A few years ago, after admiring the Yellow Flag Iris (Iris Pseudacorus) in my sister’s garden, she gave me a couple of small plants to try in our yard. Her Pseudacorus had sword-like clumps that were 5-6 feet tall, looked very dramatic and bloomed with showy yellow flowers each summer. I wanted to try them […]
Garden Notes
Hosta Society Garden Tour
Two members of the Southeast Wisconsin Hosta Society extended an invitation to SEWHS members and friends to tour their private gardens on June 30, 2012. Since one of my friends is a new member of this group, I was able to attend their event. Both gardens were mostly shaded and both had a wide variety […]
Weird Strawberry Leaf
As an avid gardener, I am always interested in other people’s gardens, especially how the same plants that I have can look different under the growing conditions that exist in their yards. A few days ago, one of sister’s noticed that some of her June bearing strawberry plants had weird leaf stems that looked curved […]
Blue-Eyed Grass, Lucerne
I bought a Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium ‘Lucerne’) plant at our local garden center a few years ago when I noticed it blooming in the perennial section. Taking my plant home, I situated it in our front garden close to the walkway since the tag said that it liked sun and was low growing. […]
Weird Spruce Galls
A few years ago I planted 3 small blue spruce trees thinking that I would have sweet little Christmas trees adding interest to our winter landscape. The trees settled in and grew nicely and are now at least 10 feet high. Last year I noticed some brown lumps on my trees that I first mistook […]
Lady’s Mantle, Perennial Herb
Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollisis) is familiar to experienced gardeners as a perennial herb that has some varieties growing to a height of 24 inches. With softly scalloped leaves and a bluish cast, alchemilla mollisis looks especially beautiful after a rain, when water droplets often cling the surface like so many pearls. In our area, Lady’s […]