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All Those Seeds I Meant to Sow

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:38:16 GMT

When it comes to thinking "outside the pot," Joliet garden designer Patti Kirkpatrick is the ultimate recycler who is always looking at ways to turn ordinary objects into something delightful. "We all have seed packets and seed catalogs," she says. Here, she's transformed them into a lovely centerpiece that she calls "All Those Seeds I Meant to Sow."

Photos: Patti Kirkpatrick

What she used:
A round piece of cardboard or poster board for the base
Any straight sided container
Seed packets
Seed catalogues, double stick tape or hot glue
Doilies, dried flowers for that vintage look, roses, peonies, lavender
Kirkpatrick, who's lovely garden was featured in our September/October 2007 issue, wants Chicagoland Gardening readers to know about two great upcoming events at the Barber & Oberwortmann Horticulture Center at 227 North Gougar Road in Joliet.

A Most Fabulous Plant Sale
Friday - Sunday, May 4 to 6, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

$4 for premium annuals in 4-inch pots, including several varieties of Salvia guarantica — the best hummingbird flower for our area. $12 for flats of 36 plants (Not 24, not 18 but 36 plants!) And lots of hanging baskets.

The Gardener’s Flea (and antique) Market!
Saturday, May 19, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

You'll find annuals, vegetables, shrubs, hanging baskets garden art, sculpture, birdhouses, and much more. And while you're there, take time to visit the greenhouse exhibits featuring spring flowering plants, coleus, cacti, a waterfall garden and more. Kirkpatrick, whose exhibit booth at the gardener’s flea market often features antique garden elements — including unusual containers — and whimsical garden art. Visitors will be sure to find a bargain among the more than 40 vendors indoors and out. For more information, call the B&O Horticulture Center at 815-741-7278.

— Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

Weather Woes

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:11:14 GMT

If only weather forecasters were gardeners. They’d begin each broadcast bemoaning the plight of their petunias -- too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. Just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They’d take a look at those fresh immature leaves on a Japanese maple, hanging down like delicate butterfly wings in their burgundy spring splendor. And, then, if they were real gardeners, they’d realize that if that tree could talk, it would say, “Help, I’m dying of thirst!”
Weather statistics show that last month was the 31st driest March on record for Illinois. And, on April 8, the Chicago Weather Center reported that the soil in 32% of the state was abnormally dry.

This is bad news for plants that are pushing out new foliage and flowers. Take a good look (and perhaps pick up a handful) of soil. It’s most likely dry as dust. If your hose is not hooked up yet, now is the time to get a few buckets of water and pour them around young trees and shrubs. Without adequate water, they will become stressed and plants under stress are more susceptible to disease and insect damage.
A Chicago Weather Center headline this week states “Sunny and dry April could be taking a turn for the wetter.” Just don’t hold your breath. If we had a nickel for every time the forecast was incorrect, we could build a heated greenhouse with a sprinkling system. Instead of waiting for what could amount to a few minutes of drizzle this weekend--not enough to wash the dust off your windshield--take the time to soak your plants now to get them off to a healthy start this spring.
Visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website to find out all the current weather conditions, predictions and other fascinating facts.
-- Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

Creating a Woodland Wonderland

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:54:17 GMT

The Victorians had the right idea. On hot summer days, they retreated to chairs and benches under a leafy canopy of spreading trees, surrounded by cooling ferns, shrubs, vines, and wildflowers.

Come high summer, when sweltering heat and humidity are enough to wilt most gardeners, the shade garden continues to offer a welcome respite. With its dappled sunlight and morning dew, the shaded nook is a delightful place where gardeners can focus on plants that thrive on limited amounts of light. Shady gardens are often a fact of life for those who dwell in old houses, from residents of urban row houses with courtyards cast into deep shade, to the owners of venerable homes enfolded by mature trees and shrubs.

Growing plants under trees or in the shade of adjacent buildings presents a great challenge, however. How do you plant when tree roots hog the space, or when you are faced with dry, dusty soil under an overhang of the house? And, how do you design a garden in the shade while making it look and function like a "well designed garden”? Landscape architect Vallari Talapatra of Eco-scapes in Wheaton (www.eco-scapes.net) has dealt with many such problems when designing or renovating local gardens, both large and small. You can learn more in her upcoming class “Creating Woodland Gardens” at the Morton Arboretum.

“You’ll discover how to blend native plants into an elegant landscape, learn to use the site to your advantage, and explore adding forms that can hold a diverse garden space together,” Vallari says.

This two-part class will be held, Thurs., April 26 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, Apr. 28 from 1 - 4 p.m. at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. The class takes place indoors and out. Dress for the weather and bring a sack lunch and beverage on Saturday. Fee is $66 members/$78 non-members. For more information, call 630-719-2468.

-- Nina A. Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

Snowballs in Summer

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:53:00 GMT

Tossing its blossoms in the midsummer air, the pure white snowball was one of the most spectacular shrubs in the tasteful Victorian landscape. Although about two dozen species of "snowball" bush are hydrangeas, many more are of the genus Viburnum. The two aren't related, but at first glance, they have similar flowers. Learn more about snowball bushes and how they were used along with specimen plants, carpet bedding and more in a two-part class, "American Home Garden Design: 1830 to the Present," Wednesdays, March 21 and 29 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

Draw inspiration for your own garden from the history of home garden design. In this program, horticulturist and garden writer Nina Koziol will look at how Midwestern home garden design has changed since the Midwest was first settled. Learn more about design evolution, the rise of the suburban lawn movement, foundation plantings, cottage gardens, moon gardens, and heirlooms, to name a few. Participants will take the best of these design ideas and examine how they can be used in their own garden, no matter what age or style home they own. Course fee is $59 for Arboretum members. For more information, call 630-968-0074 or visit www.mortonarb.org.

-- Nina Koziol

High Style

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:53:16 GMT

I went down to Navy Pier on the opening day of this year’s Chicago Flower & Garden Show, and I am happy to report that it’s a hit. Stylish, you might say. Which is what you want from a show whose theme is “Hort Couture.”
There are lots of pretty things to see, and some are downright dazzling. There’s a great series of water gardens in the large, centrally located Aquascape exhibit, for example. And the giant agapanthus sculpture brought over from the Chelsea Flower Show in England makes a stunning centerpiece for the entry garden. It’s flanked by a pair of large vertical wall panels that showcase just what this type of gardening is all about. It’s the latest thing, so be sure to check it out.
For practicality, there’s the replica of the White House vegetable garden with its raised beds set in a handsome green lawn, and everyone is certain to like the tulip garden and its 50-plus groups of different varieties. Be sure to take notes and write down which ones you want to get for yourself.
I also had an unexpected surprise as I was leaving on Saturday. Three members of The Conservation Foundation were out on the show floor letting us visitors get up close and personal with a great horned owl, a kestrel and a red-tailed hawk. The owl regarded his admirers with the casual disdain of a movie star. The hawk seemed annoyed with the attention and kept flapping his wings, no doubt wishing he could fly up to Festival Hall’s rafters and get away from us. The birds will be making repeat performances on Tuesday and Thursday.
The show will continue until 6 p.m. on March 18.
-- Carolyn Ulrich
p.s. When you come to the show be sure to stop by our booth (#217) and say Hello!

Celebrating Good Food

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:01:55 GMT

This year’s “Good Food Festival & Conference” takes place in Chicago, March 15-17 at the University of Illinois Forum at 725 West Roosevelt in Chicago.

This multi-day event focuses on regional and national issues vital to building a local and sustainable food system while supporting the needs of regional family farmers. There’s a full day of programs for home gardeners and cooks. On Saturday, March 17, the conference features Midwest artisan and farmer vendors, chef demos, nationally recognized speakers and workshops showing how to grow food and make food products. These workshops include a 3-hour presentation led by Vicki Nowicki, of Libertygardens.com and her team of chefs. The topic is Food Preservation: A Four Season Master Plan. Speakers include David Cavagnaro, from Seed Saver's Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, a long time expert on root cellaring, Jennifer Downing from Nourish Cooking School and others. There’s a Chicago Foodies Seed Swap, The Buzz on Bees, Putting Vegetables at the Center of Your Plate, Small Space Gardening, Home Cheesemaking and much more.

-- Nina Koziol

My Food is ALIVE

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:05:44 GMT

I pulled a paper bag of white potatoes from the dark closet floor. The potatoes, smooth, very thin-skinned, waxy and white, come from a fresh market that sells potatoes untreated with chemicals to keep them from sprouting. These were still firm and very edible, but after two weeks in the closet, they had grown sprouts.

I examined the buds closely. Each cluster of new growth was the size of a pea, very firmly attached to the fleshy tuber and changing in color from white at the base, to purple, to light green at the tips. A few tiny, black, spider like tentacles arose from the base of a few. I was reluctant to pick the sprouts off and throw away this burgeoning new life that wanted only to become a new plant and store food once again, to perpetuate life.

I wasn't ready to cook the potatoes just yet, so I wrapped them in a black plastic bag, to protect them from light, and set them on the counter top. When I opened the bag a couple of hours later, a warm, moist cloud of air wafted from it. I reached inside and the tropical-feeling air enveloped my hand as the smell of damp earth hit my nostrils. Yes, these potatoes were as alive as the day they were lifted from the dirt.

I see my food living, growing and changing in my kitchen every day. The asparagus lengthens and fattens a bit as it sits in the cold water that sweetens it and keeps it turgid until it is eaten. The onions and garlic grow fat green spears at the center and the carrot tops get a fresh head of ferny green hair. The herbs grow, wilt a bit and then stand tall again as I remember to change the water and re-cut the stems. Too many days, too many changes, and they lose the green, life-giving chloroplasts that they need. Then they yellow and slither toward death and decay, also a process of the alive.

I have known that groceries grow since early childhood, thanks to a nature-loving grandma who grew all manner of kitchen scraps into plants that we could enjoy in the windowsill. It was my grandpa that led us out into the garden to see how the pretty yellow peanut flowers smiled at the sun, then buried their heads in the soil to grow peanut seeds. It was he who knocked sweet amber icicles from the big maple tree and told us the tree was so full of life-giving sap that its cup runneth over. We licked those icicles and knew what it was to taste the "blood" of a tree.

It occurs to me, as I ponder my potatoes, that the chic plastic box of Kumato tomatoes from the grocer are alive, too, and contain seeds. I get out the ripest looking one and cut it open, straining the seeds into a paper cup with some warm water. When the seeds ferment I will place them on a paper towel to dry and then roll them up to plant in May. What will they be? Brown like the parent that bore them? Red? Who knows. What is certain is that they are alive, and something will grow.

-- Deb Terrill

It’s Time to Get out the Lawnmowers!

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:17:05 GMT

That is, if you’re on the staff of the Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park.

On February 13 at 7:30 the staff will begin mowing down all the perennials from last year’s growth and then leaving the chopped up debris in place to provide mulch for this year’s plants. This is a new technique known as “mulching in place” and it’s something that can be adapted to the home garden.

Photo: Jennifer Davit, Lurie Garden

At the Lurie Garden, the staff uses a riding mower and runs through the space multiple times in order to ensure that the plant debris has been sufficiently chopped up to make good mulch. The mowers blades are set at 4 to 6 inches off the ground so as not to damage the crowns of dormant perennials.

This takes about three hours, much shorter than the three days that were required when the staff chopped everything down manually. Tall grasses, however, are still cut by hand.

To learn more about this relatively new concept, be sure to read Beth Botts’ story on the subject in the upcoming March-April issue of Chicagoland Gardening.

-- Carolyn Ulrich

Put Glam in Your Garden with Lilies!

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:27:00 GMT

Mark your calendars!  You’re invited to a free slide program presented by Woody Imberman, president of the Wisconsin Illinois Lily Society, at 2 p.m., Sunday, February 19 at the Barber and Oberwortmann Horticulture Center, at 227 N. Gougar Road, in Joliet.

You’ll discover the wide variety of lilies that flourish in our area, simple propagation techniques and how to grow lilies that will provide blooms all summer. Woody’s articles on growing lilies have appeared in local and national gardening magazines.  an amateur lily hybridizer, he has won many awards in regional and national shows and has been featured in Chicagoland Gardening.

Take a break from winter.  While you’re at Birdhaven Greenhouse, don’t miss the beautiful indoor floral displays before or after the lily presentation.  For more information, call 815-741-7278.
-- Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

I've Learned My Lesson

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:32:00 GMT

I just started feeling so much happier. I was watering my four very large clivia plants this morning and suddenly I discovered that flower stalks were starting to emerge in two of them. This is what the books say should happen with clivias, but it doesn’t always work that way.
My spirits soar when something I have done proves successful. When a seed germinates, for example. And here the clivias were starting to bloom. All on their own without any input from me.

Photo: Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Maybe that was the key. Since clivias are a South African plant that naturally experience weeks of total drought in their native habitat and come into bloom only after the arrival of the rainy season, we North American houseplant growers are told to refrain from watering them during our winter months. Then, after we resume watering in, say, February, the plants will be prompted to bloom again in, say, March. Hard to follow that advice. Our instincts tell us otherwise. Surely it must be bad to let them sit dry for weeks on end, we think.
I confess that, over the years, I have sometimes watered more than I should. Yes, I have had bountiful blooming from some of the plants, but recently the schedule was getting erratic. One of the plants didn’t bloom this last year until July.
And so, when I brought them indoors after their summer vacation in the outdoor shade of the house next door, I resolved not to water them for weeks on end. But this morning, a Saturday at the end of January, I decided the time had come for a little stimulus. And then, lo and behold, a miracle! Stalks peeking out amidst the leaves with clusters of buds on top. Life on the move. Call it a God’s-in-His-Heaven-all’s-right-with-the-world moment.
Thus buoyed, I gave each of my pots a drink and then put the water jar away. I won’t bring it out again for a month. Really.
-- Carolyn Ulrich

Occupy 2012

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:37:50 GMT

Unlike other years, I have no New Year’s resolutions because by now my good intentions tend to vaporize. But I do have a goal and that’s to Occupy -- to reside, live in, absorb, inhabit, engage, take up (however you want to define it) -- as many moments as possible this year. My goal is to enjoy those moments in my garden away from the computer and from the constant “beep” or “ring” of some electronic device. To take a few moments to watch and listen to what’s happening in the natural world—without the distractions that steal so many moments from each day.

Under my umbrella goal of Occupy 2012, my garden-related plans include:

Seek inspiration: Go on more garden walks – local garden clubs host many walks from spring through fall.
Revisit the writings of Fred McGourty, Richardson Wright and Henry Mitchell.
Plant some new varieties of annuals—I want “Wendy’s Wish,” an annual salvia with spectacular deep pink flowers and stems that the deer find unpalatable.
Spend more time on the trails at The Morton Arboretum, especially on the west side when the daffodils are in bloom.
Make a point to explore each of the Chicago Botanic Gardens 24 display gardens to study one during each visit.
Attend the Garfield Farm’s heirloom festival again where they display rare and specialty fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs.
Bypass the pruners and take my journal and my camera with me into the garden.

This list will grow. And that’s just fine with me. How will you occupy this year in your garden? Let us know.
-- Nina A. Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

Flower Show Photo Contest

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:53:36 GMT

Since new management took over the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, the organizers have made audience participation a priority. There’s the Horticulture Competition, for example, in which gardeners can bring in their prize plants for judging by a group of local professionals. All entries are displayed at the show, along with their ribbons. See www.chicagoflower.com for details. Then there are the Potting Parties in which you pay a participation fee to the charity of your choice and then get to pot up a plant to take home.

Another worthy effort is the photography contest. The entry deadline for getting in your photos is February 1, 2012, so if this interests you, it’s time to get a move on. The theme for this year’s show is “Hort Couture” and the different categories for the photo competition reflect the theme and are equally clever. Listed below are the different classes (categories), including one for youth under 16 years old. You can submit one photo per class.
“Hemmed Up”: Close-up of a plant or flower
“Accessorized”: Photo of people and plants/flowers
“Seasons Collection”: Landscape photo
“Pattern Freeze”: Still-life photo with its focus on plants or flowers
“High Style”: Abstract photo with plants or flowers as primary focus
“Stone Washed”: Photo incorporating water and flowers
“Triple Stitched" Triptych: Three related photographs featuring Chicago and plants mounted on a single board.
“One of a Kind" Diptych: Two color photographs--one original and one manipulation of the original, mounted on a single board.
“Go Overboard”: Single photo featuring any item or event on Navy Pier. Plant material not required in this class.
“Novice Eye”: Photos in the youth class (ages 7-15) only, focused on a single plant or flower.

Other important rules for the photography contest:
Photos can be printed in color, black-and-white or sepia. All photos must be mounted on black foam core and submitted by mail with a proper registration form. Full competition details and a registration forms are available at www.ChicagoFlower.com, listed under the “How to Participate” tab. Winning photos will be judged on a point scale based on creativity, composition, technical merit, distinction and interpretation of the show’s “Hort Couture” theme. Winners will receive a special award and have their photos displayed during the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, from March 10-18 at Chicago’s Navy Pier.

The Shape of Things to Come

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:26:00 GMT

“The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn, and violets bathe in the wet o' the morn.” -- from the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796)

How fitting that quote is to welcome in 2012. The mild December weather has given way to some unusual sightings in local gardens. The common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) put forth its buds in Jan Lord’s south suburban garden on New Year’s Day. Snowdrops are known to bloom from January through March, depending on the weather, but this could be a first. The common snowdrop grows naturally in a wide area across Europe and is found from the Pyrenees mountains to the Ukraine. It is extremely cold hardy and can withstand temperatures up to -30 F.

Also in Jan’s garden is the common primrose, (a.k.a. polyanthus primrose; grocery store primrose), which also decided to bloom during the very mild weather last week. In their native habitat, these little beauties are found in marshy areas in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the Himalaya mountains. Primroses bloom indoors for several weeks from late winter through early spring. Bright, eye-popping flowers in red, orange, yellow, magenta, white, purple or pink cover a rosette of crinkled leaves on plants about 4 to 6 inches wide and tall. Indoors, they tolerate indirect, bright light and cool temperatures. What they don’t tolerate is hot, dry air, dry soil or standing water around the roots.

“In some climates, these plants do well outdoors in a shady, moist spot,” says Judith Sellers, vice president of the American Primrose Society.

Once they’re planted in the garden, primroses will bloom for a few weeks — typically in May, not January — while the weather is cool. If the spot is shady and moist, they may return for several springs.

And, to round out Robert Burns quote above, Carolyn Ulrich, Chicagoland Gardening’s editor, reports that violas are blooming in a neighbor’s garden. We’d like to hear from you. What, if anything, is blooming or flitting through your gardens? If we have a few more mild days this month, you may even spot a butterfly or two. A few butterflies — the mourning cloak, eastern comma and Milbert’s tortoiseshell — become adults in the fall and hibernate during winter under loose bark, in leaves or in hollow logs. They may emerge on warm days and while it would be rare to see them in January, it’s possible if these mild spells continue.

We’d like to hear from you. What’s happening in your garden right now? Happy New Year and Great Gardening in 2012.

-- Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

What’s Hot & What’s Not

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:39:00 GMT

Now that the 2011 garden scene has flown by and the last shriveled leaf has disappeared under the snow, gung-ho gardeners are scrambling through the debris of old Christmas mail, looking for new catalogs or squinting through miles of web sites searching for the next great plant. With eternal optimism, gardeners think about the new year and new choices.

Maybe this is the year we can believe the headline that reads “this is the year of the herb garden.” If the results of a survey of more than twenty local garden centers are any indication ,hydrangeas and Knockout® roses win the popularity poll. Herbs were not mentioned.

Tony Fulmer, manager of Chalet Nursery in Wilmette, marveled as he checked the shrub department, “The customers just keep coming for hydrangeas, especially ‘Little Lime’. It is by far the hydrangea mentioned most often, along with ‘Vanilla Strawberry’ and other newer hydrangea cultivars. ‘Bloomerang' lilac with its reblooming flowers in late summer is a popular shrub choice, along with tri-colored beech for a choice tree.

“Knockout roses, while not new, are sought after because people see them and want them,” remarked Heather Lee, manager, Berthold Nursery, Elk Grove. The colorful light green pot helps the pink and red roses to stand out. There was little interest in the old standby perennials such as nepeta, the action was in peach foliage of heucheras, as buyers were told to grow them in raised beds to keep them warmer and improve their drainage. Echinacea in bright colors were sought after. Calibrachoa is the big basket favorite.

Elizabeth Hoffman, owner of West End Nursery, Wilmette, was about the only garden center owner who mentioned vegetables for either containers or raised beds. Large tropical plants were desirable for container planting. She highly recommended that gardeners buy cotton burr compost, which gives a nice finished look to an area. “Do it this season because the cost of the product is going to be higher due to the drought in Texas,” Hoffman advised.

Instead of lounging in front of the TV, get up and start working out to be ready for the new plants in 2012.

-- Adele Kleine

Self-sowing Annuals

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:56:22 GMT

Here it is, a couple days after Christmas, and I can see that I’m going to have a bumper crop of forget-me-nots among the tulips this spring. The forget-me-nots are annuals that have been self-seeding in my garden for years, and when there are enough of them, they form an attractive foot-tall light blue haze over the front garden bed. Eventually the plants start getting leggy, the foliage loses its luster and I uproot them, always trying to leave a few to drop their seeds for the next year’s display. Sometime during the fall they germinate, and by December they’re about a half inch tall with inch-long leaves, just waiting for winter to be over so they can bloom.
Also dotting the garden beds are inch-high seedlings of larkspurs, whose purple spikes make such a wonderful counterpoint to roses and catmint. They too are self-sowers whose seedpods ripen to a telltale black in July and August, a clear signal that I can harvest and scatter them at will. Open the pods and check the seeds. If they’re ripe, they’ll be black too.
The advantage of growing self-sowing annuals is that you get flowers on the cheap. The disadvantage is that you never know for sure where your plants are going to come up, and since larkspurs in particular don’t enjoy being transplanted, you basically need to let them choose their spot.
My forget-me-nots and larkspurs have now lived through a couple snow dustings this December and worse is surely to come, but I’m not worried. They’ve done this before. For centuries.
--Carolyn Ulrich

The Last Hurrahs

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:17:00 GMT

Chicago-area gardens typically experience that first fall frost in mid-October, but this year we’ve been lucky. It’s been pretty darn mild up until now.

That’s been a boon for some annuals, like the blue-flowered Salvia guarantica, cosmos and sweet alyssum, which have bloomed for several months.

Gardening season has pretty much come to the final chapter for 2011, but this is a good time to evaluate your landscape. Do your plants offer more than one season of color? That’s something to think about as you plan for next spring’s purchases.

--Nina Koziol

Seeing Red

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:16:24 GMT

Driving down Lake Shore Drive on the south side of Chicago has been an absolute delight recently, mainly because of the shapes and colors of red along the way. Most prominent in the center median strip are the sumacs that turn a vibrant clear red in fall. This year they’ve been particularly fine.
But making their display even more interesting are the masses of flame grass (Miscanthus sinensis var. purpurascens) growing alongside. Not really purple despite the name, this is a grass you don’t notice all summer long, but when the days shorten and the nights grow cool, its leaves turn a unique rosy hue that really sets off the sumacs. The frothy beige plumes contribute valuable textural contrast.

Flame grass (Miscanthus sinensi 'Purpurascens'
Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries
Also looking splendid this year are the Boston ivy and Virginia creeper I’ve seen throughout the city. There’s Virginia creeper in the Lake Shore Drive median strip, planted to be a ground cover rather than to play its usual role as a climber.
But what has really caught my eye is the Boston ivy clambering up the west wall of McCormick Place. The convention center’s gray brick wall is borderline depressing, but with the Boston ivy turning yellow, orange, red and a dozen shades in between, that wall has become a thing of beauty. There’s all that color but also the shiny, shifting textures of the leaves.
Joseph’s coat of many colors was surely no finer than this.
--Carolyn Ulrich

Thinking Spring: An Interview with Galen Gates

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:32:00 GMT

It's hard to believe that we're well into November and that the holidays are creeping up, but don't let that stop you from planting a few pots or a window box with tulips, daffodils or other spring-bloomers. One of my favorite spring displays is the Chicago Botanic Garden's bulb garden where the tulips are spectacular, unlike any that would survive on my own deer-infested acre. Vibrant-colored tulips in Crayola crayon shades--yellow, red, orange. Backlit by the soft spring sunlight, they are stained glass. Then there are the pastels--the palest pinks, rose and creams--opening their delicate blossoms, abuzz with the season's first pollinators. Bambi, chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits aside, 'How can I get that effect in my garden?' I wondered.

"Just pack in your new tulip bulbs 'cheek-to-jowl' to maximize your spring show," says Galen Gates, curator of perennial herbaceous plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden. "Be sure you have the bulbs below the surface, and where there are squirrels or chipmunks, hardware cloth is a valuable part of the equation." Hardware cloth--think window screen fabric--is cut to fit and can be used year after year. "By doing this, you'll keep pests from uncovering and eating the bulbs. If you have deer, I suggest you plant window boxes and place them so you can enjoy their color each time you pass a window." Great advice, especially for those of us who have deer-infested gardens. The bulbs blooming in my window box never made it into the ground last fall. I saved them in heavy-duty paper bags in the garage where they began sprouting in early March, so into the potting mix they went. In other years, I've kept leftover bulbs until January when I "forced" them to bloom indoors in pots.

"The forcing of spring bulbs is so simple," Galen says, "I’m surprised more people don’t do it. The procedure involves planting, watering, then tucking them away. After planting, water them thoroughly and let them sit outside for a day or two so the top of the soil dries off, which will keep any fungal growth from appearing. Next, move them into a garage that's attached to the house, an unheated basement or a crawl space. In the garage it's best to set them at the back of the building (away from any arctic blasts that are sure to appear), and ideally near a window. I always place a section of newspaper over the top to moderate temperature swings."

Come late February, Gates uncovers the pots to let the bulbs continue growing in sync with the normal cycle of the year. "This is a good time to move them outdoors so the cool temperatures pace their growth appropriately, and I begin watering again. Remember that the bulbs need to establish roots in the fall — in this case requiring planting by Thanksgiving--and need to actively grow again in spring. As with most plants in containers, they benefit from water, and in this case you can water and water and water, and there won’t be too much. I have found that, around the country, gardeners trying this technique do everything except for the initial watering. Bulbs in these growing conditions often flower for 3 to 4 weeks, much longer than in the ground where there isn’t the air and gas exchange that comes with a professional growing medium and the right amount of moisture for maximum effect."

There's still plenty of time to head to your local garden center and snap up some of these beauties for a great display. Indoors or out.

-- Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

Freeze, frost and frozen flowers

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:43:16 GMT

This is the time of year when the weather forecasters turn up the talk about night temps that can dip down into frost territory. We’re way overdue for that first killing frost of autumn.

There’s a subtle difference between a frost and a freeze. You can have a freeze without frost and vice versa. Here’s why: A freeze occurs when the air temperature drops below 32 F. Sometimes we get frost (a deposit of ice crystals) when it’s above freezing and we can have a freeze without frost. It all has to do with the amount of water in the air. There are two different ways to measure humidity, the amount of water vapor in the air. The one that weathermen (and women) use is “relative humidity.”

(Thanks to photographer Ellen Hodges for capturing the frost on my frost-tolerant marigolds.)

Warm air holds more water than cool air. The relative humidity changes throughout the day as the temperature rises and falls. If the temperature drops low enough, the amount of water in the air is more than it can hold at that temperature. The air is saturated and water vapor in the air condenses as water on cars, lawns, sidewalks--and voila--dew.

The dew point measures the absolute amount of water in the air. It is the temperature at which the air is saturated and the relative humidity is 100%. For a given volume of air, with a set amount of water vapor in it, the relative humidity varies with the temperature but the dew point is always the same.

What does that have to do with frosts and freezes? It all has to do with the dew point. If the dew point is much above freezing, a frost is unlikely. The higher the dew point is above freezing the less likely we’ll have freezing temps. If the dew point is below freezing then a frost becomes more likely.

If a dry air mass moves into the region at this time of year in the Chicago area, a freeze is likely. Dry air has a low dew point and a low relative humidity. The dry air warms quickly during the day but also cools quickly at night. When there are clear calm conditions, the ground cools rapidly at night, losing heat to the open sky. As the ground cools, the air next to it also cools. On windy nights, the cool air mixes with warmer air above and the warm air helps heat the ground. On calm nights, the ground continues to cool and can be colder than the air.

Water condenses on the ground and other surfaces as dew. If the dew point is near freezing, the water vapor condenses as ice, freezing as frost. So the air can be above freezing and the surface of your car is colder than freezing causing a frost even thought the air temperature is above freezing. That is how we get a frost without a freeze. If the dew point is much below freezing then we can get freezing temperatures cold enough to freeze plants without any frost. When frozen plants thaw, the turn black, mushy and die. This is sometimes called a black frost, a freeze without a frost.

-- Nina A. Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com

Another Road, Paved with Good Intentions?

Chicagoland Gardening Blog — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:56:23 GMT

I smell a skunk...or maybe it's a stinkbug. I have been hearing reports, for two years now, of a new Asian pest in Georgia that seems to be both a blessing and a curse. The stinkbug, dubbed the bean platispid, eats kudzu. Kudzu of course, is that vine of Biblical proportion that covers forests, billboards and even parked cars in the south. Kudzu was described in the book “Deliverance” as a "vegetable form of cancer." This bug apparently devours kudzu. On the surface a good thing right?

Well, Midwestern farmers should be quaking in their Carharts because the bug also seems to fancy soybeans. And worse yet for us, it behaves much like the Asian ladybug beetle and covers houses in the fall. Plus, it is twice the size of those ladybugs, exudes a very foul- smelling substance and stains everything orange. Then there’s its strange quirk of fastening itself to white cars, leaving orange stains on the paint job and taking joyrides to other states. Like ours? It won't be long folks; you heard it here first.

My concern is over the head-scratching mystery of the bug's arrival on our shores. I remember reading several years ago how a pest had been introduced that was showing some promise in controlling the vine. I remember thinking at the time that this seemed as fast and loose as Soil Conservation Service’s introduction of kudzu itself back in the 1930's.
It was brought here from Japan, en masse, to control erosion. Didn't anyone wonder then just what might happen when you introduce a nitrogen-fixing legume that puts Jack's beanstalk to shame, into poor, depleted soils in which natives were already struggling? Sounds like a no-fail recipe for a rampant weed to me.
Somehow, any early reports of this newly introduced kudzu-eating pest have disappeared and the entomologists of Athens, Georgia are all feigning ignorance as to just how this bug just happened to be found in Athens. “Where did it come from? How did it get here? I didn't bring it. Did you bring it?” No one seems to know.

Now, anyone who knows anything about Athens, Georgia knows that, apart from being mentioned in a Tammy Wynette/George Jones duet, this northwestern Georgia town is to botany and entomology what the Silicon Valley is to technology. I find it a little suspicious that this kudzu-eating bug just happened to blow in on a hurricane (an actual theory) and land its ugly, stinky little self right in the nation's lap of kudzu, botany and entomology. The conspiracy theorist in me, well-honed by decades of finding that many conspiracy theories are well-founded, thinks that the Athens intelligentsia are experiencing a bit of amnesia over the bug's, shall we say, travel arrangements.

How many times do we need to introduce a living organism, for what seems like a reasonable purpose at the time, only to find a monster lurking in the near future? Starlings, house sparrows, pigeons, fire ants, kudzu, crown vetch, the Asian carp, water hyacinth, melaleuca trees, and the gypsy moth were all brought here to solve a problem or create commerce. Yeah. The way I have it figured, I have about five years before the new bean platyspid starts buzzing and clicking around my light fixtures. Plenty of time to sell the house and move away from the nearby soybean field. In the meantime, I hope whoever brought the bug to Athens Georgia is having fun washing his siding and vacuuming up stinky, leaky bugs. And I hope he or she drives a white car.
-- Deb Terrill