Jolly Green Giant
For those of you who live in Minnesota but secretly wish you resided in the tropics, there is a plant that can help you live out your fantasy, at least visually.
Prairie Rose
There can be a letdown in spring after the glorious clouds of the crabapple blooms have faded. Do not despair though; just as French, Korean, and Japanese lilacs extend lilac season, “Prairie Rose” extends crabapple season by blooming substantially later than other crabs.
The Grass Isn’t Always Greener
As mid-summer accelerates into autumn, one of my favorite grasses really starts to shine.
Star Tribune: Pergola on steroids allows year-round outdoor living in Lake Elmo
A porch in Lake Elmo is transformed into a year-round family gathering spot with a flexible indoor-outdoor room for all seasons.
Perennial Petunia
Today’s Plant of the Week is seldom used but always adored when making its ephemeral blooms burst on the scene in June and persist through the summer.
Soaring in the Garden
Birds bring many benefits to a garden or landscape and are a great joy to watch. Many birds eat unwanted insects, such as mosquitoes and aphids, making them wonderful for pest control. They can also help as pollinators for people with edible gardens and landscapes.
A Midsummer’s Pop of Color
Allium sphaerocephalon, commonly called round-headed leek or drumstick allium, provides a unique and timely explosion of color that punctuates the garden come Fourth of July.
Gold Rush Gamble
Dawn redwoods have a spotty record in Minnesota. Some specimens die their first year, others persist until succumbing to our cold winters, and yet others keep reaching skyward year after year
Silver Fox
For those gardeners who love ground covers but want more variety in their color scheme, consider this diminutive cousin of fern leaf tansy, Tanacetum densum ssp. amani.
Growing Cocktails
Tomatoes, cucumbers, rosemary, and basil are staples to a great vegetable and herb garden, providing fresh produce straight to your table. Whether you enjoy canning or cooking with your bounty, gardeners across the land cannot deny the benefits to growing your own food. Now, gardening isn’t a walk in the park. They need a lot of care and attention and I for one am a firm believer in rewarding oneself for hard work. My rewards usually tend to lean towards the adult beverage variety and being a gardener myself I feel like there is no reason why you cannot “spice” up (pun intended) your repertoire by using herbs and vegetables of your own with your favorite cocktails. There are limitless concoctions out there, my personal favorite being The Infused Bloody Mary. To infuse your own vodka for Bloody Marys you simply take fresh garlic, cilantro and jalapenos from your garden, add in your favorite vodka and seal it in a glass container to steep for a few days. Adding this infused vodka to any Bloody Mary mix or V8 or your very own freshly squeezed tomato juice will truly make your experience one of a kind.
