Rock & Roll

Well Pardon this Gardener I have been slacking on my Blog posts!!!  I have started posting perennials with Rock & Roll song titles as their cultivar names on My Gardener's Facebook page and I have neglected to do so here...ooops!  So let me catch ya up.  The first picture at left is of Polemonium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven'  plant it in morning sun or shade and get ready to get the Led out!

The next picture is of  Hosta x. 'Dark Star'.  Deadheads will go with the Grateful Dead's song by that name.  CSN fans will go with CSN's version I am sure.

The third picture is of Geranium pratense 'Midnight Reiter' an Allman Brother's favorite.

Check at your local garden center for availability.  Good Luck and Happy Gardening!

lush!

Holy lushness Batman! And no I am not referring to my 4th of July weekend drinking.....

A warm April followed by two months of  rain have gardens all over Chicago looking like we live in Seatle!  Perennials are well ahead of their normal bloom times here.  Bee Balm( Monarda didyma spp.) is already bloomed out!  Bee Balm doesn't typically start blooming here UNTIL the4th of July!  I also have some hardy mums that are getting ready to bloom.  I did not stutter, you read that correctly...I have mums getting ready to bloom in my garden in July!!!!

A growing season like this is a true rarity here in Chicago, so enjoy it!  Sharpen up your pruners and keep cutting back your perennials after they bloom and before they set seed and you will enjoy another round of flowers this Summer courtesy of Mother Nature. 

Remember to keep an eye on your containers and your bedding plants in this heat!  Things dry out faster than most people realize when it's this hot.  Keep an eye out for Powdery Mildew & Leaf Mold as well as the Japanese Beetles that have recently emerged in force!  Here's a page from my playbook.  Buy a pump sprayer at your local hardware store and put in a mix of Ortho systemic insect killer and Ortho Rose Pride.  It will help protect your plants from both the insect infestations and the powdery mildew and black spot!!!!!

Good Luck & Happy Gardening!

I'm baaaack!

Good Morning!  I took a small hiatus from blogging.  As you can see from the picture I posted, I almost pruned my finger right off!  I took seven stitches!!!  Thankfully I didn't get my fingernail!

And thankfully,the rain seems to be behind us.  Here in Chicago it was the wettest June in 113 years!!!  Damn Skippy it was!  Now that the rain has stopped, it is a good time to get into your garden and cut back hard on your perennials that have grown to bionic proportions with all the rain.  Cut them back to the ground and let them flush back out. You will get what amounts to a second season out of your perennials.  My Celadine Poppies( Sylophorum diphyllum) have bloomed twice already!  My Spiderwort( Traadescantai spp.) are ready to do the same.

Remember my friends, that despite a months worth of record setting rain, you need to monitor your garden for when to water. People with more sun and Southern & Western exposures will need to water this weekend when it heats up.  I have been in more than a few gardens this week that are already bone dry believe it or not!  Shade gardens will be slower to dry out in general, UNLESS there are large trees.  The trees take a lot of the water and you may find your shade garden to be drier than it should be.  So keep your eyes open for watering needs. 

Good Luck & Happy Gardening!!!!!