Mike says “We plant flowers the old fashioned way – We urn them”…
Cousin It came to the garden walk at the Olsen’s…
A guaranteed way to kill the slug…
Is this what they meant when they said “A bird in the pot is worth two in the bush?”…
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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.
“Digging through the shed so deep, 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.
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. 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! 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.
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. 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. 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.
But what about when his To Do list looks like this one: • Replace broken window (and patch bullet holes in wall) 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!!!
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. 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. In gardening, the key is planting the right plant in the right place. That seems simple enough. It seems like common sense. It must be what I’ve been doing all these years. Not so much. When we planted our forsythias some 15 years ago, I didn’t know that it wasn’t the right place for tall shrubs. Our forsythias insist on doing what forsythias do – they want to be taller than me. I have to trim them several times a year to be the right size, and in the process I cut off the early spring blooms. Lots of work, no blooms, and less than attractive results.
In my quest for low maintenance gardening, it was time for the forsythias to go. I’m not sure who it was more painful for, them or me. Judging by the picture below, I’m going to have to guess them, or maybe Mike. He was tasked with removing two of the three forsythias. Maybe next year we can bear to let the last one go.
I do have a list of low maintenance shrubs I could replace them with. I got it from Heather at Bertholds earlier this year. When I needed that list for my Low Maintenance Gardening presentation, I knew exactly who to turn to. Heather knows what she is talking about, and I can trust her to give me good advice. Here is her list of favorite low maintenance shrubs: Forsythia Gold Tide – Dwarf type stays compact, feathery-edge foliage. Nice burgundy fall color giving multi-season interest. Deutzia Gracilis – Loads of white bell-like clusters of flowers over entire shrub in late spring, also has really nice burgundy fall color. Hydrangea Twist-n-Shout – Lacecap hydrangea flowers pink or blue depending upon pH. Very hardy and another nice semi-shade plant. Magnolia Ann – Dwarf magnolia for those who love magnolias but don’t have room for a large tree. Beautiful deep pink/fuchsia flowers. Spirea Tor – Does not look like typical spirea! White flowers, rich grey-green birch-like leaves turn orange, red & purple in fall. Only 2-3′ high & wide. So which am I going to get? Probably none. Heather and I have talked about a tree, and I haven’t quite found one large enough to give us light filtered shade and be only 20 – 30 feet tall. I want the tree in, and I want it in now. But I’m not going to do that. I eventually will find the right plant for the right place. Just not today. Sometimes you change a word in a saying and it is still absolutely perfect. I agree with
I also agree with
It’s easy to pass wisteria by at the garden center when you know it will be many years before it blooms. It’s not easy to pass it by at Morton. It’s darn near impossible. Between the fragrance and the flowers, it was a people magnet this weekend.
Our wisteria is rather sad. Actually, our wisteria gets credit for just being alive. When Daisy gave us a piece from her yard, we temporarily put it in the vegetable garden. We knew it didn’t belong there, but we planned to find a place for it in the sun, a place with a strong support. The operative word is ‘planned’, as that is about all we ever did. Mike finally tried to move it years later, but it had quite the tap root. He dug out as much as he could and transplanted it. That part died. The tap root refuses to give up and this year it got its first bloom.
Apparently it can bloom with limited sun. Ours is in a rather shaded area, and we are not going to try moving it again. Speaking about something that is worth the wait…how about this cutie. I bet she was worth the wait too. Do you want to know what else is blooming in the May 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. Looking for a dahlia or plant club sale this weekend? Here ya go: Elk Grove Garden Club Plant Sale Central States Dahlia Society Plant Sale There was a time when my zinnia bed looked like this:
But I also really wanted River Birch trees. The Birch won, and the zinnia bed became the home for 3 trees. I love the bark and we really needed some trees in our yard. But, oh, those zinnias. I could not get them out of my head. So here we go again. Mike made me a new zinnia bed, and it will soon be filled with State Fair zinnias, which we can look at while sitting under the birch you see in the background. I accept no substitutes. Really, I don’t!
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