Valentine’s Day history


Thu. Feb. 14, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Valentine’s Day history

Uh… today is Valentine’s Day!  Just a reminder in case you would like to make an impression on a loved one… today would be a good day for that!

So when and where did this tradition start?  It’s actually a bit convoluted and somewhat mysterious.  There are a LOT of versions! 

There were 3 Christian martyrs all named Valentine and in 500 AD, Pope Gelasius created St. Valentines Day to commemorate the martyrs.  At that  … [Continue reading]

Foliage plants that sparkle


Tue. Feb. 12, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Foliage plants that sparkle

Under layers of winter, I’m thinking of my gardens.  

As I do, I ask you, have you ever looked out at your garden in the waning days between Spring and Summer, Summer and Fall and thought, man, my garden looks pooped?

Sparkle it up with foliage plants.  I’ve talked about this before, but as we start planning our gardens, it’s a good time to bring it up! 

These foliage plants are workhorses of a  … [Continue reading]

What’s that blue stuff in the snow?


Mon. Feb. 11, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  What’s that blue stuff in the snow?

In 2008, I lived on 5 acres in Lakeville, MN.  While wandering through our woods, I discovered smurf blue stains in the snow!

Since the property had been deigned a “farm dump”, we lovingly cleaned it up.

But after spotting that blue stain, we thought “oh no, there’s a bubblin’ crude but it ain’t oil!  What the heck is it?”. It’s not like we went out there to spit out our  … [Continue reading]

Companion planting


Fri. Feb. 8, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Companion planting

Gazing out at a winter wonderland, I’m making soup using herbs from last year, specifically oregano!  They are a wonderful family of plants.

They offer fragrance, taste, medicinal properties and they repel some pests.  While not always substantiated by University based information, there are a number of books and articles, as well as old gardeners around that swear by the use of herbs and companion planting.  

So this isn’t “necessarily” scientific, however, I know plenty of  … [Continue reading]

The Year of the Dahlia


Thu. Feb. 7, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  The Year of the Dahlia

The National Garden Bureau chooses an annual, a tuber, a perennial and a vegetable each year to highlight.  For tubers, 2019 is the year of the Dahlia.

These are beautiful plants and we can appreciate their beauty as an annual in our northern gardens.  The National Flower of Mexico, the Dahlia, is the genetic source for the modern hybrid dahlias grown today.  And there are some beauties.

Dahlias are related to the sunflower,  … [Continue reading]

Out of the Polar Vortex with hopes of Spring with my first seed order!


Wed. Feb. 6, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Out of the Polar Vortex with hopes of Spring with my first seed order!

My phone read -33 degrees F last week…  Air temperature… not a mistake…

So, today it’s about willing Spring to come with my first seed order!!!!

 There’s a new petunia called ‘Spellbound Dark Purple’.   The flowers are huge at 4 to 6 inches in shades of dark purple. There’s a flurry of whirling dense blooms with dark centers that look hand-painted, and frilly  … [Continue reading]

Milkweed Heaven


Tue. Feb. 5, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  Milkweed Heaven

Milkweed.  THE monarch butterfly magnet!

But it’s not just the common milkweed.  There are, in fact, several options. I’ll get to those.   Karen Oberhauser, Director of the University of Wisconsin- Madison Arboretum, says part of the massive decline of the monarch is weather related.  Early, warm springs tend to be associated with low monarch numbers. She says that may be due to the mismatch in the timing of milkweed availability. Habitat loss, is the number one  … [Continue reading]

A change of climate for gardening too


Mon. Feb. 4, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  A change of climate for gardening too

As we talk climate change in the midst of our polar vortex with temperatures that even closed bars in Wisconsin and shut down the US Postal Service,  there’s a change of climate in the gardening world.

I talked last week about the dying trees in a MN State Park, how other areas are measuring changes.  Anecdotally, climate change is changing the way we see trees and the planting of them.

Greg  … [Continue reading]

The Grapes of Cold


Fri. Feb. 1, 2019

Click below to listen to my  2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  The Grapes of Cold

At least in MY lifetime, the thought of vineyards in the North matching anything in Napa was unthinkable!   But here we are and the Grapes of Cold exist and so do the wines!

Just to show you the proliferation of wineries, this tour has been set up through MN, WI and IA!  Here’s the description and link.  The Great River Road follows the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. We think  … [Continue reading]

The Great American Lawn and Climate Change


Thu. Jan. 31, 2019

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show:  The Great American Lawn and Climate Change

I have good news, lazy lawn folk rejoice, letting your lawn have weeds, mowing less and not bothering with all those loud, gas-powered machines to keep it manicured will help reduce climate change!  Say WHAT? Even though grass sequesters carbon dioxide, the leading human-generated greenhouse gas, tending to your lawn through mowing, irrigating, and fertilizing creates a lot more greenhouse gases.  

Most of the carbon footprint of an urban lawn comes  … [Continue reading]