the surface and it also grows amazingly fast. If you have the acreage and the small river, creek or pond, this is a beautiful tree. If not, you will find this tree will keep you busy picking up leaves and twigs long before autumn sets in. Without a constant watering hole, this tree will not flourish. After all, location, location, location refers not only to real estate but to plants as well.

Asiatic Lilies

I had to share this recent photo of my Asiatic Lilies 'Lollipops'. Asiatic lilies are another workhorse in my gardens. Their foliage is sturdy and hardy enough to hold up their cheery blooms, except for a few that I have seen and grown. They also weather well through our rough unforgiving winters. My biggest negative remark would be I wish they bloomed longer or again. Wishful thinking on my part and probably only because they have such fantastic flowers with exquisite markings or with unbelieveable fragrance. Their neat foliage stays clean and nice throughout the growing season to make a great backdrop for other flowering plants. If you haven't tried them, please do. If you have, I would love to hear which ones are your favorites. ----Carol

Ants devour my dahlias. Oh, my.

What is with the ants eating my dahlias? I bought a few to try at the local Grayslake Garden Club sale a few weeks ago. These 4 or 5 plants were small, healthy and well-cared for—ready to pop into the ground.  I planted them shortly, which is a miracle for me this spring. I looked at them this morning and only the stem of one is left... and the white plastic tag that reminds me of a grave marker. Another little delectable plant is on its way to the same fate.

Help me before I lose them all! Ants...or something bigger? —Susan

Ornamental Rhubarb Pic

A great pic of the ornamental rhubarb, I have been gushing about.

I want one too! Rhubarb never looked so good.

That plant—with its claw-like leaves grabbing for the sky, owns that rain garden. The other plants are just its audience. This spring, every time my sister and I do our ‘walk about’ through her garden, the ornamental rhubarb is the topic of conversation and I wonder why I don’t see more people adding it to their plant list. Hopefully, Carol will get around to posting a photo of it soon...ahem.

We started this blog so we could talk casually and candidly about the plants that we grow. We aren’t going to sugar coat reality like the catalogs do. We want this to be a place where real gardeners go to gripe about or heap on the praises of their plants. Obviously, neither of us can get enough of gardening, so just picture us  sitting in our adirondack chairs and tapping away on our laptops with dirty fingers. —Susan

Ornamental Rhubarb - Don't Eat It, Eye It

Well, we have finally gone and done it! When you think we have talked all the plant talk possible, we have finally found a way to talk about them some more! A recap of this gloriously beautiful afternoon's walk through my backyard garden, or was it more like a marathon sprint...the rain garden took center stage. Clematis, roses, asiatic lilies and salvia are in full bloom. But what do I see? It is an ornamental rhubarb thrusting upward its enormous jagged-edged, heavily veined leaves. A feast for the eyes! And regarded by me with the same reverence and awe as any award-winning flower. Oh my God, it has awesome foliage. It did not bloom this year, but who cares? Not I!