This is not your typical kitchen because the homeowners are not your typical family. Start with mom and dad and seven kids. Then add a steady flow of foster children and being on call to provide county-licensed crisis nursery care. These gold-hearted parents needed reliable construction scheduling and super…
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The holidays are upon us and our elves are gearing up for the season! Here is a comprehensive guide to our holiday decoration process.
Just like Santa, outdoor appliances need to get ready for the winter. Here is a guide as to properly winterize your appliance.
August and September usher in a different, subtler kind of beauty in Minnesota. In perfect synchronization with that change, Pennisetum “Little Bunny” is an ornamental grass that starts to shine as its inflorescences fill out into full, perky seedheads that catch the dew in the morning and dance gaily in the breeze. This little gem reaches about 18″ high by 18″ wide and prefers well-drained but not dry soil in a sunny or mostly sunny location.
For those who love the heady fragrance of hyacinths in the spring but aren’t a big fan of their Thomas Kincaid-ian look, Spanish bluebells are a wonderful alternative.
Bulb planting season is an opportunity to bury treasure, humble brown bulbs and corms that guard their glory through the silent winter cold. One particularly exciting bit of treasure is this stunning onion, Allium schubertii.
For decades the University of Minnesota has been a leading breeder of cold hardy ornamental trees and shrubs. The University of Minnesota released this stunning red azalea in 2015. Fully hardy to -30 degrees, “Electric Lights Red” forms a 4-5′ upright mounding plant in full sun to part shade that bursts into bloom in late
Largely unknown in Minnesota, Persian ironwood is widely used in zone 5 and above as a boulevard tree because of its handsome habit, durability in wind and snow, longevity, and tolerance of salt and pollution.
The weather can be glorious in late summer but the garden can start to look tired this time of year if not properly planned and planted. But as the daylilies start to look emaciated, this humble stunner bursts on the scene. Standing just 12″ tall, Aconitum cammarum “Blue Lagoon” is a potent way to reinvigorate your garden’s color in time for the start of school. Those with dogs or culinarily intrepid children should we warned that this plant, like all monkshoods, is toxic if consumed. But for those who refrain from eating it can glory in its beauty for much of the fall. Grows well in sun to half shade and is deer resistant.
There are so many hostas in the marketplace, many of them only slightly different form eachother, that it’s easy to lose track. “Waterslide” is unique enough to be memorable. Resembling a smaller, silver-edged Krossa Regal with stupendously wavy intense blue leaves, this is a dramatic introduction. Reaches 18″ tall by 30″ wide. Not widely available yet but slowly matriculating through the hosta specialty nurseries.
