In my world, lilacs evoke memories like nothing else in the garden. The end of school is what what comes to mind for me. I have a specific memory of all of us first-graders bringing little bouquets for Mrs. Tews and filling her desk with them. Everyone needs a lilac bush in their yard. True, …
A big part of the fun of gardening is getting to know your fellow gardening peeps. This past year, I got to get up close and personal with great gardener Heidi Heiland of Heidi’s Lifestyle Gardens of Plymouth, MN. My profile of Heidi and her gardening lab and studio — which also happens to be …
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Heidi Heiland this past year. She is a great Minnesota gardener and a profile of her and her Plymouth waterfront yard and garden will be in the May issue of Northern Gardener magazine. The issue will be online and on news stands soon. I picked up so …
Clearly, winter has overstayed his welcome. Enough said. No more complaining from me. No more overstating the obvious. Winter is the one-night stand who wants you to cook him breakfast. Like at the dinner party that won’t end, I’ve conspicuously yawned, I’ve brought up the lights and I’ve even opened the front door. “This has been fun, …
The art and craft of mosaic seems to have suffered an identity crisis as of late — maybe a few too many uninspired stepping stones have popped up here and there and it’s been done to death — but I would like to encourage you to consider creating one for your garden. Mosaic is like …
Check out part 1 on making your own terrarium. Read my article at Northern Gardener (it’s the sample article this month). Consider a membership or subscription while you are there. Planting the garden. When selecting your terrarium’s plants, use the same design principles you use in your outdoor garden. Look for a contrast of textures, sizes, …
Last summer, I wrote and photographed an article on making a terrarium, for Northern Gardener magazine. You can read the entire piece online, it’s the sample article on the homepage, from the Nov/Dec issue currently on newsstands. I’ve learned a few things since putting the piece together–most of all, that I LOVE terrariums. I built several …
As a garden writer, I get to visit a lot of garden homes and they all seem to make an impact. Yesterday, I was at the home of great local gardeners Shirley and Dick Friberg. Shirley is helping me with an upcoming article for Northern Gardener magazine on rock gardening. What struck me as I …
So, it’s quite early in the season, but I am already declaring the clematis ‘Guernsey Cream’ as the clematis, the flowering vine, and perhaps the perennial of the year for zone 4. Look at it and this is May 4th! Now, of course, given the year, this would probably be blooming closer to the end …
I had the pleasure of speaking at the Lake Owasso Garden Club this week. It was a full classroom of avid, fun-loving gardeners and the topic at hand was Art in the Garden. As I told the group, I think art and the garden go together like peas and carrots and as I prepped my …
A quick shout-out to an oft-overlooked ornamental grass that really is one of my favorites. Fall-blooming Feather Reedgrass (Calamagrostis brachytricha) can work as an anchor in your perennial border, with its graceful, arching, inverted-V form. At 4-feet tall and a spread of about 3-feet, it fills holes and pockets in your design and sits happily … Continue reading »
Blue Fescue ‘Elijah Blue’ has been greeting visitors at the front border of the Garden Drama test garden for over 10 years. How does one make blue fescue (Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’) happy? From my experience — sun, sun, sun. Bake it to get that great, matte-blue cast to its spiky blades. And really well-drained soil, … Continue reading »
Water gardens are something I have dipped my toe into in only in the last few years. I always thought they were for someone else. They struck me as too expensive (though they can be), too involved (that can happen, too), and too high-maintenance (oh, yeah, sometimes). But, my overarching garden theory is that it’s … Continue reading »
Fine Gardening magazine recently had an article on 10 outstanding succulents to try, which prompted my thinking – midst continuous snow fall and crazy temps – of how happy succulents make me. They teach us snowbunnies much about surviving the winter. They tolerate dryness by holding onto any moisture they can muster up, as best as they can. This … Continue reading »
So, the title is a little racy, a little out-there, but it describes to a tee what front-yard and community gardeners do. They put it there, they expose themselves in their gardening exploits. They don’t keep it in the backyard — they bring it out front, full-front, where it can change lives and make a … Continue reading »
I had the pleasure of speaking at two garden club meetings this week at opposite ends of the city — the Hennepin County Horticultural Society and the Dakota Gardeners. They were both lively, spirited groups with gardening enthusiasm for days! I spoke of the winter gardening turning point in my head; that moment when you … Continue reading »
I’m a lucky man. I love gardening and because I write about it to help pay the bills, I get to meet a lot of gardeners. I feel a kinship with most of them–and then some knock me slightly off my epicenter. This fall I have gotten to know Betty Ann Addison, a garden designer … Continue reading »
