The Daily Gardener

Have you ever intuited the name of a plant?   A few years ago, I traveled to San Diego. I was sitting on a bench outside the hotel and I spied the most amazing blossom - three bright orange petals and three blue petals - it looked like the head of a bird.   My mind latched onto "bird of paradise," I looked it up on my phone and sure enough, it was just that.

Take two gardeners.   They grow up learning to garden from the same person.   They read the same books on gardening.   They go to the same gardening workshops.   They tour the same public gardens.   Yet, their gardens will look different from each other. Unique. Gardens are art. They are personal. Remember that the next time you are trying to copy the look of another garden. The difference isn't just topographical... When it comes to your garden: yes, consider microclimates, plant varietie

May 8, 2019 Plant Problems, the US Botanic Garden, Emil Christian Hansen, Paul Kremer, Veggie by Orbitec, Sir David Attenborough, Chris Woods, Gardenlust, Angelica archangelica, and a 1912 Recipe for Rhubarb Pudding

Deep dives.   Gardeners love to fall in love with particular plants.   We can fall so hard, that we tune out other possibilities for our gardens.   Then, in a fascinating twist, our deep dives can suddenly stop.   As is often the case, those deep dives can be followed by a pivot.   I started out as a shrub gardener. Then, I made a pivot to annuals and ornamentals and had nary a shrub in my garden.   Then I was anti-annual.   Then I moved into herbs and edibles.   Now I'm a little bit

We are on the cusp of continuous warm nights.   Warm soil temps will take a few more weeks.   Recently, I had a gardener ask me about their hearty hibiscus that was planted last year.  They were worried it wasn't coming back; they didn't see any sign of life yet.   In Minnesota, gardeners often start to freak out a bit if they don't see signs of life during these first sunny days in May.

Today is National Garden Meditation Day.   Forget about your troubles   Go to the garden (if you're not there already).   Feel the breeze or the sprinkles.   Smell the rain.   Look at all the signs of life around you... all the shades of green emerging from the ground.   Listen to the sound of spring.   Garden time is restorative and resetting.   Use #GardenMeditationDay today when you post on social media.

Ah May... the Month of Plant Sales.   When I started gardening, I would Plant Sale away my Saturdays in May with my dear friend Judy.   We would plan our way to a successful sale day, waking up while it was still dark out.   Then we'd arrive at the church or the building where the sale was to be held, we'd set up our lawn chairs at the door, and we'd pat ourselves on the back for being first and second in line. Then, we'd wait another hour or two for the doors to open...

Happy May Day! Today, the tradition in France is to give a sprig of Lily of the Valley to loved ones.   Originally from Japan, Lily of the Valley has long been considered lucky. It's sweet scent, belies it's high toxicity.   Other names for Lily of the Valley include May Bells, Our Lady's Tears, and Mary's Tears. The French name, muguet, is a diminutive form mugue or muguete and means “musk”.

I realize you are very excited to get going in your own garden. But don't forget to schedule some time this spring to visit other gardens. The gardens of friends, neighbors, or public gardens can provide you with inspiration and teach you something new - even when you didn't think you'd learn anything. #BTW This entire week, April 27-May 4, is Historic Garden Week at Monticello ("MontiCHELLo”) in Virginia . If you visit today, April 30, you can learn more about their flower and...  

Merriam-Webster gives the following synonyms for perennial;   abiding, enduring, perpetual, undying   Those terms can give gardeners unrealistic expectations for perennials; They're not eternal. They will eventually part ways with your garden. But, for as long as they can, your perennials will make a go of it. Returning to the garden after their season of dieback and rest. Ready to grow; ready for you to see them (and love them) all over again.

How close are your earliest bloomers to your front door?   Your crocus, snowdrops, iris, daffodils, tulips, forsythia, daphnes, and magnolias.   When I redid my front garden last year, the designer had put all my earliest bloomers right near the front porch and walk.  When I asked her reasoning, she reminded me of our long winters. Her advice was spot on: When spring finally arrives, it's much more pleasurable to have those earliest blooms where you can see them first thing

Today I learned how botanists used to say "hello" to each other.   In the 1800's and 1900's, a common way for botanists to introduce themselves, often from the other side of the world, was to send each other plant specimens as the foundation for developing a relationship.   When it comes to friendship, plants are icebreakers, communicators, and binding ties all rolled into one.

I recently had a gardener ask me about the first herb I'd ever grown.   That would be chives.   Chives, like many herbs, are so easy to grow. Plus, you get the cute purple puffball blossoms.   I had a chef friend show me how she liked to cut off the flower. Then, she snipped a little triangle off of the bottom where the bloom comes together (like cutting paper to make a snowflake). By doing this, you basically get "chive-fetti" and you can easily sprinkle the little chive blossom over salads or...

There's a soldier's prayer that goes,   "Stay with me, God. The night is dark, The night is cold: my little spark Of courage dies. The night is long; Be with me, God, and make me strong.   Dark. Cold. Long.   It's easy to get so excited about the first nice days of Spring.   "It was 80 degrees today!"   "It's going to be above 70 all next week!"   Well, hold your horses. You're forgetting about those nights. Remember?

Children's book writer and illustrator Tasha Tudor (Books by this author) once said,   It's exciting to see things coming up again, plants that you've had for 20 or 30 years. It's like seeing an old friend. This made me think of the old saying;   Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.   Perennials are old friends. Gold friends. They are the best kind of garden friends.   They may not be as flashy or exciting as the gardener's silver friends; annuals...