Rusty patched bumble bees and renovating your lawn for natives


Wed. Jan. 15, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Rusty patched bumble bees and renovating your lawn for natives

 I’ve talked about the Rusty patched bumble bee before but it bears repeating! RPB bee, as I’m calling him, has declined by 87 percent in the last 20 years. The species is likely to be present in only 0.1% of its historical range.

There are many potential reasons for RPB bee decline including habitat loss, intensive farming, disease, pesticide use and climate change. With the odds seemingly stacked  … [Continue reading]

Dwarf trout lilies


Tue. Jan. 14, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Dwarf trout lilies

I had the opportunity to walk in the Big Woods State Park in Nerstrand, MN.

While there, a friend who is Ole’s dad, lives in the area showed us the roped off areas were to protect the Minnesota dwarf trout lily, an endangered species.

Now, the regular trout lily is all through those woods and it’s lovely, it’s also not endangered, but the little fellas are!  The Minnesota dwarf trout lily (Erythronium propullans) is  … [Continue reading]

2020 Perennial of the Year


Mon. Jan. 13, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: 2020 Perennial of the Year

 Drumroll please! This year’s perennial plant of the year is Aralia ‘Sun King’. And I happen to have one! It has a tropical look, but it’s a fast-growing perennial that’s hardy to USDA Zone 3 and grows to about 3 feet high and wide.

 ‘Sun King’ emerges in mid-spring with bright gold leaves held on contrasting reddish-brown stems.

 

If given at least a few hours of sun a day, the foliage will  … [Continue reading]

New meaning to Winter Blues with Pantone’s 2020 color of the year… Blue!


Fri. Jan. 10, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: New meaning to Winter Blues with Pantone’s 2020 color of the year… Blue!

With the announcement of Classic Blue, the 2020 Pantone Color of the Year, I thought I’d share some hardy blue perennials for our cool climate!  Amsonia ‘Storm Cloud’ is a low-maintenance shrub-like delight that grows to about 36 inches tall and about 40 inches wide.

The stems poke out of the soil almost black!

The leaves are a sort of olive green while the periwinkle  … [Continue reading]

Scale – it’s a living thing


Thu. Jan. 9, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Scale – it’s a living thing

That term seems odd to me for a living creature but there it is sucking the life right out of your houseplants. Scale-damaged plants look withered and sickly. Leaves turn yellow and may drop from the plant.

If left, they will kill it and move on to your other plants nearby.  These little nasties also secrete a sticky substance called honeydew that attracts black fungus called sooty mold.

Young scale insects crawl  … [Continue reading]

Why should you bathe your leaves?


Wed. Jan. 8, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Why should you bathe your leaves?

Uh, you might want to give that plant a bath. I’m not saying that there’s an odor, but… no, seriously, that crusty layer of dust is pretty thick… Teri. Yes, speaking to myself!

Periodically cleaning the leaves of your houseplants is actually less work than letting it go until a year down the road the sun shines in at just the right angle and you think, oh man, the air-cleaning machine is  … [Continue reading]

Oh boy! It’s plant catalog season


Tue. Jan. 7, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Oh boy! it’s plant catalog season

I love getting my new year plant catalogs and browsing on a snowy, or right now, rainy, Sunday morning!

There are so many cool new choices from Jung Seed Company and Burpee. Right on the front page of Jung is a tease of a berry called “Boreal Beast Honeyberry”. How could I NOT check this out. This is a lonicera but it’s not like my honeysuckle vine. It’s a shrub. I  … [Continue reading]

Greening up with gardening


Fri. Jan. 3, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Greening up with gardening

I have a saying “The garden is no place to stress for success but to soak up some sun and renew your spirit”.  I really do feel this way.  Not only does gardening relieve stress but it gives us a wonderful opportunity for fresh air, some exercise and fresh produce.  I love the feel of soil in my hands, the thrill of harvesting that first juicy tomato.  I pop that in my mouth without  … [Continue reading]

Clearing the air


Thu. Jan. 2, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Clearing the Air

The aromas of holiday cooking still linger in our minds and perhaps in the drapes too if we’ve burned anything!  Not that I would know about that! But in case I did, I know a way to “clear the air”.

Plants!  Decades ago NASA, yes the THAT NASA, proved plants could remove volatile chemicals from the air Including formaldehyde which is found in, or used to produce, a multitude of everyday products, from fabrics and  … [Continue reading]