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 … 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 »
I eat pesto like most people eat Wheaties. Out of a bowl with a spoon. That said, I try to curtail my impulses to do so, favoring a slice of cuke, zuchinni or a thin cracker to host the spread. I have grown basil for about 15 years, always overplanting, sometimes not harvesting it all … Continue reading »
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 … Continue reading »
As a longtime veggie gardener, I know well the thrill that comes from “growing your own.” But the Zestar apple tree is producing like crazy this year and it has sent me over the moon in a way that tomatoes and zucchini have never done. What fun it is to be muddling in the garden and reach … Continue reading »
The third act of summer, maybe a little earlier this season, delivers the glory of the hydrangea to the northern garden. Besides its stunning white pom-poms, beacons of light in the yard and garden, hydrangea are a wonderful shrub for part shade, even full shade conditions, and they are a softening presence in the landscape. … Continue reading »
We visited good friends Jan and Mark Lefebvre (and Jack and Emma) last Sunday at their place near Becker. I would call it a rural estate, a Minnesota plantation, if you will. I profiled Mark and the prairie he is restoring at their home in the Sept/Oct 2011 Northern Gardener magazine. READ THE PROFILE Mark grew … Continue reading »
Deer resistant, drought tolerant, will handle some shade, all around tough as nails, and interestingly beautiful to boot. So, what’s the problem you may ask. Well, these handsome devils in the garden like to re-seed like crazy. If you happen to be like me and have trouble hoe-ing down volunteer plants, especially ones you love, they can … Continue reading »
Two new dwarf, hardy water lilies were introduced to the Garden Drama gardens this summer and I’m excited about what their blooms and pads are bringing to the gardens. Walter Pagels is a pioneer of water gardening in the U.S. and helped to found what is currently known as the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society … Continue reading »
Cooking enthusiasts occasionally chide me for not giving my readers precise recipes. I’m an enormous fan of the exacting, chemical nature of cooking and baking, but I also like to encourage people to cook from the gut, tasting and intuiting along the way. That said, I am taking a moment to once a gain sing the praises … Continue reading »
