Gatsbys Gardens

Looking For Beauty

2012-05-22T06:26:00.000-05:00

It is not difficult this year finding beauty everywhere as I look around the garden. The roses are bigger and better than ever (although I do notice some brown fringes on the petals from the frosts that occurred before they opened). Carefree Beauty is huge this year! There were years I almost pulled it out because it just didn't seem to be flourishing. Pink Promise is my only hybrid tea that

Black Is Back!

2012-05-15T18:05:00.002-05:00

I don't know if you have noticed but black is the new white in the garden. I have said many times that I do not like black in my perennial border. I have color in my border, lots of color when everything is blooming, but not black. The closest to black is my brown mulch. Rainbow Knockout Geranium Max FreiBeautiful blooms in the spring but blooms very sparingly throughout the summer. Sport of

Rain In The Garden

2012-05-07T16:34:00.000-05:00

It rained heavily all last night and it rained all day today. It has been dismal but the garden loves the attention. Hycinthoides BlueI put in three colors last fall, white, pink and blue. I wondered why Northwind Perennial Farm only had blue when I visited last May, now I know why. The blue is the color that has the most impact, will be ordering some more blue for the fall. Amsonia Northwind

Around The Garden

2012-05-03T20:21:00.001-05:00

It has been really warm again eighty-six degrees and lots of storm warnings. I don't remember the plants ever being this large and full without the insect damage we see in the summer. The foliage is lush and the flowers plentiful and huge. Clematis Fireworks is a Type II and really puts on a show sharing this side of the pergola with Autumn Clematis. When Fireworks is done I will cut it down

Believe It Or Not

2012-04-26T17:22:00.000-05:00

It is difficult to believe how much our blooming cycle has been thrown off by the unusual March weather. I have never had a rose bloom in April! My roses bloom in June, but not this Rainbow Knockout that looks like it has a little frostbite. Endless Summer Hydrangea (has not been a good bloomer in my area) has also been nipped but it looks like it has lots of buds this year. I did not cut it

A Cool Morning Trip With Piet Oudolf

2012-04-22T18:48:00.005-05:00

It is probably my fifth time going through Piet Oudolf's book Designing With Plants, and each time I find the philosophy overwhelming but I am determined to master it. I read it all the way up to Wisconsin and even fielded questions from my husband on what it meant to have a plan that didn't look like a plan. I have tried Dianthus Firewitch at my home with no luck. It does just great in

Around The Garden

2012-04-20T18:49:00.000-05:00

We are definitely back to a more normal springtime, cool nights even frost warnings and daytime temperatures in the fifties. I covered my clematis which is just about ready to break into full bloom. Clematis BourbonThis is a smaller clematis, about six feet, perfect for a teuter. It is covered right now with a black plastic bag because of a possible frost. Clematis do very well if the flower

What Could Be Better?

2012-04-16T18:49:00.000-05:00

I asked myself this question as I drove to meet a group of fellow gardeners. We all volunteer for the University of Illinois Extension Services and are as different as the plants in our gardens. Two are expert vegetable gardeners, one great with trees and shrubbery, one with a botanical background who keeps taking all of those additional botany courses, me with a love of perennials, design and

Layering

2012-04-10T18:50:00.002-05:00

As I walked through the garden, I finally realized how much layering for succession blooming I have done in the past few years. Interplanting for continuous blooming cannot be haphazard, i.e., nothing invasive or plantings that cannot be cut down after blooming. Lilies don't count because their stalks are so slender other plants can easily grow up around them. I have lilies coming up

Support Your Plants

2012-04-03T15:56:00.002-05:00

It sounds like a new movement doesn't it? But, I really mean it literally, don't hesitate to support your treasured plantings by any means possible. Several years ago at my other homes I said if a plant can't stand on its own it doesn't belong in my yard. Well that eliminated many of the garden plants that have become my favorites. We love decorative trellises, however, when covered with

Frost, Frost, Stay Away!

2012-03-31T12:26:00.000-05:00

I remember covering up my containers in May last year because of a frost warning. It is hard to believe what the garden looks like this year with trees blooming and leafed out, blooming shrubs and flowers. Amelanchier RegentA small Serviceberry about four feet tall Viburnum Carlesi CompactumI put this in last spring to replace one that became diseased. It is difficult to find shrubs for the

Around The Garden

2012-03-25T15:44:00.000-05:00

It is difficult to believe that plants are popping all over this early spring garden, some almost a month early. The Star Magnolia was a beauty this year but it is already beginning to wilt and brown because of the heat. The PJM Rhododendrons seem to be able to handle the heat. I almost didn't plant forsythia in the front garden because their blooms are so short-lived. However Forsythia

Motivate - Hort Couture

2012-03-21T06:27:00.000-05:00

This is the most important part of a garden show because we need to be motivated to incorporate new ideas into our future gardening experiences. Many times these regional garden shows are over-the-top and we can't imagine doing anything they display in our gardens. I felt the Chicago show was a bit more realistic this year with some obvious flights of fancy. I like all of these ideas

Educate - Hort Couture

2012-03-19T18:34:00.002-05:00

To appreciate a garden show, it should educate us in regard to a different way of doing things and this show certainly did that. A pergola made out of logs A small garden area accented by a piece of rusty fence Conifers intermingled with perennials We don't often think of planting conifers in the midst of a perennial bed. Usually the evergreens are lined up in the back along the foundation

Inspire - Hort Couture

2012-03-16T06:52:00.008-05:00

I attended the Chicago Flower and Garden Show last weekend with the Garden Writers Association and was pleased to find out that the rights to the show have been bought out by a private company. This company will have more control over the theme they espouse, Inspire, Educate and Motivate. The TREND is oversized containers even in small areas used not just for planting but as part of the

An Unexpected Treasure

2012-03-11T07:11:00.004-05:00

The Chicago Art Institute Study Group went to a local art museum located in the western suburbs of Chicago. It was quite a wonderful and an unexpected surprise! Elmhurst Art MuseumBuilt in 1998 The Elmhurst Art Museum was built to match the design of this Mies Van Der Rohe home built in Elmhurst in the 1950's. The home was later moved piece by piece to the property where the Elmhurst Art

Get Ready!

2012-02-29T07:44:00.000-06:00

Early Sensation will be one of the first Early Sensation Itzim Yellow Hellebore Crocus City Of Haarlem PJM Rhododendron Pink Pearl Star Magnolia Sagitta Marieke And Mount Hood Chanticleer Pear Monte Carlo Muscari Blue Spike This was just a little peek at Spring 2011 with more to come .... ANTICIPATION!!

True Or False

2012-02-19T09:55:00.000-06:00

This is the time of year that I visit my local Pottery Barn to get an early fix on spring. I know these are false because they wouldn't have real bunnies on a dining table. I order real Oregon moss every year for my outside baskets. This looks very good but again it is false. I guess I had better say early on that everything plantwise that you see in Pottery Barn is false but each year gets

Not Your Old Fashioned Petunia

2012-02-14T05:59:00.000-06:00

To many of us the petunia is a mainstay annual in our summer baskets and garden beds. In the past, many of us would give a second thought because of the continual maintenance (deadheading) to keep them producing and beautiful. Petunia Surprise Black JackThere are several black petunias now but many growers think their popularity will be short lived. Well, in recent years most of the newly

Choices

2012-01-30T09:31:00.003-06:00

Each year at this time we are overwhelmed with all of the new plant introductions and some older introductions that we haven't tried yet. Emailing back and forth with a friend I realized we were planning our gardens for the upcoming seasons. We both wanted year round color so many of the plants we bandied back and forth will put on a show in the garden all year. Hydrangea White DomeThis is a

The Gilded Age (Part II)

2012-01-28T07:23:00.000-06:00

In 1883 when the Nickerson home was new it looked like this: Five years later in 1888, the sandstone facade has absorbed pollutants so it looks like this. By the time Richard Driehaus bought the house in 2003 it looked like this, caked with layers of pollutants that had caused damage to the stone and the embellishments. The whole house was cleaned by a laser technique and where there was

The Gilded Age (Part I)

2012-01-26T09:46:00.003-06:00

I have always been interested in vintage, furniture, glassware, design, etc. However, my trip with the Art Institute Study Group was overwhelming! The Nickerson Mansion (Driehaus Museum) at 40 E. Erie in Chicago, Illinois A contrast of time with the columns of the nineteenth century with the skyscrapers surrounding this step back in time. In 1883 Samuel Nickerson (who founded the First

Behind The Scenes

2012-01-21T18:11:00.123-06:00

I was invited again this year to the Proven Winners Choice Luncheon at the Mid-America Horticultural Show in Chicago. It was a bitter cold day and I thought to myself this better be worth it! Lake Michigan looks foreboding but it is still a beautiful sight even on a cold winter day. I loved this Golden Spruce, grows only fifteen feet tall and has yellow needles on the surface. The smaller

A Family Affair

2012-01-17T18:44:00.002-06:00

I kind of went back in time, to my childhood and then to my young adulthood. After attending my Garden Study Group luncheon we were transported over to the ultimate in the neighborhood flower shop, the Phillip Flower Shop Warehouse. Cooling lockers for all of the arrangements that are ready to be delivered. Buckets of fresh flowers just waiting for the designer. Flowers come into the warehouse

Color In The Winter Garden

2012-01-12T07:11:00.002-06:00

Color and interest in the winter garden is a challenge. I have been working on this for the past few years and realize that it is still a work in progress. The Rhododendrons are a wonderful reddish brown color with pinkish buds. They like being protected during the winter and summer, mine are behind a stone wall up close to the foundation of my home. Azalea Karen keeps its reddish leaves all