Cup plant – Silphium perfoliatum


Tue. Sep. 13, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Cup plant – Silphium perfoliatum

The City I live in has a 6 mile bike/walking trail that is just lovely. This time of year these large plants light up the scenery with cheery yellow flowers.

Cup plants are native to prairies and open meadows throughout most of the U.S. 

These plants grow anywhere from 3 to 12 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. So if you’re considering planting them in your landscape, keep that in mind. They  … [Continue reading]

Tree planting in Fall


Mon. Sep. 12, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Tree planting in Fall

Fall is a great time to plant trees.

I’ve seen LOTS of newly planted trees in my neighborhood with those green bags around them. They’re a good idea if you can’t be consistent in your watering practices.

During the first 2 weeks of planting, watering every day is critical.

And a schedule continues from there up till frost. Check this past Garden Bite for more information on a watering schedule. And while you’re  … [Continue reading]

Fall allergies and monarch migration


Fri. Sep. 9, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Fall allergies and monarch migration

Tis the allergy season.

Ragweed, often confused with Golden Rod, is blooming now.

Elm and something called chenopods are in the medium range right now.  Chenopod is a type of weed like amaranth, lambs quarters and pigweed.

Late blooming perennials are peaking right now and the bees and butterflies are ALL over them. I’ll take the sniffles if I can have some Painted Lady butterflies!  They’re on my sedums and chives I let  … [Continue reading]

Fall plant picks – perennials & trees 2022


Thu. Sep. 8, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Fall plant picks – perennials & trees 2022

As we work our way into Fall there are some plants that we all associate with that time of year. I talked about some Fall picks last week, in particular, mums – the annual kind and the hardy mums!  But what about native perennials and trees too?

Sky Blue Aster is a true native plant with a sturdy growth habit of around 3 feet tall.

For 2022, there are  … [Continue reading]

Fall lawn care


Wed. Sep. 7, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Fall lawn care

Fall lawn care includes several to-do’s

Dethatching, aerating, reseeding and/or fertilizing. As you know, I’m not much on lawns, BUT, I know many folks still are. So this Garden Bite is for you.

Thatch is that brownish looking layer of dead tissue between the green grass and the soil.

 

If left alone, thatch can eventually kill your lawn.

Renting a mechanical dethatcher, also called a power rake, is the best and easiest way to  … [Continue reading]

Jumping worm update 2022


Tue. Sep. 6, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Jumping worm update 2022

I first talked about jumping worms in 2020 after the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources sent out an urgent message. It’s 2022 and they continue to jump their way into our gardens, destroying the soil. A friend of mine in St. Paul said she just doesn’t bother now, the destruction is that bad! YIKES! (photo below is someone else’s garden in St. Paul from a Star Tribune article from 2021)

Jumping worms, first known

 … [Continue reading]

Labor Day 2022


Mon. Sep. 5, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Labor Day 2022

 Happy Labor day 2022.

Today we pay tribute to the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

That, according to the Department of Labor. 

As for worker plants, well, let me tell you who to salute and, possibly select, for your own gardens.

As most of you know, topping MY list are native grasses. I have many but the next two are the latest planted! 

Perennial Butterfly  … [Continue reading]

Allium for the win!


Fri. Sep. 2, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Allium for the win!

Allium are members of the onion family and as such, they are not a preferred snack for deer and rabbits!

Their flowers are mostly in the round pom-pom form, but they can be star-shaped, cup-shaped, semi-circular, or pendulous. Their color can be white, yellow, pink, purple or blue. Heights vary as do bloom times. 

Best grown in full sun, they will tolerate some light shade. They are also drought tolerant, something MY area could  … [Continue reading]

Adaptive gardening 2022


Thu. Sep. 1, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Adaptive gardening 2022

I had hip replacement surgery in October of 2021. I highly recommend it! The gardening season last year was quite painful. But I’m back, only in a slightly different way. I use some of the Adaptive gardening methods I point out today.  

Gardeners don’t retire, we adapt!

I’ve talked before on enabling gardens, today is about adapting our way of gardening to match our abilities as we get older, since what we could do  … [Continue reading]

Annuals for Fall


Wed. Aug. 31, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Annuals for Fall

Flowering kale, grass, millet and mums! A perennial for good measure

Fall flowers thrive in cooler temperatures with blooms that sometimes last well after the first frost.

There are two kinds of mums for those of us in cold climates. Annuals and perennials hardy to zone 4. The University of Minnesota came out with the Mammoth mum series. They’re lovely. There is also a zone 5 hardy mum, that series is named Igloo. Be  … [Continue reading]