Well Pardon this Gardener for being a posting slacker but I went on a family vacation to the Western Slope of Colorado to see some family.  While we were there we took a day trip into Utah to Arches National Monument.  This picture is from a hike we took.  It was my first trip to the Western Slope, Utah & Arches.  The scenery was simply breathtakingly beautiful.

My family took Amtrak out to Colorado & that was quite an adventure.  We got to see all kinds of neat things from the train.  We saw tons of deer, a black bear, a coyote, Kingfishers, Great Blue & Little Blue Heron, Magpies, Hummingbirds and more.  It was quite the scenic trip.

We also got to see firsthand how crisp everything is from Illinois to Colorado.  There were some areas where the corn & soy crops looked to be doing well & others that we so brown & crisp that farmers were plowing the fields under already.

We went into the mountains to see some wildflowers but it was so dry that they weren't in bloom much to my great disappointment.  The trip to Ouray to the hot spings made up for it though.  My body has felt that good in 20 years.

While I was away the temperatures here at home in the Chicago burbs were in the upper 90's to 100 plus degrees.  I am very grateful to my neighbor that undertook the arduous( it takes over 3 hours to water my gardens) task of watering my garden for me.  I was happy to see that only a few plants withered a bit from the extreme temps while I was away.  My Convallaria majalis along the sides of the drive got a little crisp as did my Geranium macrorhizum but I am pushing both of their sun tolerances anyway so I wasn't really surprised to see them a little singed.

I hope your gardens are surviving this heat wave.  Water if you can & water deep.  I take the nozzle off the hose and water at the base of each plant until it puddles & then I come back & hit again.  Water if you can or you will most definitely lose plants in this heat.

Good luck & happy gardening!

Well I went home to Lake Bluff for the 4th of July.  It was the hottest 4th ever.  The temperature at 11 am was 100 degrees.  It got up to 104 yesterday. 

While I was home I took a tour of the gardens that My brother Matt & I have helped put in at the family homestead.  We've been working in those gardens for over 35 years now.  I was very happy to see that The Mighty Clem was still alive & in bloom despite the drought & heat wave.   The Mighty Clem is as old as I am. Which makes her a spry 42 yrs old.   I just wanted to share the a photo of her.  42 years old for any perennial is quite an accomplishment.  For one that was planted in the backyard of a home that raised 5 children & hosted as my Mom says, " a cast of thousands" over the years, that is no small feat.  So here's to you Mighty Clem.  I hope you and I both make it another 42 years or more!

Good Morning!  I really I am trying to remember to post her on my actual blog & not just facebook!

I have been up watering my garden in preparation for the end of the week heat wave.  We are suppose to hit mid 90's today & 100's going into the weekend.

I am the only person in my neighborhood watering & it shows.  My house looks like a an oasis in a sea of brown lawns & crisp gardens.   

Well Pardon this gardener for being such a blog slacker!  I really do keep forgetting I have a blog.  All the new media makes it hard to keep up.  First it was Facebook, then google +, then Pinterest & tumblr.   I can't keep up with it all.  I am going to ry to remember to post my blogs more frequently.  Try is the operative word in that sentence.

This year's VERY early Spring has the garden completely out of whack.  My mid Summer perennials are all blooming now or budding up & it's only June 25th.  My coneflowers, bee balm, globe thistle, verbena bonariensis( from seed) are all in bloom.  Normally they don't even bud up until the 4th of July!

We are also experiencing some drought.  Here in Chicago we were dry going into the Fall & then we had little to no snow over the Winter.  Spring started early in March & hot hitting temperatures in the upper 80's.  We have had very little rain yet.  Spring was dry & Summer is starting out dry.
 I of course water on my days to water, but we really need some rain.  The neighborhood is slowly turning brown one lawn & crisped garden at a time...and it's not even July.    Here's a picture of my back border.  I have added a phone booth to the bed.  This phone booth use to be in my parent's basement growing up, now it's in my garden.

I forgot I even had a blog

Ya know, I damn near forgot I had a blog.  I have retired from active garden duty and have been enjoying being a retired gardener & stay at home Mom.   I have been enjoying focusing on my own garden for the first time.  I put a lovely red phone booth in my  back perennial border last Summer just for fun.  I also let my daughter plant pumpkins in the back border last year.  Holy pumpkin attack.  The pumpkins were very happy in the back border.  The spread across 50 feet of the back garden went over the fence into all of my neighbor's gardens.  I am lucky my neighbor's enjoyed the bright orange blossoms because they were outta control!  I will look for some pictures of the pumpkins & phone booth to share.  Now that I am retired maybe I will remember to blog more!

Gardening & Garden Blogging

Well pardon this Gardener for falling off the radar!  It has been a very busy Summer and it looks like it is going to be an early Fall.

This Summer was one for the record books.  Seemingly endless rain during Spring and the early part of Summer had every insect & plant disease I have ever seen and a few new ones too, out in gardens in force!  Then it got hot as hell and because we had so much rain early,a lot of people didn't water enough during the heat and as a result,at least in my area, is that a lot of the trees are going straight to brown and crunchy with no Fall color.   Needless to say these conditions made for a very busy Summer for yours truly.  When I get that busy something has to give and in this case it was my blogging.  Edie-my daughter-is just more important than giving garden advice and blogging.  I will try to keep up with the blog as we enter the Fall. 

Now is the time to divide and move your perennials to make room for more Spring bulbs in your garden.  That's right, it's time for bulbs!!!!!!!!!  Get out your catalogs!

Good Luck & Happy Gardening!!!!

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!