Let the Countdown Begin!

According to the Farmer's Almanac for 2011, we are only 75 days from our average last frost for the season. Seventy-five days may sound like a lot, in fact it sounds like a lifetime when you look out your window to a white blanket of snow. But when you think about it, seventy-five days ago we were getting ready for the great Halloween Haunt. So, we're half way there, if not a bit more.

In 30 days it will be Valentine's Day (plug Panache Floral!!!!). We will all have had our fill of winter and get terribly grumpy because it is inevitable that we will get another crazy Minnesota Blizzard.

In 60 days it will be the middle of March and most of the snow will start to create mud pits in our yards and puddles in our roads. The first signs of life will emerge in our garden beds and the grass will think about turning green again. From there we're only a couple of weeks to every Minnesotan's version of freedom. Spring! A little bit of hope will soar from all of our hearts. We will smile at eachother sincerely and put our cranky winter selves into storage.

March, inevitably will feel like the longest month of our lives (at least since last year). But we won't fret too much. We're kind of a crazy bunch, us Minnesotans. Our first above freezing day we will all be out in T-shirts and shorts. Flip flops will replace our Sorel's and we will no longer let our cars run for thirty minutes before we even think about going anywhere. Our fire pits will be lit and our cabins opened up for the season.

It really is the best time of year in Minnesota. Dads everywhere are airing up bike tires. Joggers hit the streets instead of the treadmills. Boats get polished and Fishing Licenses bought. Everywhere you go, people are trading in their grumpy winter attitude for their happy spring attitude. Life just doesn't get any better than Spring Thaw in Minnesota!

Dirt Therapy for Me!

So, I've been a little cranky the last couple days. It's snowy, cold and we still have a good 70 days to go before we really hit a good "meltage" possibility. Not only that, but I've already screwed up my garden resolution. Sorry, just wasn't in the mood to blog yesterday. But I'm making up for it today.

If you don't already know, our 1914 home has a HUGE dungeon basement. there are four rooms, basically in the dungeon. But it has a concrete floor, old rock walls and a lot of spider webs. Every fall I clean out all the spiderwebs, sweep up all the rubble and flip on the grow lights! It's my way of surviving Minnesota winter!

I've got some little seeds germinating down there. I've got some tropicals. I've got some annuals that I saved from last summer. I've got it all. Including about 10 jars of water with clippings of different plants rooting. I love plants that root in water!

I've spent so much time on line marketing Heather's Garden and doing research on everything entrepreneur, that I just needed a break. So I set into my dungeon and started splitting and repotting and watering and reorganizing!  After two hours I've emerged, a whole new person. The dirt under my nails alone makes it feel like summer (as long as I don't look outside)!

I realize that most normal people don't thrive covered in dirt like I do. My friend Angel challenges herself to a Wii dance off. I have a friend that knits and crotchets, a friend that paints and a friend that simply organizes pictures of her daughter. My son makes a life size creation or invention out of stuff around the house. My other son finds some way to be smarter than the computer geniuses out there. There's always something that can turn your mood from down-in-the-dumps to party-mode.

What's yours???

Winter Blues Therapy

As I continue to market Heather's Garden I get antsier and antsier. And for those of you who know me well, you know that that is not necessarily a good thing. My basement is full of seedlings, cuttings and little peat pods with germinating seeds. I decided that if I'm struggling with the winter blues, I must not be alone. So how about a little dream time for all of us.....simply pictures of beautiful gardens.

Happy Dreaming!

It seems like we will never get to summer, but we always do! Hang in there you tough Minnesotans!

More Tidbits

I love tidbit posts. It gives me an excuse to page through my hundreds of gardening books and pull out the best of the best. Or at least the most interesting! Most of these are from Jerry Baker's Old-Time Gardening Wisdom.

You can make wine from dandelions! For FIVE GALLONS you only need 12 pounds of sugar, four diced oranges, four diced lemons, four gallons of water, 4 gallons of dandelion flowers and one ounce of bakers yeast. ~ Dandelion wine doesn't sound terribly appealing to me, personally, but apparently it's an old time recipe of Jerry Baker's Grandma Putt. If you want to try it feel free to come over and gather dandelions in the spring before the lawn care man shows up!!!

Milkweed saves lives! During World War II they stuffed milkweed into Navy life preservers and Army/Air Force flight jackets. Who knew??

Lightning greens up your garden! During a thunderstorm the electrical charges in the atmosphere turn oxygen into nitrogen feeding the plants. Use metal objects in and around your gardens to super charge your plants during a storm!

A bar of Irish Spring Soap keeps slugs off your hostas! This one is not Grandma Putts remedy, but one I learned from Mary Butler. Chop bars of Irish Spring soap into cubes and place the cubes under your hostas. Slugs hate the smell. I know a lot of people that drown slugs in beer in their gardens, but I like the smell of Irish Spring better!

Yarrow, Chamomile and Dill could help save your garden from pests! These three common garden plants attract lacewings, lady beetles, and parasitic wasps into your garden to feed on the destructive bugs.

Do you have any tricks to share??

Forcing Spring Bulbs

If you have bulbs that should have been planted in the fall, but never got around to it you can still enjoy tulips, daffodils, crocus, muscari and many other spring bulbs. The best part is you can enjoy them before they would have bloomed in your garden!

Tricking spring blooming bulbs is fairly simple. Store them in a cool, dark place. The temperature should average about 35 - 40 degrees, which should be the temperature of your refrigerator. You certainly can chill them in your refrigerator, just make sure that you do not place the bulbs near your fruits and vegetables. A seperate drawer is best.

Your spring bulbs should be chilled from 8-15 weeks depending on type. Better Homes and Gardens suggests the following chilling periods:

• Daffodils: 12-15 weeks of chilling; 2-3 weeks to bloom after chilling.
• Tulips: 10-16 weeks of chilling; 2-3 weeks to bloom after chilling.
• Crocus: 8-15 weeks of chilling; 2-3 weeks to bloom after chilling.
• Grape hyacinth (Muscari): 8-15 weeks of chilling; 2-3 weeks to bloom after chilling.
• Iris reticulata: 13-15 weeks of chilling; 2-3 weeks to bloom after chilling.
• Snowdrop (Galanthus): 15 weeks of chilling; 2 weeks to bloom after chilling.
• Hyacinth: 12-15 weeks of chilling; 2-3 weeks to bloom after chilling.

Make sure the pot or container you choose has adequate drainage so that the roots and bulbs don't rot before you get to enjoy your blooms. Fill your container about three-quarters full with potting soil and moisten. If you have bone meal or bulb fertilizer to add, the transition of your bulbs to the garden may go better than without.

Place bulbs "tip" up into potting soil and press firmly. Make sure that the bulbs are not touching eachother or the edge of the pot. Add enough potting soil on top of the bulbs so that the tip just barely pokes out.

Once your bulbs start to sprout you can move them into a sunnier and warmer location. The ideal temperature should be about 65 degrees at this point. Once your flowers start to bud, you can put them in more indirect sunlight to make them last longer.

Enjoy your early spring!

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Have you been frustrated trying to keep kitchen scraps for compost and ending up with either a wretched stink or fruit flies? Try using a freezer bag (or a few....) and keeping your veggie and fruit scraps for your compost pile in the freezer until you're ready to dump them. No stink. No fruit flies!

Earthworms are the kings of compost piles. They turn all the "trimmings" into the ultimate plant food. If you're finding that you don't have quite enough big fat earthworms in your pile, just add shredded cardboard to your compost. They love to rest in the shredded cardboard after a filling meal. 

Shred leaves for compost with your basic yard tools. Shredders are expensive. But if you have a garbage can that you use for cleaning up leaves and other garden waste, simply stick your weed wacker in it to shred it. Googles or sunglasses are a good idea while doing this. It will either decompose more quickly in your compost pile or you can spread it on your garden after fall clean up to decompose over the winter.

Mulch on the cheap! Check with your city to see what the heck they do with all the fallen branches and trees that they clean up on city properties. Many times you can get it for free. Some cities may even deliver it!

Use native plants for a thriving, easy to grow garden! I recently posted on both Minnesota Wild Flowers in Danger and Easy to Grow Plants for Northern Gardeners. While it will be difficult to find the threatened plant species, the more prominant native species will make gardening a breeze. Here in Minnesota, choose Cone Flowers, Coreospis, Daisies, Black Eyed Susans, Bee Balm, Lilacs and Day Lillies. If you need more suggestions for an easily maintained northern garden, I have plenty!!

Better, bushier annuals grown at home! If you start your own annuals from seed at home, snip the first bud before it blooms (I know it's hard). They will go into panic mode and produce more shoots with more buds than they would have. Annuals live to propegate (produce seed), so they will work very hard to do so~!


More to come!

Credit: Gardener to Gardner: The Best Hints and Techinques from the Pages of Organic Gardening Magazine

I Love My Yard Because.....

I'm looking for a little info!  Tell me why you love your yard. Or what you don't love.Or tell me about the yard you wish you had! Imagine we don't have 20 below windchills and a shit ton of snow on the ground! Dream summer with me!

I hate that this garden is gone!
But I love that I get to redo it!

My Garden Resolutions for 2011

I have to admit that I stole this idea from the Garden Rant Ladies. If you have not checked out their blog at http://www.gardenrant.com/, I highly suggest you do, their blog is very fun!

My top 10 Garden Resolutions for 2011? I honestly hadn't thought about it until I read their blog.

But, in no particular order, here's what I will accompish in my gardening life this year:

1. I will build and run a successful gardening business! I will find the contacts, master the marketing and make every garden I touch look great! I will treat my clients gardens as my own and make sure that they are so proud of their gardens that the want to brag about them to everyone they know.

2. I will master the Master Garden Course and become an important part of the Steele County Master Gardners. I will listen to and learn from those more knowledgeable than I am.

3. I won't try to harden off my young plants to early! Every year I say this, and every year I kill off plants trying to make Mother Nature do things when I'm ready instead of when she's ready. I never win. And I admit that I never will!

4. I will fix the disaster that taking down that 200 year old Elm that I recently blogged about created in our yard. I will turn the stump into an eye-catching centerpiece.

5. I will NOT add any more gardens to my own yard with the exception of replacing the one that had to be moved to take the tree down. I think 12 is quite enough!

6. I will plant and harvest more vegetables. The vegetable garden will not be the neglected garden.

7. I will not plant too many pumkins. But I really love growing pumpkins! If I could only find or create a variety or two that did not take over the entire yard! Ok, they don't take over the entire yard, but they far exceed the area they were meant for!

8. I will share more cut flowers from my gardens with my friends and neighbors. There's nothing like the joy in Miss Shirley's eyes when my son Cole brings her a vase full of flowers.

9. I will meet the lady in town with her entire yard covered in gardens. She's been working on redoing them. I'm sure that she's been gardening for years. After all, it had to take years to create the yard that she has and I'm sure that she knows a lot of interesting things that I don't!

10. And, darn it, I will blog every day that it is possible so that my fellow garden freaks can learn what I know and I can learn from them! No matter how tired, lazy or just plain stumped on an idea I am!

What are your gardening resolutions?? Please, please, please make comments and ask questions! And pretty please with sugar....Pass it on!

Chamomile

Chamomile

I decided to try to grow Chamomile this year. It's currently germinating very well in it's cute little peat pods. Since I've never grown it before I thought maybe I should learn a little bit about it!

There are both perennial and annual varieties of Chamomile. The perennial variety is heary in Zones 3-5. Chamomile is a part of the daisy family and is easily grown from seed. Chamomile prefers full sun and boasts dainty, sweet smelling daisy like flowers. Since it only grows twelve to twenty inches tall it is a perfect addition to container gardens.

Morning is the best time to harvest Chamomile, just after the buds have opened and once they are dry after morning dew. Simply pinch off the flower heads and place in a dry, dark, hot place to dry.

Though there haven't been very many studies on the actual effect of Chamomile, it's well known for it's use in tea as a sleep aid and to reduce stress. It is also said to help with tooth aches, stomach aches and help your immune system. German Chamomile and Roman Chamomile are most commonly used for medicinal purpses.

For Chamomile recipes, visit http://oldfashionedliving.com/chamomile.html.

Source links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamomile
http://gardenersnet.com/herbs/camomile.htm
http://oldfashionedliving.com/chamomile.html

Crazy Plant Names

Paging through seed and plant catalogues, you'll commonly find plants with names that you can't pronounce. They are derived from Latin or Greek or whatever whatever. As more and more plant varieties are created and introduced someone needs to come up with more and more names. Most plant common plant names refer to the color of the blooms or the foliage. Some, on the other hand, come from out of the blue. I suppose if you look at the plant in just a certain way or you're high they might make sense.

I'll give you my interpretation, and I would love to hear yours:

False Forget Me Not (Brunnera) - It's like an 8 year old trying to be clever. Forget me - NOT, oh wait, that was false, which means the whole thing is true. HA! Gotcha! (eye roll please)

Sunshine Superman (Coreopsis) - I picture Superman dancing through a field, skipping, and singing the old "sunshine, lollipops and rainbows....."

Pow Wow Wildberry

Pow Wow Wildberry (Echinacea) - This is not just any berry colored Cone Flower, folks, it's got a little sass to it, a little POW and a little WOW (sales pitch by Steve Carell aka Michael Scott).

Pink Poodle Echinacea - How excited will your friends be when you call them over to see your new Pink Poodle and they get this.

Dragon's Blood Sedum - Most likely named by the guy right next to the guy naming the Pink Poodle ~ Had

                         to prove something!

Beard Tongue (Penstemon) - Grizzly Adams sticking his tongue out???

Double Bloody Mary

Wild Thing Salvia - This is a very cool looking plant - bright red blooms - Aparently it gives your garden

                               party a little extra.

Double Bloody Mary Geum - Place stratically next to the Wild Thing Salvia for the Morning After.

Red Hot Poker - My personal favorite. Don't plant too far away from Wild Thing

                           and the Double Bloody Mary!

There are a ton more of funny names, many relating to animals. I think we will save those for another time!

Easiest Perennials to Grow in Northern Gardens



Many new gardeners unintentionally pick plants for their gardens that are doomed for failure. Even if the plant isn't doomed, the placement of it may doom it. They may be looking for the most unique plant they can find or simply the most beautiful. Unique plants are fun in gardens. They are conversation starters and allow for some serious bragging rights, not to mention the "ooooh" and "aaaaah's" from friends and family. Unless you are a seasoned gardener, however, I would start with the basics.

Generally speaking, the reason the plant may be unique is that it is either meant, in our wonderful climate, as an annual or patio plant, or they are so difficult to grow that they don't sell well. This is not to intend that you should not buy or grow unique plants, because that is simply the part of the fun of gardening. Just make sure you read the tags or do some online research before you plant them.

Some of the easiest plants to grow for Northern Gardens are also the most common. Makes sense, right? They are all beautiful plants, and when combined right they make an amazing Northern Garden. And you can always add your favorite annuals and exotic plants for the summer.

Echinacea

Commonly known as Cone Flowers

These prairie beauties add a tall burst of color from Summer through early Fall. Averaging about three feet tall, they should be placed in the back of the border or center of an island garden.

Echinacea are drought tolerant and drop their own seeds allowing them to spread naturally. They are easily splittable in the Spring or Fall and transplant well. If started from seed, they will bloom the second year, so don't get discouraged.

Most commonly found in classic shades of purple and pink, they are also available in more whimsical shades of green, orange, crimson, yellow and white. Even more varieties include Delight Coneflower, which has a "fluffy" top, Double Decker Coneflower, which has a small bloom on top of the main bloom, or Green Envy, which showcases thicker petals in green with purple accents.

Plant Echinacea in full sun.

Rudbeckia

Commonly known as Black Eyed Susan

Black Eyed Susans are actually a coneflower of a different genus. You will find Rudbeckia varieties along ditches and in undisturbed fields in the Plains.

The common nursery varieties are typically medium sized plants with dark centers and yellow petals. The "fun" varieties of Rudbeckia include Prairie Sun or "Green Eyed Susan," Cherry Brandy with it's burgundy colored petals, and Green Wizard which shows off a few thin green petals and a tall dark center.

Like Echinacea, Rudbeckia are drought tolerant, splittable and easy to grow from seed.  The are also full sun perennials.

Sedum

Commonly known as Stonecrop



Autumn Joy



There's no end to the variety available here. And they don't get any easier to grow than this. There are several annual varieties as well, so make sure that you read the tag when purchasing Sedum.

Because Sedum are succulents they are extremely drought tolerant. Their thick waxy stems and leaves hold moisture very well. The most common varieties, such as Autumn Joy bloom in the fall, while many of the groundcover varieties will bloom in the summer.

Foliage and flower colors vary widely. Some will do ok in part shade, but full sun is your best option for growing Sedum.

Here are some of my favorites:





Dragon's Blood













 











Postman's Pride













Green Mantle



Monarda

Commonly known as Bee Balm

Monarda is a member of the mint family and has a strong fragrance to prove it. Monarda will work very will in your full sun garden with Rudbeckia, Cone Flower and Sedum. There are several varieties available and in many colors. The shorter varieties are about a foot tall, while the stems of some of the taller varieties can reach up to three feet.                         

   From fucsia pink to pastel purple, you can easily find the color you need. Some varieties get double decker, triple decker or even quadruple decker blooms!

Bee Balm spreads quickly (but not quickly enough to take over), and is easy to split. The root system does not go terribly deep which makes them very easy to handle.

Other Trusty Perennials for the Northern Gardener

Need to add more?  Try Shasta Daisies, Day Lily, Iris, Hosta, and Coreopsis!

If there is another plant you'd like to know more about, simply leave a question in the question box on the right~!





Taking down a 200+ year old Elm :o(

This fall we had to take down a MASSIVE Elm Tree. The poor old dear got Dutch Elm. Part of what we loved about this yard when we bought our house four years ago was that Elm. My husband and I could not get our arms around it together. It looked like a mini-Swiss Family Robinson Tree.

I planted my first shade garden under it.

Just looking at that trunk, I'm sure it doesn't seem like much.

Here is the full view:

We knew by the end of last summer that it had to come down. I spent the last part of this summer digging and splitting and potting ALL of those mature plants. I moved a lot of them and gave away hundreds of splits. It's amazing how much more work it was to take out the garden than it was to put it in. And a lot less fun.

Our amazing neighbors and their families came to help with the daunting task. I can't quite explain how touching it was to have the whole neighborhood show up to help. They brought skidloaders and dump trucks and chainsaws. 

Pictures, in this case, are definately worth a thousand words: And the video even more:

 Frank was the Chainsaw Master!!!

Grandpa Bob scaring the living sh** out of us...

The Wedge comes out. Nice Job Matt!

And there it goes...The entire little town of Blooming Praire felt it.

A mid-winter on-line tribite to all who helped!  Thank you!

Minnesota Wild Flowers in Danger!

I would consider myself pretty in tune to perennials that grow well in Minnesota. I was unaware, however, of how many native Minnesota Wild Flowers are actually threatened or of "special concern."  Did you know there are Orchids that are native to MN wetlands?  I had no idea!

Here's the list from Wikepedia:

Short's aster Aster shortii (threatened)

Three-leaved coneflower Rudbeckia triloba var. triloba (special concern)

Northern gentian Gentiana affinis (special concern)

Soft goldenrod Solidago mollis (special concern)

Northern paintbrush Castilleja septentrionalis (endangered)

Floating marsh marigold Caltha natans (endangered)

Alpine milk vetch Astragalus alpinus (endangered)

Missouri milk vetch Astragalus missouriensis (special concern)

Slender milk vetch Astragalus flexuosus (special concern)

Clasping milkweed Asclepias amplexicaulis (special concern)

Narrow-leaved milkweed Asclepias stenophylla (endangered)

Prairie milkweed Asclepias hirtella (threatened)

Sullivant's milkweed Asclepias sullivantii (threatened)

Ram's head orchid Cypripedium arietinum (threatened)

Tubercled rein orchid Platanthera flava var. herbiola (endangered)

Western prairie fringed orchid Platanthera praeclara (threatened)

Western prairie fringed orchid Platanthera praeclara (threatened)

Small shinleaf Pyrola minor (special concern

Nuttall's sunflower Helianthus nuttallii ssp. rydbergii (special concern)

Lance-leaved violet Viola lanceolata (threatened)

Yellow prairie violet Viola nuttallii (threatened)

All of the above links and pictures are from Wikipedia. Another great resource for Minnesota Wild Flowers is http://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/page/home