For a long time I had admired the beautiful photos of Lily Trees seen in garden magazines. Those lilies were supposed to grow so tall and sturdy that you could even lean your bike on them. They came in wonderful colors and the descriptions were very enticing as quoted below. “Lily Trees are the breathtaking […]
Garden Notes
The Wild Hare Dilemma
Earlier this year, I noticed a rabbit, eating clover in our backyard. I knew immediately that she was a new mother who probably had babies hidden somewhere because of her patchy fur and haggard look. Apparently motherhood is never easy, even for rabbits. Early each day found that same bunny munching on the lawn […]
Bug Zapper, New Garden Tool?
Our Wisconsin summer of 2014 had a lot of rain in both spring and early summer. All that moisture brings beautiful lush gardens, too many weeds and a bumper crop of mosquitos. While my watering chores have been pretty much eliminated, I do spend a lot of time trying to keep ahead of the […]
Know Maintenance Gardening
One of the classes I took in my Master Gardener’s continuing education was taught by Roy Diblik, plantsman, designer and author of The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden book. He is the owner of Perennial Farm, a nursery in Burlington, Wisconsin and is best known as the plantsman behind the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park in […]
The Garden of Envy
We are now in late spring and the garden is looking very lush and beautiful. I have been busy trimming the shrubs that were decimated by our resident meadow vole population. We need more foxes and hawks to hunt those little varmints or some other means of control because there are just way too many […]
Growing Swiss Chard Indoors
Last summer, in an effort to thwart the many rabbits that inhabit our yard, I planted some Rainbow Swiss Chard in a large pot instead of in our usual garden. The chard came up and grew nicely and the rabbits didn’t seem to notice the plants at all. They grew so well that I was […]