Sweet Home and Garden Chicago

One of the Most Striking Trees in the Fall Landscape

2009-11-04T17:59:00.004-06:00

Sorbus Altinifolia

I have the pleasure of frequently passing this Korean mountain ash in the parkway in our neighborhood and am always impressed by it's four seasons of interest. While it's foliage is beautiful all year , Fall brings out the best in it. The leaves haven't yet turned to yellow-orange because it hasn't been chilly enough yet but the beautiful cherry-red berries are striking.

In late Spring flat clusters of delicate white flowers appear and gradually turn into the beautiful berries. This is a medium to large tree, reaching 40 feet and has a 20 foot spread. While many Sorbus varieties are prone to root rot , pests and disease, the Korean mountain ash is very hardy and disease resistant.

The winter interest is its smooth gray elegant bark. The Moutain Ash provides food for our feathered friends and while the berries are edible, they are much to acidic to be eaten raw.

Green Tomato Time

2009-11-02T08:13:00.005-06:00

This is what was left of the tomatoes

Good thing I made a photo because these are long gone.

Goodness gracious I never expected to see grits or fried green tomatoes go gourmet but they have. They've made the fried green tomatoes healthier by using olive or vegetable oil , That's where I draw the line. Gotta have that taste of bacon fat. Yum. And I add a little drop or two of tobasco sauce to pep up the flavor. I don't eat a lot of junk food so I guess this is one time of the year that I can indulge my quaint taste.

I didn't grow the regular or large tomatoes this year so I'm making little bite size tomato sliders. They look like something out of Martha Stewart's appetizer cookbook.

I miss the thick large slices of green tomatoes so I am already formulating my plans for a little veggie plot for next year.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' MUSE DAY -NOV. 1

2009-10-31T21:18:00.004-06:00

Forty six years ago - A young gal from rural Alabama and a foreign student from South Korea tied the knot. Guess I was a rebel way back then even because marriage to someone from a different race wasn't widely accepted, South or North.

But here we are today, 46 years later , 3 wonderful children and a first grandchild. We are truly blessed to have surmounted all the trials and tribulations that life has given us. Coming from totally different backgrounds and circumstances I would dare say that it was at least 2 or 3 times harder to overcome the obstacles of marriage that people from similar backgrounds encounter.

I think the thing that helped me the most was becoming acquainted with the Korean culture whereby I gained an appreciation and understanding of my husband. I became a rather well-known figure in the Korean community in Chicago because my husband brought his mother from Korea and she lived in our home for 10 years. Even modern day Korean daughters-in-law could not have endured living with their Mothers-in-law. So I became a sort of legend in the community. My children and I were the beneficiaries, however, because our " halmoni ", grandmother in Korean, was a wonderful, loving person that taught us a lot. I'm so glad that my children had beautiful memories of her since my own mother passed when I was four.

Forty six years and I still feel as if it were yesterday. The years have flown by so quickly and are so full of wonderful memories. We live each day as if it could be our last because we've seen many friends and acquaintances leave unexpectedly.

In this here today gone tomorrow world we look back and see the two young people we were taking a chance on life and we've never regretted it.

AN EVERGREEN SOURCE OF DELIGHT FOR GARDENERS

2009-10-31T20:06:00.000-06:00

When National Geographic and The University of Missouri Botanical Garden get together on a book you just know that its gotta be good. More than 200 beautiful illustrations are reason enough to enjoy Flora Mirabilis, an exquisite book, but the interesting stories about how plants have had such a profound affect on our daily life adds another dimension.

I was contacted by National Geographic and offered a free copy of the book but I found it reasonably priced at Amazon.com for $23. When I'm not able to get outside to garden the next best thing is reading a good book on plant life.

A TREE FOR SPRING AND FALL BEAUTY

2009-10-28T07:35:00.000-06:00

Cornus Florida 'cherokee princess '

This beautiful American dogwood is in my neighborhood and I enjoy its beauty both in the Spring when it's covered with large pink blossoms and in its October red dress pictured above.

If memory serves I believe that Tennessee has been dubbed the Dogwood State . Actually the dogwood grows in abundance throughout the South and is a favorite tree for many.

When I first planted my garden in Chicago I chose two trees - the dogwood and a regular magnolia. The magnolia didn't survive the first winter but the dogwood did. Every Spring when it was time for it to bloom a hard freeze nipped it in the bud. It finally succumbed to disease.

Working in the tree department at our local garden center I learned that the American dogwood, had been improved to be more disease resistant and hardier for the Chicago winters.

The Asian dogwood varieties bloom later than our American ones and while not as showy, this can be a big plus for the late freezes that tend to affect the Spring blooming trees.

I HAVE A BEEF WITH QUIZNOS

2009-10-27T10:13:00.007-06:00

In this very politically correct culture of ours who in their right minds would produce a repugnant, racist commercial to sell their products ? Quiznos, that's who. When I first saw the commercial I was appalled, but apparently I am not alone. It's all over the net and on Youtube.

The second Youtube video is very suggestive and in my opinion not fit for a young viewer.

Quiznos has got my " Irish " up and this Appalachian American is going after them full blast. That Ad agency is going to get an earful from me. I don't get it. What does a hot tub have to do with a sandwich ? Are you people clueless ? Whatever happened to making food appetizing so that potential customer want to eat it ?

In the meanwhile, Momma says " Eat at Jimmy Johns. "

500 POSTS, YALL !

2009-10-25T21:08:00.005-06:00

Jason,my son, the Webmaster

A few years ago my son Jason suggested that I start a blog. A what ? says I . The word blog sounded repugnant, like something out of a horror movie. " Oh, Mom all you ever do is live and breathe gardening so you might as well write about it.

I'll try just about anything once so I jumped in head first as Jason patiently tutored me on the how to's of a blog. Just how did it come to this, I wondered, when the child becomes the teacher?

Anyhoo, 500 posts later I look back and appreciate my son's confidence in me. I've made many friends with similar interests and I've enjoyed blogging about my garden and gardening experience.

So thanks, Jason. I hope your momma has made you proud.

AUTUMN COLORS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

2009-10-20T14:15:00.015-06:00

These are the autumn colors in my small city garden :

An annual mum made a surprise appearace

The tiniest of hydrangeas at 2 feet : ' Spreading Beauty '

The most amazing hydrangea : ' Limelight '

Boston Ivy

Bergenia Cordifolia

Azalea

Autumn Moon Maple

And these are colors I captured while strolling around my neighborhood :

(Click to Enlarge )

Above are : Sugar maples, serviceberry, mountain ash , burning bush, sumac, boston ivy, Japanese maple, and daylily.

FALL RETURNS TO CHICAGO

2009-10-19T09:52:00.009-06:00

A green and white tulip - Spring Green and Cape Cod, a beautiful orange

Love the oranges and yellows -
That 's Orange Emperor on the left and Sweetheart on the right
Also ; the earlier the better.

A red and yellow Crown Imperial. These are so majestic

108 Narcissus and Daffodils
All petite and all early

Today was an exceptional Autumn day after the coldest 3 weeks in October in 82 years. Sixty Seven wonderful, warm degrees ! I visited the garden center Sunday and picked out some lovely tulips and daffodils for my new garden bed. While over a hundred bulbs seem a lot they cover a small area.

Had a rare day off so I used the time to get all the bulbs planted and watered. Tomorrow promises another warm day and I plan to make the most of it .

Can't wait to Spring to see the newest additions to my garden. How do they get a green and white tulip ?!

OCTOBER BLOOM DAY

2009-10-14T07:42:00.007-06:00

Autumn Moon Japanese Maple : Beautiful year round but more so in October

Close Ups of October blooms

In the Limelight : Hydrangea and Azalea in Fall dress

October opened with record cold and has continued its chilly grip, killing many of the tender perennials and annuals. It has been the coldest October in 82 years. I am not ready for such an early cold Fall and so Providence, hearing my heartfelt plea, will send some nice warm weather this coming weekend.

There's still so much left to do in the garden. I'm dividing and transplanting perennials and I have Spring bulbs left to plant.

Visit Carol at Maydreamsgardens to see what's blooming this October.

Indoor Gardening Begins

2009-10-06T08:22:00.004-06:00

Click to enlarge

Weather report for October : Brrrrr. Coldest temps in 5 months. Yesterday was nice and sunny with highs in the upper 60's so I began the enjoyable task of moving the house plants indoors.

I must say I'm very pleased at how the variegated geranium, ' peppermint ' performed after over wintering indoors last season. I've still got coleus and fuschia to pot up and bring inside.

My dining room now looks like a mini greenhouse but I enjoy having all the plants around . My daughter Cathy, the indoor plant expert, informs me that I need a grow lamp for the cacti so I'm off to find a proper one.

Can You Ever Have Too Many Greenbeans?

2009-10-04T07:56:00.002-06:00

Ceci's greenbeans

Nah. Can't have too many greenbeans. Love them everywhichaway. We Southerners tend to cook everything to death, including green beans, smothered with bacon grease. Yum.

My good neighbor Ceci planted her bean stalk and it found its way to my side of the trellis. Finders keepers. So far I've collected several large bags of beans.

Green beans seldom show up in Asian cuisine but the Chinese have quite a few good recipes. I made a mess of them last night using soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seed. I cooked them for only 7 minutes and they were both tender and crunchy.

Think I'll make me a big pot of Brunswick Stew for supper. In addition to green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and corn the recipe calls for a squirrel and a rabbit. Maybe that rascally rabbit that has been nibbling on my plants in the frontyard and the squirrel that made off with one of my juicy pears.

OCTOBER 1 MUSE DAY

2009-09-30T14:11:00.005-06:00

Autumn moon

Leaves of gold and red

welcome October.

-Carolyn Choi

Is Civility Dead?

2009-09-27T10:35:00.000-06:00

Is civility dead ? If not it's surely bruised and badly beaten. I just stared in disbelief at the TV a week or so ago when Kanye West grabbed the mike from Taylor Swift and ruined the 19-year-old's acceptance speech for her first MTV video award, telling the audience that Beyonce was much better and deserved the award instead of Taylor. I don't care if you are red white or blue, in any case , that is just plain rude. Then Serena Williams, she of the fabulous Tennis game, spat venom at one of the judges in language that couldn't be aired on the news. And those are just two of the many examples of public figures that have stuck their foot in their mouth .

What's wrong with people today? Many seem out of control and ready to explode at the least bit of stress. Rudeness rules the day. People speak without thinking about how it could hurt them or others.

In the recent past I've had two incidents happen to me in which I could not overlook the rudeness without responding.

When I first emerged as an artist a mentor suggested that I volunteer at an arts organization so that I could get to know the art community. There I met all sorts of interesting artists and got to view their work as well.

A visitor approached my desk and asked to see the director. When I told the director her name she rushed out to meet her so I surmised she must be one of the important patrons of the arts . " So, ", the director asks, " How was your road trip through the sunny South. Did you take in a lot of culture?"

Visitor flung her head back and uttered : " Ha! Culture ? In the South ? Now that's an oxymoron. " Director cleared her throat. I was expecting her to say something back . Silence.

I could feel the steam slowly escaping from my ears and I held on as long as I could. " Excuse me. What you just said, " I declared. " Am I correct that you believe culture is indigenous to Chicago ? Are you telling me that Harper Lee, author of the Pulitizer prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird, considered one of the greatest books of all time, is not cultured? Truman Capote, Fannie Flag, Winston Groom , Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Edward Osborne Wilson, to name a few, ever hear of them ? And these are just the writers. How about Roger Brown, considered one of the great contemporary Chicago artists? Well he's from the South as well.

She stared, mouth open for a moment. Regaining her composure she said, " Me and my big mouth! I must apologize. There's no excuse for my remark and I didn't intend to insult you or the entire South. It just so happens that I'm in a foul mood because I went speeding through a red light in one of those sleepy little Southern towns and got caught by the Sheriff. After giving me a lecture on the dangers of speeding, he levied a heavy fine."

" Apology accepted, " I replied. " Unlike many these days you've taken responsibility for your words. " I admire that. The director sighed, relieved that we'd come to an amicable conclusion.

Art patron spoke to director and said that we ought to have cultural exchanges with artists between the South and North as a way of getting to know each other better. I thought that was a brilliant idea and the art patron and director agreed to start such a program.

The second incident was with a friend of a friend who , detecting my Southern accent, asked where I came from. When I told her Alabama she asked how long I had been in Chicago and I replied that I left my hometown soon after high school graduation. " Just as well, " she said, rather arrogantly. Making sure I understood her, I politely asked " What do you mean ?"
"Oh, " she says, " the way they talk down there. " " So, ", I replied, " do you think Y'all sounds worse than ' Youse Guys ?" Dead silence .

If I were the judge in the case of these loose lips I'd sentence them to a month of gardening. The first week would deal with weeding, the second week with double digging, third week planting trees and the last week planting bulbs. I think such a sentence would go a long way to reducing the stress of rude people everywhere.

I learned at a very early age that if you lose your good reputation you lose everything and its something that you can seldom regain again.

NOMINATION FOR BEST ILLINOIS BLOG -BLOTANICAL

2009-09-24T08:13:00.011-06:00

I was pleasantly surprised to see my nomination for the Best Illinois blog and even more surprised to see that my daughter Cathy of Outside In was in the same category with me. I'm so proud of her as she is a rather new blogger.

You don't have to be a garden blogger or writer to vote but you do need to register here . To vote, visit Blotanical here .

The Last Day of Summer

2009-09-21T20:26:00.007-06:00

Farewell to Summer

Today is the last day of summer according to the calendar. September has been more summer-like than most, albeit; very dry.

Last night a gentle rain fell, the first in a few weeks, and I fear, not enough to really soak the dry earth.

There's still so much left to do in the garden and I am waiting until the cool Fall days of October arrive to plant bulbs and divide and separate perennials.

Some good news on the weather front in today's paper : El Ninyo looks like it will bring us a milder than normal winter.

Looking back on this summer I cherish it for the many wonderful days I spent with my first grandchild , Lea. Each day we greeted the morning in the garden. I hung a stained glass art bird on the pergola and she loved to pull its string to make it fly. When I asked her " where's the bird ? " her face would light up and she looked right at it and smiled. Sometimes language isn't needed at all.

Grandpa often uses sign language instead of words and Lea always greets him and others with a wave of the hand. She's ten months old now and will soon be walking.

We dread the onset of winter but will long remember the wonderful days of Lea's first summer.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY-September

2009-09-14T17:15:00.008-06:00

The above photos are the short shots of some of my flowers:
Host, geraniums, Korean mum, fuschia, Proven Winner petunias and Profusion zinnia

The long shots of my September garden

September and summer is finally here. We're enjoying hot, sunny dry days and cool mornings and evenings.

The petunias gave out early this year no doubt due to the weather - too much rain, not enough rain . I was really surprised by the Proven Winner dwarf petunias and how well they did. They've been blooming non-stop all summer and I didn't have to deadhead them at all.

9/11 MEMORIAL

2009-09-11T09:26:00.001-06:00

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

2009-09-09T13:56:00.001-06:00

This is my neighbors garden on the other side of the fence we share.

This is my side of the fence.

It's great to have neighbors that enjoy gardening. My neighbor to the south of me and I share this lovely 'Sweet Autumn ' Clematis . She bought six of them for me after I helped her with some landscaping and I planted them on my side of the fence. However, when our new fence was constructed the clematis ended up on her side and therefore they are a lot more abundant there.

While she has a smaller house than mine her yard is much larger and the size I wish mine was. She and I have spent many a pleasant day in her garden, dividing and transplanting, and last year we installed a completely new sodded lawn , a big project that took almost all day, due to improvement of the depleted soil and leveling issues.

She has many of my cuttings in her garden and I have some of hers in mine. I get green beans and cucumbers fresh off the vine and I give her some of my Korean pears. She also loves to bake and at Christmas we are the happy recepients of fresh baked cookies and holiday breads.

The good book says to "love thy neighbor as thy self ". This is sometimes easier said than done but in my case I consider myself blessed to have such a good neighbor.

IT DOESN'T GET MUCH WORSE THAN THIS

2009-09-07T18:03:00.010-06:00

Yesterday we were walking to a nearby neighborhood event and took a new route . The street was lined with beautiful homes but the frontyards were beyond belief. My mouth was hanging open for a few blocks.

For the life of me I couldn't even begin to imagine why a homeowner in a nice neighborhood doesn't give a thought to how their public face looks.

I didn't have my digital camera with me so I used my cell phone. I was surprised that the photos came out as well as they did.

An apparent need to obliterate the house ?

A house hugger

This is not Iowa people !

Fake flowers among the real . Who are you kidding?

This frontyard was the worse I've ever seen. It was packed to the gills with everything imaginable. There was even a kitchen sink. Oh, and a big fat fake snake dangling from a tree !

I'd like to be the garden czar for this new administration. I'd issue tickets to homeowners with bad landscapes and make so much revenue we wouldn't need a bailout. Honestly, if bad taste were a crime, the homeowners on this block would be wanted in every state in the U.S. of A!

FALL GARDEN MAKEOVER

2009-09-02T20:25:00.007-06:00

Before

After

Carex buchmananii, or Fox Red Curly Sedge

The shortest summer in a century has passed by very quickly and an early cool Fall has arrived. It seems like only yesterday that I had 50 Spring Flingers visit my garden on May 31. The newly planted bed ( photo 1 above ) filled in very quickly and while it looks pretty good, pretty good is not good enough for me.

This was my first experience with Fox Red Curly Sedge which I fell in love with and planted two in the new bed. I think that the other plants overwhelmed the sedges and that they needed their very own space to appreciate their special qualities so I moved them to the front of the beds. I like them much better now that I can see their full beauty.

The two Walker's Low Catmint that I planted this Spring seemed a little lost so I transplanted them toward the front .

I divided phlox, blackeyed susans and sedums and planted them at the back of the border. Once the annuals expire I will plant Spring bulbs in their spaces.

And that's just the back border. The front garden borders need attention as well. A gardener's work is never done.

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day - September 1

2009-08-31T21:01:00.003-06:00

September ;

it was the most beautiful of words he'd always felt

evoking orange flowers

swallows and regrets

-Alexander Therough

SUSAN'S BEAUTIFUL BROWN-EYED COUSIN

2009-08-29T17:36:00.004-06:00

Rudbekia Hirta 'autumn colors '

Guess what followed me home from the garden center today? The 2003 Fleuroselect quality award gloriosa daisy 'autumn colors ' grows to 2 ' only, and has such beautiful colors with blossoms 5" across . It blooms from July to frost . Of course I just had to have one. Or two. Maybe two in each flower bed.

I was suspicious that it was listed as a perennial when I found it in the annual department. " Half-hardy " came the answer to my question, " but it seeds itself rather well even if it doesn't come back next year. " Alright then !

I'm a sucker for self sowing flowers.

Ten Top August Garden Stars

2009-08-25T08:05:00.014-06:00

Walking about the garden this morning , making mental notes of what plants to change/replace, I couldn't help but notice the abundance that is August in my garden.

These are only 10 of the perennials that are the mainstay.

Tried and True Susans

On Golden Pond : Yellow Waterlily

Autumn Moon Japanese Maple

Korean Pear

Sweet Autumn Clematis on Fence; Limelight Hydrangea

Autumn Joy Sedum

Rose of Sharon

Peppermint Twist Phlox

AWESOME AUGUST GBBD

2009-08-14T07:32:00.010-06:00

Close ups of my August Blooms

Reflecting back to May and my newly planted garden bed

The long shot shows how well the border has filled in

What's blooming in your neck of the woods? Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens and share your garden.