By Carol Cichorski, on July 15th, 2012 You may remember that I just had to have my zinnia garden back. I had one before and it was a beauty. This year’s bed will rival that one. It’s huge. 82 State Fair zinnias are bound to take up a fair piece of real estate.
My niece Kathryn gave me a funny look when I said this was a low maintenance area.
Look at it this way:
- Mike dug out the area – a one time job.
- We planted the zinnias – one time a year job.
- Billy and George mulched – no work at all for me.
- Weeds – the occasional weed lifts right out.
- Watering – I set the sprinkler up weekly.
I was thrilled by the thumbs up from God when I walked outside one morning and He was pointing a sliver of morning sun on the first zinnia.
They are already blooming nicely and it will only get better. State Fair zinnias get 3-4 feet tall and blossom and blossom and blossom. Mine are spaced far enough apart to get air circulation so they are unlikely to have a serious mildew problem.
Do you want to know what else is blooming in the July garden? To see what other bloggers have blooming on the 15th of every month, visit May Dreams Gardens – Bloom Day for our Garden Bloggers’ Bloom day entries.
By Carol Cichorski, on July 5th, 2012  I welcome you to ‘Zone 5 Favorites on the 5th’. I post on the 5th of every month, redirecting visitors to a favorite posting relative to zone 5. My apologies for using the word ‘Favorites’ in a title where I also used the words ‘Japanese Beetles’. Japanese Beetles are far from my favorites. What we are talking about here is favorite postings.
There is a Buddhist proverb that says “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Today’s blog was much like that with “When the writer is ready, the subject will appear.”
Unfortunately, what appeared is Japanese Beetles.
Case in point: To the right, you see a bloom on my Easy Does It Rose. Below, you see other blooms on the same bush at the same time. Very sad.
When the beetles rose their ugly heads on my roses, a topic for today was hatched as well. Its not the first time we’ve had to deal with Japanese Beetles, so I just happened to have last year’s posting on Beating the Japanese Beetle in the wings. You’ll see that we resorted to chemical warfare, a rarity in our garden. We pretty much share our garden with God’s other creatures, right down to the field mice that scurry around. We draw the line at the weapon of mass destruction known as a Japanese Beetle.
I wanted to share some other options as well, so I did a little more research, and came up with alternatives from other bloggers.
May you find a solution you can live with, and that the beetles can’t!
I’ve invited other zone 5 bloggers to join me for Zone 5 – Favorites on the 5th. If that’s you, please leave a comment so everyone will know you are part of the gang.
If you are a reader hungry for zone 5 sustenance, please follow the blogger’s links to feed upon their favorite postings.
By Carol Cichorski, on July 4th, 2012 Aint he just the cutest! Happy 4th of July everyone.
By Carol Cichorski, on June 30th, 2012
By Carol Cichorski, on June 23rd, 2012  What’s not to love? Lucille’s potting shed is a gardener’s dream come true. I walked in and was smitten.
Mike was worried before I even walked in. If you’ve seen our barn, it doesn’t look like this, and now Mike will live with fear in his heart that someday it will. He already lies awake at night worrying that I might wallpaper the landscape trailer.
This is the place where form and function meet. Sure, she really does store the tools of the trade here, but she does it with such style. Look how nicely she has stored her garden tools – such a smart use of a shoe bag.
 You don’t want to see what my collection of tools looks like. Really, you don’t. Oh, OK, you can look at them in Fingers Numb. Our shed inspired me to write this earlier this year:
“Digging through the shed so deep,
my gardening tools buried in the heap.
But out they came and so did I.
A joyous day oh my oh my!”
Lucille’s shed inspires quite differently. She posts those little sayings you come across that tend to get thrown in a drawer.
Same for cards. You know, the really great cards that you get and they too get thrown in a drawer.
Not to mention what Mike calls dinky-doinkies; the cute little collections that you don’t have because you don’t have a place to put them. Lucille does.
She does have the required collection of pots, but somehow they are not so painful to look at.
Let’s go back to my original question ‘What’s not to love?’ We’ll have to leave that unanswered, as I simply could not find anything in this shed that was not to love.
By Carol Cichorski, on June 15th, 2012  It was one of those times when our garden was experiencing a lull. The spring flowers were bloomed out and the summer flowers had not yet stepped up to the plate. Our yard was very green. Lovely, but just green.
Then we got hit right between the eyes with John and Lucky’s garden. Asiatic lilies blooming everywhere. Amazing.
Time for a quest! Mike conquered our green garden by adding Asiatic lilies as well. We had a few, as my niece’s son Kyle sold plants for a school fundraiser once. But now…well now…we have this. Asiatic lilies blooming everywhere. ‘Amazing’ has come to our garden.
Do you want to know what else is blooming in the June garden? To see what other bloggers have blooming on the 15th of every month, visit May Dreams Gardens – Bloom Day for our Garden Bloggers’ Bloom day entries.
By Carol Cichorski, on June 11th, 2012 My shade garden shines in the spring. After that, not so much. Till now! In just 3 easy steps, it went from bland to beautiful.
Step 1 – I left it looking like this while I went garage sale-ing.
Step 2 – Insert chair from garage sale.
Step 3 – Add container from garage sale with plants.
All better!
By Carol Cichorski, on June 5th, 2012 I welcome you to ‘Zone 5 Favorites on the 5th’. I’ve started posting on the 5th of every month, redirecting visitors to a favorite posting relative to zone 5.
This month, we are talking vegetables. Not growing them, though that would tie in nicely with a garden blog. Peeling them. Yep, peeling vegetables. We do that in zone 5 as well.
 We are going to travel outside of the blogosphere to the strange and wonderful world of YouTube. Speaking of travel, do you remember Gilligan’s Island? Yep, the series from way back in the 60s? Stretch your memory to envision the girl next door, Mary Ann. Her real name is Dawn Wells, and she has a video on peeling potatoes. Yep, peeling potatoes. Perhaps she knows something you don’t. Let’s take a look at her potato video.
Dawn Wells Potato Peeling Video
An interesting tidbit: In 2005, Dawn consigned for sale her original gingham blouse and shorts ensemble from her signature role. A Beverly Hills auction house, Profiles in History, sold it for $20,700.
Then there’s Ken. He has a video on shucking corn. Yep, shucking corn. I don’t think he is famous, or has sold any ensembles for $20,700. Still, he may know something you don’t. Let’s take a look.
Shucking Corn with Ken Video
I’ve invited other zone 5 bloggers to join me for Zone 5 – Favorites on the 5th. If that’s you, please leave a comment so everyone will know you are part of the gang.
If you are a reader hungry for zone 5 sustenance, please follow the blogger’s links to feed upon their favorite postings.
By Carol Cichorski, on May 31st, 2012 There are some areas of my yard that refuse to participate in my low maintenance gardening efforts. Some of them are worth the effort, and I gladly (usually) do what needs to be done to get results like this.
Pretty impressive, huh? I think so too. It will look different in a week for the Elk Grove Garden Club walk, but equally impressive I’m sure.
 Still, there are tasks that are just overwhelming, like edging and mulching. I can usually get daunting tasks off my list in one word – that word being ‘Mike’. When I want low maintenance gardening, it often requires nothing more than putting something on Mike’s To Do list. This makes him the sexiest man alive.
But what about when his To Do list looks like this one:
• Replace broken window (and patch bullet holes in wall)
• Deskunk the dog
• Rabbits are gone, now how about the coyotes
• Talk to next door neighbor about walking around his yard naked
• Remove cousin Clement and family from spare bedroom
• Indoor plumbing would be nice
• What is that smell in the basement?
• Finish the addition (not likely)
Ok, so his To Do list isn’t quite that bad, but somehow edging and mulching have traditionally been mine. Lots of edging. Lots. And lots of mulching. Lots. He goes to Bertholds for a landscape trailer full of mulch. I empty it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Not this year!!!
Enter Bill, and his friend George. (Sorry, I’ve only got a picture of Bill.) They come with the strength and endurance of 15 year olds. Because that is what they are. 15 year olds anxious to make some money. 15 year olds just a bit too young to get a job at the grocery store. 15 year olds who are helping me. Woohoo!
We are moving along in the edging and mulching process. I use the word ‘we’ very loosely as I mostly act as the drill sergeant. Everything is falling into place, and I’m so glad I called in the troops.
By Carol Cichorski, on May 26th, 2012 I’m continuing my quest for a large garden with less maintenance. Parts of my garden are low maintenance, parts are heading in the right direction, and other parts are worth the work. I’ll also continue sharing what I learn, so come back for more.
I recently posted a low maintenance shrub list from Heather at Berthold’s Garden Center. You may be wondering if she has a list of low maintenance perennials as well. Yes! Here it is:
Coreopsis Creme Brulee – Heather’s bloomed from end of May until frost without deadheading.
Salvia Blue Hill – Doesn’t get as tall as other salvias, LONG bloom time. Does flop by end of season but in Heather’s garden there are other plants around it to support it.
Dicentra Candy Hearts – Everblooming dwarf bleeding heart.
Echinacea Pica Bella – More compact, better manageable size for smaller gardens.
Heuchera Beaujolais – Nice, burgundy/chocolate leaves–good combo with Japanese painted fern in shady garden.
Rudbeckia Viette’s Little Suzy – Excellent disease resistance, cleaner plant that old Goldsturm variety, long bloom time & bright vibrant gold color.
Dianthus Dragon Fruit – Not only long bloom time but also double pink, spicy scented flowers. Blue green foliage also looks nice all season. Small plant, easy to use anywhere.
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