Cantigny Garden Blog

Visitors in the Garden

2011-08-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

What kind of visitors have you had in your garden lately?

Sure, it's nice if one of your neighbors/friends drops by and you take a stroll around the garden with a sweating glass filled with iced tea. Or, maybe one of your adult children stops by and you sit on the deck sharing a glass of wine (you can do that now that they're adults) and catch up with the news. But what about other visitors?

Are you taking the time to check out the small stuff? Take a closer look. There is a plethora of Lilliputian folk out and about in your landscape.

Yep, Japanese beetles are out wreaking havoc on all sorts of things (and their behavior is, frankly, just disgusting). My preferred method of eliminating them is smooshing (with gloved hand) and leaving the remains on the plant to signal a warning (of some sort) to their brethern. Not sure that they are picking up on my hints though... Or, you can certainly use the pan of soapy water on them (best in early morning: tap the branch they are on and they will typically fall into the pan of soapy water and drown).

But there are some others that are actually do-gooders (yeah!). I spotted this fellow in the Idea Garden by the pond, appearing to prepare himself for a swift ninja-style kick to a bad bug. He is a bit difficult to spot (I did take this picture on my cell phone camera...he's the small green guy on the top of the blacker rock). They're becoming more prominent at this time of year.

Have you or your kids spotted any fun visitors lately? I'd love to hear about them or see a few pictures!

Wednesday Talks in the Idea Garden

2011-05-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

We've got plans for Wednesdays. Which means boy-oh-boy do we have plans for you too! (Just about every Wednesday--May through September--May 4th starts us off. ) At high noon, on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, I will be doing the honors and I will offer a sample taste of a tasty treat created with a bit of something that was grown in the Idea Garden (and I do try to stretch your tastebuds quite often!). I'll also give you a bit of garden advice that is relevant for the season--hence the name for the program--Tips & Tastes in the Garden.

If you yearn to learn a bit more about floral design and gain a few tips on just how to care for your cut flowers, you'll want to join Beth Libby, Floral Designer at Cantigny, on her Blossom Bits Wednesdays. Beth crams lots of knowledge into her once monthly sessions and you won't want to miss a one!

Jill Weiss, Greenhouse Grower and Idea Garden Assistant, will present Ask the Grower. Jill rounds out the month with juicy facts on growing your best plants ever--and she does it on a grand scale at her own farm/home too! Go on see if you've got a question for her that she's not able to tackle...I challenge you!

What do you have to do?  Just these three things:

     1. We would like you to register on-line; just so we know how many people to plan for. And some of us give out free stuff...but only to those who actually did register!
     2. You can bring a snack along and get your lunch in while we're doing our "show".
     3. The only mandatory thing you have to do is..smile. Sorry--no exceptions! We're having fun planning these days for you and we want to hang out with people who like to have fun too!

There is no fee for these classes...just think...no $$ spent and you'll go home with a wealth of information--how 'bout that? Wealthier in the wallet and wealthier in plant brain power! See you Wednesdays in the Idea Garden!

Garden Close-Up: Spring Annuals and Blooming Bulbs

2011-05-02T04:05:00.000-07:00

If you're craving a bit of color to brighten up these cloudy days you might want to join us Tuesday morning at 11am on May 3rd...you'll be led through our lovely formal gardens by Jane Rogers, and Jackie Carter, Cantigny Horticulturists Extraordinaire. They will show you the plantings that are looking their absolute best and give you a bit of the behind-the-scenes factoids. The tour is complimentary with paid admission to the park. Hope to see you there!

Cantigny's Open House this Sunday

2011-04-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of making everything spiffy for our visitors this Sunday, and hopefully you're one of them! We had a bustling day yesterday with scads of dedicated (and much appreciated) volunteers come in and help us make the space clean and pretty.

Do you have the time at some point on Sunday for a stroll through our greenhouses? We're open from 10am-3pm. Not only will our summer plantings be on their best behavior for your viewing pleasure, but we will also have a variety of worthy agencies and organizations set up for you to snag a few interesting tidbits and widen your world a bit.

Stop in, say hello, have a cookie and a glass of punch...you know flowers always make you smile :)

Your Garden is the Best Teacher

2011-04-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

We've had a string of rainy, soggy days. And it's been hard to get out into the garden to do much of anything. (Please don't work in wet soil--you'll do more harm than good, wreaking soil structure that you've tried to improve with great soil amendments).

I love to read. Gardening books are invaluable; periodicals too. You've probably got a stash at home, but the library is a great resource too. Or you can possibly borrow a fellow gardener's favorite. Winter and these mucky spring days are great to learn about something new or brush up on a topic you might have forgotten about.

But there is really no substitute for getting out there in your garden and trying it. Maybe you want to try vegetable gardening for the first time. Or maybe you fret about the "right" color combinations (hey, if you like it--try it! Don't think about right ways or wrong ways here--let the garden snobs worry--you be the adventurer!). Maybe you're smitten with a plant that is just out of our zone....Try it I say! You may not always be successful...but then again, you just might be. What's the harm in giving it a try? I'll bet my favorite trowel that you'll gain some very specific knowledge particular to just you and your garden that you probably wouldn't find in any written word. And that knowledge is worth sharing.

We're trying a few plants for spring this year that might be pushing the temperature boundaries (we're going to plant out snapdragons, sweet peas this week--and yes, they like cool temps, but cold? I don't know, we'll see...). We're also trying out a millet called 'Flashlights'...will it do well in a cool, wet spring season? I hope so. We're also going to be creating some hanging "ball" baskets for spring, summer and fall. Will our plant choices work? I think so. I'm going to be trying some new veggie varieties that are touted to be beautiful, but will they be tasty too? I'll let you know. Will you let me know about your garden adventures? Are you courageous enough to share your not-so-successful stories along with the super-duper ones? C'mon, we'll both grow 'n tell!

April Snow-ers Bring May Flowers

2011-04-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a difference a week makes, doesn't it? Last weekend we had a drop of summer--sunshine, balmy southern breezes, temps in the 80's. Back to winter this weekend--gray clouds whistling through bearing gifts of snow and wind. Hmmpf! What kind of a spring is that? Just a typical spring in Chicago; I guess that's how we get our 50 degree average temperature around here....a few days in the twenties and a few days in the eighties and our average temperature is now fifty.

Which is why, my last week's post was cautioning not to buy or plant too early. A reader did have a response to me....Yeah! (I often wonder if I am writing for myself only). So, thank you, thank you, thank you, to Heather for sending me a courteous and informative reply! Heather wrote to me, as an employee of the Growing Place. She agreed with me that many garden centers--very often the big box stores--put out inappropriate plants for our weather--like tomatoes. And Heather you are so right! We are a good two-three weeks out from safely planting those types of plants out...unless you do have a crystal ball and can foretell the future, knowing that we will not have another frost again for the rest of the spring. Unfortunately, I don't. So I will abide by the garden rule of May 15th being our average frost free date. But, remember what I said about above about averages, and even our garden rule isn't a guarantee.

Heather also mentioned that at The Growing Place, (which is a wonderful garden store, by the way...and sidenote here, often when I am out working in the Idea Garden, a guest may ask where she may locate a particular, maybe unusual, plant that we have in our designs. While I don't think it appropriate as an employee of Cantigny, to tout a particular business, I will make a suggestion of several local businesses, and I can tell you, that The Growing Place is one that frequents my suggestions) they do their best to make sure that the plants they are selling you now are the ones that you can safely be planting now. And, Heather, it has to be a difficult balancing act between demand and customer success, as you pointed out--and I applaud you folks for doing your best to educate our local gardeners!

If you want a shopping experience, seek out some of your neighborhood garden centers for knowledgeable suggestions and design tips. The big box stores serve their purpose as well--but please know the difference. So, you, as a local gardener, have a balancing act of your own. When to plant....when to be patient. Where to shop to get a "bargain"-priced plant and where to shop to get some solid (and friendly) garden advice. Happy (patient) Gardening!

Is it Spring or is it Summer?

2011-04-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

It's April 10th and we're forecasted to have temperatures in the high 80's, possibly the 90's? I'm gearing up to make a nice big pitcher of sun tea! We dig out the short-sleeved tops and shorts and feel completely giddy...after such a winter, who wouldn't? And after today, a lot of things that have been lying in wait just under the surface of the soil or unbudded on branches will burst forth showing off their "summer wear" as well.

Garden centers have somehow created a specialized magnetic force that draws gardeners of all skill levels into the depths of their aisles showing off their finery of spring bloomers, herbs, vegetables and tropicals. (Side note: Yes, I was sucked into that magnetic field yesterday and purchased a Knock-out rose at Wal-mart for under $9.) After a 5 month palette of white, gray, brown, tan (and mud) we physically need our fix!

But don't be fooled. You do know that garden centers' main goal is to make a profit? As much as we might like to think that if the plants are in the stores/nurseries--it must be time to plant...it really isn't so. Sure, you can plant those that enjoy the bite (frost) of spring that is sure to make a return visit: Bellis (English Daisy), Dusty Miller, Osteospermum (Cape May Daisy), Violas, etc. As well as lettuce, cabbage, Brussels sprout, and parsley plants. Don't forget you can directly sow seed for carrots, lettuce, peas and radishes too.

But please don't buy (and plant) those plants that really only thrive in true warm weather conditions: basil, peppers, tomatoes, and any kind of tropical anything (Caladium, Canna, Colocasia, etc.). You know how those tropical types are--they never pack anything for when a cold spell hits us...and then there they sit--shivering, slumped over, looking miserable like a young fashionista caught in a cold spring rain.

Do try to restrain yourselves a bit when purchasing plants on days with temperatures like today. The cold temps will make a few more return visits yet and if you've purchased those sensitive characters you'll either end up hauling them in and out of your house or garage on cold nights/warm days or they will sit in your soil glaring back at you when you're tucked inside the house enjoying a hot cup of tea on a blustery spring day. When the magnetic field draws you in, just think, "Iced tea today, but hot tea tomorrow".

A Gardener's Best Friend?

2011-04-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

Knowledge is a great assest to gardening. Especially for beginning gardeners.

Reading is great way to get that knowledge.....but a friend can be even better. So, a gardener's best friend can be a friend who's a gardener.

I've learned a lot over the years from fellow gardeners--people that I took gardening classes with, people I meet through participating in the Cooperative Extension Service's Master Gardener program; as well as as my co-workers and my volunteers. The first gardening friends I made were in a gardening club in my community. Over a period of years in getting to know everyone in the club I made many friends. Friends who shared their seeds. They shared plants and opinions. They shared their gardens. Gardeners are some of the most generous people I know.

I'd encourage you to join a gardening club--one that suits your style (you might need to visit a few before you decide which one might be to your liking). Generally speaking, gardeners are wise, they have a good sense of humor (they have to considering they've stuck it through droughts and downpours, voracious insects, steadfast weeds, etc.), and most of all--they are generous. And who couldn't use a friend like that?

Rosemary Blooms

2011-03-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Just a guess: If you grow rosemary you're probably growing it for culinary purposes. While attractive enough of a plant, it probably isn't the first plant that comes to mind when you think of attractive foliage or blooms. But when you talk about fragrance....Wow!

I'm one of those people that isn't crazy-crazy for the taste of rosemary (I'm working on it) but I do love the fragrance. My hand invariably brushes across the top of any rosemary plant outside or in the greenhouse and I do enjoy the scent that quickly envelopes the area. (This actually can be overpowering when we are in the process of taking rosemary cuttings, but is well worth the net result).

We do grow a few different varieties of rosemary for display purposes in the gardens...

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Irene' is a great plant to use perhaps in a rocky area where a bit of a cascading effect would be very nice.

We also grow a 'Shish-ke-Bob' variety that has very sturdy, upright stems which, strangely enough, are great to use as a shish kebob skewer for veggies and various cuts of meat.

Rosemary standard

But I thought you might be most interested at this time of year to see a rosemary that we have trained into a standard form--and it happens to be blooming right now. Which is something that you might not get to see if you've tried growing these as an "annual" in your own gardens outside. Enjoy!

Rosemary flowers

New Sprouts in the Greenhouse!

2011-02-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

After that last cruel dumping of snow on February 2, 2011--it's comforting to know that spring is on schedule. At least in the greenhouse...

Our greenhouse growers (and volunteers) sow seeds into tiny compartments (a plug tray) with one type of seed in each tray. Each plug tray has between 21 to 288 compartments to hold seeds, and then seedlings. The growers will decide, based on how quickly a seedling grows/what type of root system the seedling has, what size plug tray is best suited to start off that seed. The 288 plug tray was voted most popular by seedlings in our greenhouse.

Alyssum 'Snow Crystals'
Sown on January 3rd - for Baskets

California Poppies 'Twister'
Sown on December 6th, 2010 - for Baskets

Dianthus 'Ideal Violet'
Sown on December 6th, 2010 - for Baskets

Dusty Miller 'Silver Dust'
Sown on December 20, 2010 - for Bedding Plants
A great foil to just about any color under the sun!

Lobelia 'Riveria Blue'
Sown on December 6th, 2010 - for Baskets
The best blue blossom ever!

Stock 'Cheefrul Yellow'
Sown on January 31st - for cut flowers
Doesn't just the name of that Stock sound like Spring?

Violas
Sown on January 3rd - for Bedding Plants

A few stats: approximately 10, 600 viola seedlings were sown (and 25,000 pansy seedlings) for spring bedding use. Right now, between 90,000 and 100,000 seedlings for spring and summer crops are growing on in our greenhouse. That's a lot of infants to take care of!

If you are a sower of spring plants, how are yours looking right about now?

Craving Spring Now?

2011-01-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

We have had quite a few sunny days this winter--and that always makes me feel better. But we do tend to be a bit gray this time of year. We try to alleviate that, over here down by the Cantigny greenhouse, by bringing out a bit of spring in a pot: forced bulbs. Starting on Fridays in February, Cantigny will once again be opening its gates to the public during the weekends (Fridays through Sundays). If you do stop by our Visitors Center and our Museums, you just might catch a glimpse (and maybe even a delicate fragant whiff) of a variety of forced blossoms.

Yes, if you do want to achieve this on your own you do need to plan a bit ahead (early fall is best). It will certainly be welcomed come mid-winter. It's not a difficult project, but you do need to have a spot of patience. Many bulbs are potted up and then need to be chilled for up to 14 weeks before they can make a grand appearance. When you "force" a bulb, you're trying to imitate what that plant would normally require if it was planted outdoors in your garden. If you planted tulips for instance, this fall, they are quietly chilling outside in the soil. So, when you wish to force a bulb to do this in a pot, you are simply trying to mimic nature.

Different bulbs have different requirements or preferences and if this topic intrigues you, I'd encourage you to sign up for a complimentary class that we will have later this year...Saturday, October 1st, at the greenhouse. You'll learn all the basics and be able to fire off any questions you may have on the topic. In the meantime, come on over any weekend in February and inhale deeply at the Visitors Center kiosk. If you close your eyes, you just might think that spring is right around the corner.

What's on Your Gardening Chore List?

2011-01-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I hope your holidays were great, and all your decorations are neatly tucked away. That process, for me, always instills a inner "need" to start organizing...something. I guess that's why as I was scooping up marked down Christmas cards and wrappings, there was prominent space in the stores, given to organization "tools".

A tool that I use to help me remember things is calendars. I usually spend a good chunk of one day organizing all my calendars: home/work, traditional and computer-driven. As I was jotting down all the upcoming birthdays, meetings and programs in my life, I thought it might be useful for you, my readers, to be able to jot a few notes on your own calendar--things you might want to be aware of for the upcoming month, garden-wise.

January is the perfect month for planning--and there is a lot to do!

1. If your mail carrier isn't bowed over carrying all your gardening catalogs--now is the time to order them. Or, to be an even greener gardener--check out their sites online.

2. Check your seed stash. If you're unsure whether a seed you have is viable or not, here's a simple germination test: Place 10 seeds from one packet of seed onto moistened paper towels. Roll 'em up, place in a ziploc bag and keep warm for a few days. If fewer than 7-8 seeds sprout, think about ordering replacements. Note: you can put multiple paper towel "rolls" into one ziploc bag, but, be sure to label each roll so you can remember which seed you're testing.

3. Sketch out your vegetable garden plan....don't forget to rotate those crops!

4. While you're designing your veggie plot, consider areas in your landscape that aren't really working for you and your family--tackle one this year and think about how you'd like to redesign it.

5. If your Christmas tree hasn't been picked up yet by your municipality, trim off all the evergreen boughs and place them on top of your perennials. They make a nice insulator and prevent plants from heaving out of the soil during freeze and thaw cycles.

6. ...and one of my favorites...sit down with a good garden book (or a few garden magazines) and sharpen up your garden skills--we can always learn something new!

P.S. Believe it or not, now is the time to cover your rose bushes....the Cantigny Horticulture crew spent a few days last week and this week covering many of them in our rose garden. You don't want to cover them too early (before the ground thoroughly freezes) or you'll be making a mini compost pile around them which can heat up and cause disease and pest problems. Our cover "mix" is a combination of composted garden plant material, coarse (construction-grade) sand, and leaves. If you haven't covered your roses, you're not too late (Yeah!). Give them their special little blanket and you'll have a much better chance of happy roses this spring!

Photo taken by Jim Frazier at Cantigny Gardens 2010

Thinking Bulb-ilicious Thoughts....

2010-10-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

Tulip 'Angelique' (photo by Chris Walters )

Time to plant the bulbs!

Usually after we get one of those blackening frosts, we are teased back into a bit of warmer weather for a spell. That is a great time to get back out into the garden and plant up your bulbs that will brighten your days next spring. There are so many colors of tulips to choose from, and those glorious scented hyacinths ….and every garden has room for a few bright and perky daffodil bulbs, but don’t forget about the “minor” bulbs. They are called minor bulbs due to the size of the bulb/bloom. But, hey, let’s not give them a complex here. Those little bulbs pack quite punch: they’re the first ones blooming their little hearts out in the spring and most of them are stupendous at naturalizing. Which, once again, means you need to think a lot about changing that hunky, sticky, clayey soil into primo soil by incorporating some compost into the mix. These bulbs don’t need supplemental watering during the summer months (don’t plant them with perennial or annual flowers). Think about tucking them just under tree and shrub edges to peep out their joyous heads at early spring. Here’s my favorite top five, plus one…

Emerging snowdrops (Photo by Jim Frazier)

Close up of Snowdrops (Photo by Jim Frazier)

1. Galanthus or snowdrops. One of the earliest bloomers around. They’re so simply sweet and the gladest tiding of spring ever! Plant in groups of 10 plus to make an impact.

Grape Hyacinths (Photo by Chris Walters)

2. Muscari or grape hyacinths. These come in a lovely trio of white, light blue and dark purple. Plant them all together for a lovely spring floral arrangement.

3. Erythronium denscanis or Dogtooth Violets. Nice leaves and very sophisticated little bloomers.

4. Allium schubertii or Ornamental Onion. Very cool plant—when they are in bloom they are the most asked-about plant in the Idea Garden. They look just like a Fourth of July sparkler.

A mass planting of Allium schubertii with blue lobelia underneath. (Photo from Jack Bannister)

Close up of Allium schubertii (Photo from Jack Bannister)

Allium schubertii after leaves die back--these "sparklers" will last in your garden 'til fall!

5. Species Tulips, or Kaufmanniana, or Gregii, or Fosteriana Tulips. Unlike the tulips you might be more accustomed to, these tulips will come back better and better each year. Try a few—they’re cute.

And my plus one bulb….have you ever planted garlic? Fall is the time to do it. But don’t raid your kitchen cabinet for it (but you can). Do a little research on line and see what varieties sound the best for you. Separate the entire bulb into cloves. You’ll plant each one of these about 6” apart in rows about the same distance apart. They’ll even put on a bit o’sprout of growth this fall just to show you how good their nature really is. They’ll add on to their growth in the spring, making all kinds of whirly-curliques and then they’ll start to slow down in mid-summer. And then stop. And that’s about the time you can reap the rewards of your planting..yum-oh! Oh and save a few bulbs to replant again in the fall….

Bulb appétit! And good luck with your tucked away treasures. It’s always a fun little surprise when they pop up in the spring!

Fantastic Fall--Awesome Autumn! Part II

2010-10-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

More great Canitgny fall pictures to entice you...why not spend a few hours, or even the day?

Just one of the beautiful containers down Pergola Path at the Rose Garden

Kohrabi 'Kolibri', Kale, Bulb Fennel and Pansies in the Idea Garden

Crasseula 'Campfire' on the Loch Ness Monster in the Idea Garden

Mums and Mizuna Lettuce on the South Border of the Idea Garden

Oakleaf Hydrangea at the Fountain Garden

Fountain Garden Containers

Ornamental Cabbage at the Visitors Center

Thanks for visiting the gardens this fall!

Fantastic Fall--Awesome Autumn! Part I

2010-10-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Kale at the Visitor Center entrance

Plan to make a trip out soon to see the best fall "fashion" show ever! The weather has held up so nicely but all it takes is one cold evening to make it all disappear….(til next year). Grab a garden map at the Visitors Center to help you locate each garden "room".
Enjoy!

Heptacodium miconoides Seven Sons Flower at the Visitors Center

Syringa reticulata Japanese Tree Lilac at the Visitors Center

Agastache 'Cana Heather Queen' at Visitors Center Patio

Crabapples escorting you down the main garden path.

Asters across path from Crabapples near Octagon Garden.

Octagon Garden Display

Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' at Gold Pond

Malva 'Zebrinus' and Northern Sea Oats at Gold Pond

Rosa 'Nearly Wild' at Gold Pond

Sedum 'Matrona' at Four Seasons Fence

Hydrangea 'Endless Summer'--What a lovely partner with the Sedum 'Matrona'!

Fall Garden Clean-Up Tasks--Part II

2010-10-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Euonymus alatus Burning Bush near Gold Pond (Photo by Jim Frazier

Don’t forget newly planted trees and shrubs!

Watering: We have had a very dry fall this year (so far!) and especially if your plantings were added this year you’ll want to keep them well hydrated. Think of this as a weekly garden task, at least until we start getting some rain. And none of that quick spritzing stuff either—you want to make sure that water is reaching into the root zones (and not running off) of these plantings. Keep this watering up through a hard frost (and that can be after Thanksgiving!).

Mulch ring: If you haven’t done so already, consider a nice sized mulch filled ring around the base of these plants—this helps retain moisture and keeps errant mowers and string trimmers away from delicate bark.

Pruning: You can safely remove any dead, diseased or damaged wood at this time. Wait for late winter to tackle any major pruning though.

Lawns love this weather!

Our turf in this area loves cool weather and hence is actively growing. You can lower the deck on your mower to a cutting height of 2 inches. But you might need to mow more often to stay ahead of leaves that are falling from your trees. Don’t let them pile up too heavily or they will mat down and do more harm than good. If you can stay ahead of the leaf build-up you can just mow them up along with the grass—otherwise it is best to rake them and add them to your compost pile. Great stuff! And, if you feed your lawn only once a year—this is the best time to do that.

Calendula 'Flashback'

Miscellaneous Garden Chores

Keep up with any weeding that needs to be done; remove any diseased plants and toss into trash not the compost pile.

Don’t cut back: ornamental grasses—they give a nice vertical element to the landscape and give us something to look at during the winter season. Leave sunflower heads, asters, Echinacea, rudbeckia, solidago (goldenrod), and millet seed heads for the birds to scout for snacks.

Rest your amaryllis bulbs. Bring them into a frost free zone and let them dry down. You are mimicking a natural drought condition for them. Don’t water again until they start to show a bit of growth (usually February or March—but minimum of 8 weeks). Then bring them into a bright area of your home and water as needed—in a couple of weeks you’ll be graced with a lovely stalk of blooms.

Take a tour around the vegetable and herb garden—yeah, the one that is in your backyard. You’ve probably got a few hangers-on of a few things…onion, tomatoes, peppers…maybe an eggplant or zucchini or two, the last few leaves of basil or a handful of oregano… Fix your mind into cooking up a big pot of spaghetti sauce or chili and toss in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Cook it down slowly for a few hours and you’ll be rewarded with a great smelling house and a smile on your face as your taste buds re-visit this past summer of gardening one spoonful at a time.

If your veggies are still going full throttle and you'd like to help them through a frost and eke out a few more days (who knows, maybe even weeks) of good weather...invest in some lightweight polyester garden fabric. You might find it under the name of Remay. "Float" the fabric over the sensitive planting. Batten down the ends with bricks or rocks, but don't forget to roll back the fabric during the day so your plants don't get too toasty underneath.

And the best tip of all—if you are planning to create a new garden bed….NOW is the time to do it! This is where all those extra leaves would be best put to use—tilled into the soil. And, pssst, …..don’t be too proud to go and scrounge some from your neighbors. In years past I had been known to trawl the neighborhood scouting for bags o’ leaves that were destined for the county leaf-picker-upper-day. Bring them over to your new bed and run a mower over them and then till into your new bed. If you don’t have a tiller you can do a bit of double-digging and throw them into the “ditch” that you create with each row. Your soil will be fabulous come spring and your plants will thank you with great growth and productivity.

Fall Garden Clean-up Tasks -- Part 1 (Houseplants and Tuberous Stuff)

2010-10-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

We’ve had our first light frost over the weekend…and hopefully you’ve stashed any tender house plants back into your friendly confines. If frost hasn’t hit you yet, it is best to get houseplants and tropicals back into your house before you turn on the heat—this makes for an easier adjustment phase for them.

Other tips for houseplants and those plants that you will overwinter in a “finished” state.

Give them a quick exam and cut off any battered leaves.

Rid them of any tagalong bugs: either by picking them off or with a spritz of soapy water or insecticidal soap.

Slugs, webs and dirt speckles tend to blemish the pots, wipe them off before bringing inside.

Don’t place them in a drafty area or near a heat source.

Don’t over-water or feed them (at all) during low-light months (October-March).

You’ll find that shady characters tend to winter through better, due to the lack of bright light in our homes.

Suggestion: instead of bringing in a big burly specimen, consider taking cuttings—much easier to keep the offspring going until springtime.

Plants prefer high light situations and cooler but more humid conditions than what most of us have in our homes. But, most of us don’t have this ideal indoor situation to keep plants chugging along. So for plants that you’d like to make a guest appearance in your garden next year…try to think dormancy instead of having them limp along in a tortured stated indoors.

What to do with those tuber things?

If you’ve purchased Bananas or Cannas or Elephant Ears this year and they are a little on the smallish side, pot them up and stash them in a cool area (basement or crawl space?)—but they cannot freeze. If they added a bit of girth out in your garden, wait until the frost has hit them. Cut them back to 6-8”. Dig up and shake/brush/wash excess soil. Let them dry in your garage or shed for about two weeks to give them a chance to dry out and cure a bit. Store them in a dry spot at about 40-50 degrees in a crate or cardboard box with peat moss or wood chips. Now this is the tricky part—they can’t be so dry that they desiccate to shriveldom, but they can’t be too moist or they will rot. So you need to visit them and check on them often until spring.

Weird factoid: Did you know….that today is ten-four day? On the 4th day of the tenth month we give an affirmative reply, “10-4” in recognition of all radio operators. Thanks Good Buddy!

The Rose Garden in the Fall...it's Looking Magnificent!

2010-09-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Before we say sayonara to summer colors, have you been by recently to take a peek at the rose garden? It is looking magnificent. You would think that we were in the throes of summer. I’ll leave you with a few pictures that I took on Sunday, September 12 th during our Photo Walk in the Gardens. But you know it’s even better in person!

It's hard to believe that roses are still happy in mid-September!

And even better close up!

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Come and take a look before they are gone! It’s a great time to soak up those last warm summer days…while we still have them. I love the fall season: bright sunny days and crisp cool nights, fresh and new fall plantings (more about that in another post to come), and a cornucopia of those great autumn colors.

Fall sunshine is great for backlighting these Horse Chestnut leaves.

The Grand Opening of the New Youth & Children's Garden!

2010-08-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your patience! And now that we’re ready for our grand entrance…will you join us for cake and lemonade on Tuesday, August 24, at 1pm in the Idea Garden (good choice!)?
The plants are struggling a bit—they were held over (and not very happy about the situation), but we already have a few changes in mind for next year. Bear with us and please—ask questions and make suggestions: we’d love to hear your thoughts on our changes.
Enjoy the pictures below…

And we started with a felt liner.

Rolling out the rubber liner.

Positioning the rubber liner.

Adding tiers of rock.

Shoveling rock around the plants. This is back-breaking work!

A horticulturist needs to plant in wet and dry conditions!

Is this a dead tree? No! It's the start of our Alphabet Trail: "A" is for Arbor!

And "B" is for Butterfly Garden, and "C" is for Checkerboard...

Come on in and see the rest of the Alphabet Trail, as well as Pixie Point and Pixie Passage. Or stop in for a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Can you spot a fish or two in the pond? If you listen quietly you're sure to hear a frog shout as you approach. Join us for a piece of cake and let us know what you think of our new addition!

Documenting Your Garden or Creating Your Garden Dream Book

2010-08-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

The gardening “season” is, sad to say, on the wane. And now is the perfect time to make some notes, take some pictures—do a bit of garden documentation. And who better to do the reporting than you? You witnessed the successes and a few devastating blows, and if you’re even a quarter as forgetful as I am, it’s best to have something to help you remember those events.

Where to start? Pick the type of record keeping that suits your personality best because then you are apt to keep up with it. We all start the garden season with good intentions and then, mirroring the gardening season, our interests tend to wane. If you start with a system that is simple and fun for you to use, you’re sure to make better use of it for the entire season.

If we were to take a poll right here and now, my guess would be that most gardeners have attempted at least once in their gardening lives to keep some sort of garden journal. Furthermore, I would dare to guess that most of us haven’t quite “kept up with it”. Me? Guilty as charged.

Brush those guilty feelings aside (better yet—just compost them) and let’s make fun the first goal of creating your Garden Dream Book. What is a dream book? Well, it’s a conglomeration of all sorts of materials that encapsulate your dream for your garden. It will include lots of data, but other things too. This will be a fantastic way to keep track of your garden and your plans from year to year, but it’s also a goal setting process that will help you to tackle and achieve some of those “dreams” you hope for in your future garden.

Think of any of these suggestions as a cafeteria plan—you can pick and choose what you’d like to select and leave any of the uninspiring behind.

Data to keep track of:

When—you sowed seed, it sprouted/germinated/emerged in the spring, you transplanted it, you moved it outside to harden off, you direct sowed seed, it blossomed/fruited, you harvested.

Where you—bought it, planted it.

What—it cost (and any guarantees that might have come with the plants), kind of fertilizers/pesticides were applied and to which plants.

How well— it fruited, you liked a particular variety (or not).

Did it have—issues with pests/diseases.

Weather—frost dates, general rainfall and temperatures as well as extremes (drenching rains, strong winds, and hailstorms.

General observations and daily activites.

Other Items to Add to the Mix

Empty seed packets, plant tags from plants you have purchased.

Pictures of everything: weather, animal damage, fantastic combinations, dreary or lackluster plantings, plants that might need dividing this coming spring (basically anything and everything).

Graphed out designs of planting beds—or drawn free hand, sketches and drawings of ideas and dreams, and general doodles.

Wish lists and plans: to include things that you will buy or make (wind chimes, plants, hammock, nifty wren houses, homemade copper trellis), hardscaping hopes (a new patio, a front porch addition, a garden pond or rock garden).

Detailed information: articles and picture clippings from magazines for details and inspiration, reference materials, hand-outs from lectures and how-to classes, book lists.

Wildlife Wows: notations on wildlife visits.

Inspirational thoughts, quotes, poems or stories.

Websites and blogs you like.

Recipes that you hope to try when the harvests start rolling in from your garden.

Pulling it all Together

My dad was an accountant by trade and he documented the “numbers’ of everything in his landscape during the entire year: 286 dandelions pulled, 127 onion plants planted, 492 scoops of snow shoveled, etc. And he just jotted these items down on a simple wall calendar; typically one that was a freebie from the local hardware store.

This kind of documentation can be very helpful—just a simple note (first frost/late frost, drenching rains, droughts, invasions of nefarious insects and such) can help you to trigger cause and effect scenarios on the plant life in your garden.
Once again, it’s best if you pick and choose what will be the most fun for you—‘cause then you are apt to stick with it.

Garden Journals: There are plenty of cute/lovely/sturdy notebooks to jot all kinds of notes into.
Consider starting your own blog—a great place to jot down data and creative ideas and thoughts.
Choose a nice sized sketch book for your drawings and doodles—it even makes you feel more creative and artistic to draw on “good” paper.

By all means, get a digital camera if you don’t already own one—pictures are simple to delete, download and print out.

A large bulletin board can be a good grouping site for many of the above materials. It’s in your face, prompting and inspiring you to keep making additions. Even a plastic box can corral lots of the above material until you have time (maybe in the wintery months?) to organize it all.

Perhaps the best solution—and not even high-tech, is to use a simple three-ring binder. Most of the above materials can have holes punched into them for easy addition to the book. Pocket dividers help to group things in sensible categories. Envelopes or plastic sleeves/sheet protectors will keep small things like seed packets, labels and receipts handy.

Whichever method or methods you decide to adopt, I can guarantee that whatever progress you make on garden documentation, it will keep you in smiles during a dull gray winter day as you reflect back through your gardening year. And it just might give you the extra push to register for a class to make that copper trellis you’ve always wanted… Hmmm, stay posted for details regarding this copper trellis class being offered at Cantigny in 2011!

Start Thinking Fall? Now?

2010-07-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, the days are getting shorter. Boo-hoo! And it’s hard to imagine cooler days and evenings when our temperatures are soaring into the ninety degree range. But it’s time that you bust out the bin you store all your seeds in and take a peek and see what’s in there. If you’re giving me that empty look right now, I’ll take that to mean, “What seed bin? I was supposed to have a seed bin?”

Well, it’s that “inventory” of seeds that you just didn’t get to plant earlier in the spring, or maybe you just didn’t need all the seed and have a few remnants left in the package. But if you don’t have any kind of inventory—not to worry—you just might be able to pick up a few selections at the box stores or a local nursery—they don’t want to store any leftover seed and you’ll probably get them at a bargain price too. If you really have your heart set on a very particular variety you still have a bit of time to place an order online through your favorite seed catalog.

Bonus: most of the items that you will be starting for fall harvest can be sown directly outside (no need for a greenhouse or cold frame or any of that jazz) ‘cause soil and air temperatures are plenty warm enough right now.

Where will you put them? How are your current crops looking? Is there something out there that is looking a bit tragic? Have a heart and put it out of its misery—yank it out. Be it a water-logged area of annuals, an over-the-hill veggie planting, or an out of sorts container, use that prime real estate for a new and improved crop. Do a bit of cultivating in the area; add in a bit of compost if you’ve got it. Rake the soil nice and even and then you’re ready to sow.

You will need to be more diligent with your watering techniques at this time of year than in the cooler and wetter season of spring. When those new little seedlings poke out they are quite vulnerable to those blazing sun rays beating down on them. Be prepared to possibly even water twice a day during hot, sunny and windy conditions. Be gentle with the hose spray though, you don’t want to dash them right out of the ground with a forceful jet of water.

So, what can you plant? Think short term; since our days are getting shorter there is less time for some plants to mature (like eggplant, peppers and tomatoes). Look to varieties that will mature within about two to two and half months—around the end of September or mid-October at the latest, so 60-75 days.

Sow your bush beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, kale, Swiss chard, turnips right away and in a few weeks start sowing lettuce and lettuce mixes and well as spinach and radishes. Once those colorful and textural lettuce mixes start filling in they make the waning summer/fast approaching fall a bit easier to tolerate.

It's the American Idol of the Garden World

2010-07-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

If you spin into the Idea Garden from our south entrance (just off the shady path from the First Division Museum), you’ll find a trio of circles bursting with blooms. Within those three circles are the entries for this year’s American Garden Award. They are bright with color and three of the four varieties often have a grouping of butterflies performing a tango atop them.

The American Garden Award competition is in its second year. Numerous plant nominees were submitted to the judges by various breeders. The AGA judges selected four varieties to compete to become this year’s national winner. And you, the gardening public, get to vote on who you think the winner should be. Eighteen sites nationwide, of which Cantigny is one, are displaying the four nominees. And just like the famed television program, there are several ways that your vote can be counted:

1. You can phone in your top favorite, or...
2. You can text in your top favorite, or…
3. You can vote on the website: www.americangardenaward.org or….
4. Lastly, unlike the television program, you can mail in a postcard.

Our spiffy mailbox, which contains the postcards,was hand painted by one of our horticulture volunteers, Gladys Johnston.

The four nominees this year are: Echinacea ‘Prairie Fire’, Ornamental Pepper Purple Flash, Rudbeckia ‘Denver Daisy’, and Zinna ‘Profusion Knee-High Red’. Please note that all the pictures within this blog were taken at Cantigny.

Instructional sign that also identifies each variety.

Echinacea 'Prairie Splendor'™ was Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner in 2007. And no wonder—at 24” it is shorter than most Echinacea, but blooms its little heart out from June through the first frost. The only entry in the group that is a perennial and blooms its first year from seed.

Echinacea purpurea 'Prairie Splendor'

As is typical for ornamental peppers, their fruit is fiery hot, but you’ll want to grow this exotic plant for its striking black leaves that have “flashes” of purple, green and white. Ornamental Pepper ‘Purple Flash’ looks great in container plantings as well as a bedding plant. While short of stature (10-13”) it packs quite a punch in the “looks” category and is drought tolerant as well.

Ornamental Pepper 'Purple Flash'

Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’ was selected by the city of Denver for their 150-year anniversary beautification project. This tall plant (18-20”) has large (4-6”) non-stop gold flowers with an inner concentric band of russet. You’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with this black-eyed susan annual plant.

Rudbeckia hirta 'Denver Daisy'

Zinnia ‘Profusion Knee High Red’ The Profusion series is well-known for its tolerance of heat and humidity, but ‘Red’ is a bit taller (16-24”) than its siblings. This red-blooming hybrid is nice as a cut flower and is drought tolerant too.

Zinnia hybrida 'Profusion Knee-High Red'

And the winner of the next American Garden Award is……to be announced in September. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite!

There's a New Tour in Town!

2010-07-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

Over the years we have offered a variety of garden tours…morning tours with horticulture staff responsible for a particular area, volunteer docent tours, and the always popular evening tours with wine and light refreshments. Recently, we’ve added a different kind of tour—one that’s available to you whenever and wherever you may be… Over the Fourth of July weekend we added the Cantigny Park Audio Tour.

It’s a nifty interactive tour that can take the visitor a bit behind the scenes on various hot spots throughout gardens and around our Visitors Center and two museums. Signs are posted with a phone number to dial to connect to Cantigny’s Cell Audio Tour—then a “stop” number is provided to focus in on the area in front of you, when you’re at the park, or you can refer back to a tidbit of information from a remote location (like home) by dialing the same numbers.

Okay, how ‘bout an example…so, you’re out and about on our grounds and you spy a sign that asks an intriguing question—like, “Who is Cantigny’s oldest resident?“. Dial up the number: 630-315-2588 and press the stop number as directed on the sign (19) and presto-chango, you’ll be getting some interesting facts about that topic!

Did you know that Cantigny once had an airport for Colonel McCormick’s private airplane? Do you know what makes the Chicago Peace Rose unique to Cantigny? You can choose to stop and listen or….maybe you already know how to attract butterflies to your garden—well, yes you do if you’ve been following this blog at all….then you can simply by-pass that stop. If you were on human-guided tour you’d have to bide your time on a subject you’re already well versed in. And one of the coolest parts about this tour is that you can dial it up whenever you’re ready and interested.

There’s a new tour in town and it’s custom-made and personalized to your preferences. A tour with a different perspective: you pick/you choose. A sort of cafeteria plan of tours... Bon Appétit!

A Recipe to Entice Floating Tapestries to Your Garden Part 2

2010-06-29T13:27:00.001-07:00

Today: Did you know that today is the anniversary of the Interstate Highway System’s birth? Yep, June 29, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill providing 33.5 million dollars for highway construction. It also happens to be the biggest public works program in history. Be it a bane or blessing to you—those are the facts. And what does that have to do with gardening? Well. Nothing actually—just thought it might be an interesting factoid to banter about at the dinner table tonight.

Attracting Floating Tapestries—Part 2

Greetings Earthling! Beautiful and a very important pollinator too!

Okay, so we covered providing a sunny, sheltered site with lots of host plants for the caterpillars and nectar-producing plants for the butterflies in our Part 1 post. What else do you need? The rest of this stuff is all bonus for our butterfly friends…

FACT—There are about 700 species found in North America and about 100 in Illinois.

"Do you like my hat? Butterfly not included." All of the pictures in this post (with the exception of Mr. Caterpillar) are compliments of Jim Frazier--one of Cantigny's Volunteer Photographers...Thanks Jim!

Ingredient number 5: provide a “Puddling” spot. What the heck is that you may ask? Well, butterflies need to access moisture by extracting it—but not from open water. You might have seen them gathering on a dirt or gravel road in a damp area where they are sipping up minerals and water. This is called puddling. So to mimic this you can use a shallow container or bury a bucket to the rim and fill with sand and gravel. You can then pour in various liquids depending on the time of the year. Water is fine at anytime of the year but, if you want to get really fancy you can add sweet drinks, or stale beer. Yumm-oh! One of their personal favorites is overripe fruit! Rotting bananas and grapes are especially attractive for early spring fliers as well as honey, molasses or syrup—these can be smeared on a rock or fence post. Maybe you’ve seen this in action at a butterfly conservatory, eh?

FACT: Most butterflies live 10-20 days. Some as short as 3-4, others such as overwintering Monarchs, can live 6 months.

Another plus to attract butterflies is to back off on your use of chemicals in your yard. Limited or no chemical use is ingredient number 6 and very important to our little friends. Use mulch instead of weed killer. Prune out a diseased branch instead of spraying. Swab soapy water on nefarious insects instead of using insecticides. Or, just have some tolerance for a bit of imperfection in your garden. The butterflies will smile in your honor. Also, if you have ever used Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) as a “safe” means to control caterpillars, don’t forget that butterflies in their larval stage are caterpillars too!

Swallowtail caterpillar on bronze fennel--photo compliments of Jack Bannister

FACT: Their proboscis (like a tongue) is like a double straw!

One more ingredient and you’re pretty well set—try to water at ground level (soaker hoses are helpful here). Sprinklers can wash eggs, pollen and caterpillars off of plants. It also limits the amount of time butterflies have to “get to” the flowers.

FACT: Butterflies “feet” or tarsi, have a sense of taste similar to a taste bud; when they come in contact with nectar, their proboscis uncoils.

Hawkmoth--sometimes people confuse this creature with a hummingbird--but he's much slower AND he's got antennae!

Combine all of your ingredients together. Add in a healthy dose of patience. Serves: Monarchs, Black and Tiger Swallowtails, Admirals, Viceroys, Morning Cloaks, Painted Ladies and Frittilaries. A very nice complementary addition to this recipe is a great butterfly identification book from your local library.

Monarch on Butterfly Bush

Enjoy with kids—yours or someone else’s. It’s a good way to get them interested in gardening period. Let them create and care for their own butterfly container garden. Raising caterpillars can be educational and fun too. The butterflies emerge from the chrysalis and can be released back into your own yard. See resources below.

www.monarchwatch.org
www.butterfliesandmoths.org
www.naba.org North American Butterfly Association
www.chias.org Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL

Went to a Garden Party

2010-06-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Asiatic Lily

Hemerocallis

After a stormy (yet another one) morning, the weather quickly changed into its “party clothes” and was properly turned out as a splendid summer afternoon. This past Sunday I went to a garden party at one of our horticulture volunteer’s private gardens and all the pictures you’ll see within this posting are from that garden.

Digitalis ferruginea 'Kirk Island'

Redbud 'Forest Pansy'

As you might imagine, there is a bit of stigma when you volunteer in the lovely gardens of Cantigny and then you invite people to come to your home garden. The hostess was initially in a bit of a tizzy at the thought of fellow volunteers and staffers coming to her house to critique her personal endeavors. But after a bit of pondering, she righted herself and decided, correctly, that her garden was a reflection of her—both her foibles and strengths are mirrored within her flower beds and borders. But my thought was, “We love her, why wouldn’t we love her garden?”

Acanthus mollis Bear's Britches

Stachys hummelo

Look at that nice color-mirroring in the flower and the stems of the sedum, mmmmm.

Ahhhh..very refreshing!

We all applauded her successes and thought her garden lovely with plentiful shade on a balmy summer day. We had mighty tasty things to eat and a glass of wine, or two. What’s not to like about spending a pleasant afternoon/evening with fellow gardeners/friends under those conditions? Our hostess was relaxed and, as just as she realized, we too should “learn our lessons well” and not stress over whether our container or flower bed designs are “right” or not…think of the lyrics to the above song….

"I learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."

You truly only have to please yourself when designing. If you’re happy with the colors, the heights, the textures…that’s plenty good enough.

Not only did she grow this cool cardoon plant....

BUT, she's also a good composter too!

A Recipe to Entice Floating Tapestries to Your Garden Part 1

2010-06-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

It usually happens on a sunny calm day in early summer. You straighten up from your perennial bent-over-position from pulling weeds (or planting, or moving what you have around to another spot, or, yeah, more weeding) to catch your breath, and you see one. A butterfly floating and gliding across your garden...and you think how can I “get” more of those floating tapestries to come through my yard?

Whether you have a large garden bed or only have space for a container (or several), you can entice butterflies to make a stop at a habitat you’ve provided for them. To create this butterfly area you’ll need to fulfill the ingredients list—a recipe to encourage butterflies to make a stop. They have their own agenda; you’re just trying to coax them to linger longer.

Swallowtail on Agastache (Photo by Lauren Fox)

Ingredient number one is a sunny, sunny, sunshiny area. A protected south or west-facing area is ideal. A nice addition, and one they would really appreciate, is a nice flat rock to sunbathe on—the colorful scales on their wings act kind of like solar panels. They need body temperatures of 85-100 ̊ just to fly and a flat rock will really help them come up to temperature on cooler mornings.

Fritillary on Zinnia (Photo by Lauren Fox)

Placing your butterfly garden in a sheltered area will satisfy ingredient number two. Butterflies don’t want to expend the energy fighting the wind. Try to use fencing or trees and shrubs to cut down on the heavy breezes for them; evergreens are especially helpful.

Tiger Swallowtail on Verbena bonariensis (Photo by Lauren Fox)

Are you squeamish about caterpillars? Don’t be! If you want to have butterflies—you’ve got to have caterpillars first. And if you provide food for the caterpillars (ingredient number three) and give them what they like to eat (host plants) you’ll increase your chances of attracting more butterflies! Think of caterpillars as the teenagers of the butterfly life cycle—they live to eat, and eat, and eat. Fact: a caterpillar can increase its body size more than 30,000 times from the time it hatches (from an egg) until it pupates (forms its chrysalis). Amazing, huh?

Some caterpillars will feed only on one particular host plant (Monarch caterpillars only feed on milkweed plants) and some will feed on a variety of host plants. Here are some top favorite host plants: Asclepias/milkweed (P), Asters, (P), Carrots (A), Dill (A), Fennel (A), Grasses (P &A), Hollyhock (B), Parsley (B), Queen Ann’s Lace (B), Thistle (P & A), violets (P)….A= Annual, P = Perennial, B = Biennial. Some trees are great host plants as well as good hibernation sites: Ash, Birch, Elms, Hackberry, Poplar, Tuliptree, and Willow.

Bronze Fennel and Verbena bonariensis (Photo by Jack Bannister)

Now for the nectar producers that butterflies love and crave. They do prefer flowers that are fragrant, colorful to them (purples, pinks, reds, yellow and orange) and the nectar should be accessible to them: flat landing pads (like daisy, sunflower and yarrow) or short-tubed flowers (liatris, zinnia). Here are some of their favorites: Ageratum (A), Alyssum (A), Butterfly bush and Butterfly weed (P), Calendula (A), Cetranthus ruber (Red Valerian), Cosmos (A), Coreopsis (P), Edhinacea (P), Heliotrope (A), Joe-Pye weed (P), Lantana (A), Liatris (P), Marigold (A), Milkweed (P), Mints (P), Pentas, (A), Phlox (P), Rudbeckia (P), Yarrow (P), Zinnia single-petaled (A). As well as these trees and shrubs : Buckeye, Caryopteris clandonensis (Bluebeard), Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet), fruit trees, Kolkwitzia amabilis (Beauty bush), Lilac, Lindera, Spirea, Sumac, and Viburnum carlesii.

Close up of Liatris (Photo by Jack Bannister)

Leucanthemum daisy 'Becky' (Photo by Jack Bannister)

Yarrow (Photo by Jack Bannister)

Try to plan your plantings in a dense cluster or grouping; butterflies are more attracted to the mass as opposed to individual plants.

So far you’ve got a great start on compiling all your ingredients. I’ve got a few more tips to add to the pot, but let’s leave it to stew in its juices for another day.

A Garden will Tell a Story

2010-06-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

A garden will tell a story. And you will get a different story depending on how much time you care to spend “hearing” it. If you only have a bit of time a story may describe the color of a flower, the height and spread of a tree, or an impression on the grass where the kids had laid to look up at the clouds. And that in itself can be a pleasing story. But….if you take a little more time to really observe, to really examine a garden you will hear a whole different story.

If you were to look closely at one plant, a rose, for instance, you might notice that the sun and shade patterns are playing a little game of tag across the whole rose garden. You might become fascinated by how the last few raindrops on the petals remind you of seed pearls adding just the right touch of embellishment. Then, an industrious honeybee stops long enough to do his crazy little dance in the center of the rose, whirling about the stamens picking up a few pollen grains before he sambas off. You might focus on the color—the pink on the petals have that same crushed velvet color as the dress you wore to prom. Which, in turn, might draw you to a memory even further back, back when you were younger still…You close your eyes, and inhale deeply smelling that berry-licious fragrance, and it settles somewhere deep inside you of a time (not really so long ago) of you as a young child sitting in your grandma’s garden.

Gardens will do that to people. We are fascinated with the wildlife that visits, the unlimited colors and textures, the peace and tranquility and heady aromas that create memories in the young and refresh memories in the not so young.

The Gardens at Cantigny are over 40 years old—and still growing, evolving and changing. We can learn a lot by stopping to really look with an observant eye. A garden encompasses all those things that we are drawn to from a craving deep within us: earth, wind, sun, rain, wildlife and plant life.

With this blog, I hope to inspire your innate creativity with plants and the landscape they’re in as well as cultivating the desire within you to become a better grower of plants. Education via tips and examples will bridge the gap to get you where you hope to be as a gardening soul.

I hope you’ll join me as we go for a walk through the gardens. I’ll tell a few stories and I hope you will too!

Thanks For Your Patience

2010-06-21T20:52:00.001-07:00

I will be posting soon, so in the meantime, please email topics you are interested in learning about to lomura@cantigny.org and I will try to cover them here.

I look forward to sharing my tips, ideas and tools with you and I am excited for you to be inspired, educated and cultivated.
Liz