Sweet Home and Garden Chicago

THE BOUNTIFUL BLOOMS OF J ULY -GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY

2009-07-14T20:05:00.004-06:00

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Those Spring Flingers that visited my garden at the end of May saw a very immature planting of annuals and perennials since I had to establish a new bed , due to the loss of some of my major shrubs.

With the coolest and rainiest Spring/Summer in about a hundred years the garden is lush with new growth.

So far I'm pleased with my new plantings and will continue to add to them. The collage above shows what's blooming in Sweet Garden Chicago.

Visit Carol at Maydreamsgardens to see what's blooming in gardens across the USA.

SHADES OF GEORGIA O'KEEFE

2009-07-13T05:38:00.006-06:00

These roses would've been good subjects for famed artist Georgia O'Keefe who painted flowers larger than life.

I miss not having roses in my small urban garden but my neighbor down the street has an entire bed devoted to them and she graciously allowed me to photograph them. I'm far from being a good photographer but I was pleased with the way these shots turned out.

My Pot Garden

2009-07-11T05:29:00.004-06:00

Turtle topiary planted with Hens and Chicks

Assorted sedum and cacti

It's my daughter Cathy's fault. She started it all with her indoor collection of sedum and cacti, which I fell for. She has more than a hundred potted plants.

She's given me cuttings from her plants and I've purchased several kinds of hens and chicks. I've hardly ever bothered with potted plants because of the maintenance involved but since I'm at home this summer I've enjoyed them.

I'll have to come up with some sort of indoor greenhouse to over winter them because our house is so close to the neighbors that most of the natural light, with few exceptions, is blocked.

Never Thought I'd be Writing about this Subject in July

2009-07-09T16:02:00.004-06:00

I've already written a post on that "cold day in July, " a subject I didn't dream I would this normally hot month. Yesterday marked the coolest July 8 in 118 years.

Now comes another subject I didn't think I'd be writing about : Rain. My rain chain has really gotten a workout this year.

We normally have 36 inches of rainfall in Chicago per year. As of July we've had 26 inches or 3/4th of the total. August is usually the rainiest month ( yes, even more than April ) so we are probably going to set another record.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Rain is a very precious commodity and its abundance has caused some extremely early flowering of my Clara Curtis Mum and I now see buds on my Rose of Sharon, which usually don't appear until the first or second week of August.

With the exception of annuals and newly planted perennials I've hardly watered the garden at all this season.

WELL I NEVER ....

2009-07-08T08:04:00.004-06:00

Chrysanthemum rubellum 'clara curtis' aka 'country girl '

I wrote recently that when the word "never " appeared to be falling off my tongue that I would refrain from using it but this morning I just had to blurt it out when I saw Clara Curtis in bloom on July 8. Is this a record? Has anyone else had their Clara bloom earlier? I may be holding a record here, folks. Clare usually blooms way earlier than other mums but the earliest I've seen her bloom is late July and sometimes early to mid-August .

I have expounded on the virtues of Clara many times in the past but I think it bears repeating. The long bloom time, the daisy-like appearance, medium height, the hardiness, the early bloom time all add up to an outstanding perennial.

I wonder if there's an Guiness book of world records for earliest blooming mums?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA !

2009-07-04T05:27:00.002-06:00

Happy 4th of July to everyone !

Check out the pipes on this country gal :

ITS THAT COLD DAY IN JULY

2009-07-03T06:58:00.003-06:00

July 1 was one for the record books here in Chicago - the coldest opening in 79 years . It barely made it to the upper 60's here by Lake Michigan.

The old saw "never say never " is one that I take seriously every since my friend said she loved this new singer with a spanish accent and thought he was going to be very popular. "That'll never happen " says I. A singer with a spanish accent in America ? Nah. " Julio Igelias swept the country with his beautiful vocals. Of course it didn't hurt that he was very easy on the eyes as well.

I used to say it all the time : " That'll be a COLD day in July. " Gotta stop that now because it arrived.

Here are the Dixie Chicks singing their popular song , A Cold Day in July .

I'll Always Remember

2009-07-02T18:17:00.005-06:00

An Arrangement For Ruby
by Moi

Her name was Ruby and she was the 7th of 8 girls born to a farmer in Northern Alabama. Growing up she had to do all the hard work required of a farmer's daughter as well as the domestic chores of cooking , cleaning and sewing . She never questioned her fate because in her day you were living in "high cotton " if you were able to put food on the table and this was usually possible by the sweat of your brow.

She married the son of a farmer and they set up their own household. I was the 2nd daughter, the third of four children. All of us learned responsibility from a very early age. There wasn't a lot of playing or free time as our days were filled with work. We learned to cherish the rare occasions when we could find a respite from the hard toil we did everyday. No wonder country music is filled with either sad or funny songs.

I heard the stories about her growing up but I really don' t remember the sad day that my mother, who was 40 at the time, died from a miscarriage. I was 4 at the time. She was a tall, strong woman but working in the fields non-stop during her 5th pregnancy caused her to lose the baby and her life.

Growing up in the small town where everyone knew her they would always tell me what a wonderful woman she was. I was happy to hear that but I also wished that I had known her myself. There's no void in my life bigger than the one she left. I think of the joy she must have felt when she held me to her breast for the first time and how heart-wrenching it must've been when she realized that she was dying and leaving her children without a loving Mother. She asked her sisters to take care of us but the sad fact was they were not in a position to do so, having children of their own and not making enough to take care of us as well.

I'll always remember today, Mommie Dearest; today, July 2 is your birthday. I truly believe that we will meet again, as mother and daughter and that all our pain and grief will be forgotten in our joy.

Happy Birthday, Ruby.

Country in the City

2009-07-02T11:34:00.004-06:00

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It was but a small patch next to the sidewalk but it caught my artist eye with it's beautiful country meadow flowers of poppies, cornflowers, and baby's breath .

I can't wait to get out my paint and brushes and try to capture the beauty of these wildflowers growing smack dab in the middle of the city. A cornflower grows in Chicago.

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day-July 1

2009-06-30T18:42:00.008-06:00

What do you sing when you garden? I guess it depends on the songs you grew up with, at least it was for me. Growing up in the sunny south we'd garden to such songs as " In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home ", " Walking in High Cotton, " "Papa Won't Sell the Farm " and the " Green , Green Grass of Home ", to name a few.

I ran across an interesting site today titled Garden Humour website whose author, garden writer David Hobson of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada ran a contest titled Songs and Music to Garden By. He received an incredible response. I never realized there were so many songs about gardening and nature.

Many of the songs are familiar to most of us :

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Tiptoe Through the Tulips
Home Grown Tomatoes
Green Grow the Lilacs
Roses are Red, my Love
I'm a Lonely Little Petunia in the Onion Patch
I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover
The Yellow Rose of Texas
Strawberry Fields

These are but a few of the huge response he received. Visit his website for the complete list and many more amusing stories and jokes.

In the meantime, here's one of my all-time favorite singers with the Garden Song :

On Golden Pond

2009-06-30T05:43:00.005-06:00

Frolicking Fancy Goldfish

It's the last day of June and the first waterlily has raised its lovely head out of the deep and bloomed a cheery yellow. The plume poppy ( lower right ) looks like its on steroids with its amazing girth.

We stocked the pond with 8 fancy goldfish and they've been with us for 6 years but haven't produced any young. Once or twice we've seen them go through the spawning rituals but haven't seen any babies. We've been told that the males eat their young so I'm guessing this is why we don't have a bigger school of fish.

Two New Additions to the Garden

2009-06-26T08:05:00.000-06:00

Phlox paniculata ' pink flame '

Gaillardia 'goblin '

I love the dwarf perennials which I can put to use in the middle and front garden beds. A few days ago I discovered dwarf forms of two of my favorites , shown above.

The pink flame phlox is fragrant, mildew resistant, blooms from July-September and grows only 15 inches tall.

The goblin blanket flower reaches only 12 inches, blooms sporadically until frost, tolerates heat, poor soils and dry conditions.

Since I have a small urban garden it is important to have flowers that have a long bloom time and these two new additions certainly fit the bill.

Who Said That Azaleas Won't Grow in Chicago ?

2009-06-25T08:06:00.005-06:00

'Karen' in May finery

I know I've posted about this outstanding azalea before but everytime I see her in full dress I want to let everyone know about it.

When customers at the garden center tell me they want an evergreen I suggest that they get a rhododendron or azalea because it gives extra interest with its lovely blooms. " I can't grow them, I have no luck with them, they're difficult to maintain, etc., etc. etc. " are the usual responses.

Since May this year was so cool and rainy I missed seeing the 'Karen ' azalea in full bloom in one of my client's gardens so they sent me the photo above.

'Karen' is an extremely hardy Gable hybrid , developed from R. kaempheri ( Japanese ) and R. poukhanense ( Korean ) and R. maxwelli ( American ). It's height ranges from 2-4 ' to 3-5 ' depending on conditions.

So you Azalea lovers out there that haven't succeeded with other varieties, I urge you to try ' Karen . ' You won't be disappointed.

MOVE OVER MONET

2009-06-23T07:19:00.003-06:00

The Summer of my Contentment
Carolyn in the garden
June 2009

A readily available subject most artists at one time or the other will do a self-portrait. I've done several but none that I really liked until I painted the one above. I usually don't have the time or inclination to paint in Spring or Summer but being confined indoors by a 7 month old granddaughter I've taken up the brush again during nap time.

One of the world's most beloved artist, Monet famously said that if he hadn't been a gardener first he would've never been an artist. He planted his beautiful gardens in a very deliberate way as subjects for his paintings and we are all the richer for it.

LEAVES AND GRASSES

2009-06-22T20:48:00.005-06:00

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Some of the bold and interesting leaves and grasses in my garden
Left to right : Coleus, plume poppy, Carol Mackie daphne, dwarf crabapple,
loosestrife, bishop's hat, sedum, 'Jack Frost' brunnera, Full Moon Maple, Bergenia

The center photo shows some of the leaves and grasses that grace the newly planted garden in my backyard. An important consideration for me is what the garden looks like when the blooms are gone and so I strive to add interesting leaves and grasses to add texture and color.

I used to think variegated plants were gaudy until I realized how dull the garden can be without them. They add incredible leaf color that is effective during the growing season.

Grasses are another favorite and this Spring I added Curly Sedge and Korean feather reed as well as an assortment of blue grasses.

We've had an incredible rainy June this year that started off cool but then turned hot all of a sudden. I haven't had to water the garden a single time. Everything has filled in much faster than I expected.

If that Claire Curtis Mum blooms next week it will really be one for the record books.

I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN

2009-06-17T19:53:00.014-06:00

I LOVE roses and if I won the lottery tomorrow I'd buy an old Southern mansion like Tara and start planting rose beds everywhere. I envy singer Pam Tillis's mom. Pam bought her a mansion in Tennessee and she has planted 35 different gardens. That's my idea of paradise on earth.

I don't have the space or sun for roses but my neighbor has a double-wide lot and one bed is devoted to David Austin roses; cultivars unknown. In addition to being beautiful most of them have a wonderful fragrance as well.

The photos above are of the three I thought were the prettiest.

Another neighbor brought back a cutting from Kentucky of a Civil war era climbing rose that is a deep yellow and fragrant. She gave me and several other neighbors a clipping and now it is gracing several gardens on the street.

Those Chicago Spring Flingers that visited my garden saw my Kentucky Belle passalong rose in bloom. I didn't think it had enough sun in my east facing front garden but apparently it proved me wrong. I'm going to take a clipping from it and plant it in my sunny backyard and let it climb the garage wall.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY -JUNE

2009-06-15T03:00:00.001-06:00

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June has been one for the records-the rainest , coldest month in a century. From the photos above you can see how much the plants have grown in my garden since the last GBBD on May 15.

My garden is newly planted this Spring and is still in the process of getting established. Clematis 'Bee's Jubilee' continues its prolific bloom. This is a repeat-blooming clematis which blooms off and on all summer.

The first yellow lily has appeared and the red dianthus, an annual from last year, is in full red dress throughout the garden. White astilibe looks great next to the dianthus. I've never planted petunias in the ground until I got the ones that Proven Winners gave the CSF group. I must say that I'm very impressed with them .

Yesterday I noticed that the Claire Curtis mum has buds on it ! This is a first as it usually doesn't bloom until August or later.

I just gotta ask where is that global warming that Al Gore's been talkin' about ? Send some on up to Chicago Al.

Head on over to visit Carol at May Dreams Garden to see every blooming thing in the US of A.

Did You Know that Robins can Read ?

2009-06-13T12:51:00.005-06:00

The wreath is fake but the Robin and its nest are real.

This is just too funny and cute for words. My neighbor Ceci has a wreath on her front porch and this Robin apparently read the "Welcome Friends " sign.

She made herself at home and laid three beautiful blue eggs.

After having a Robin and her young brood make themselves at home in my pergola I'm convinced that these birds are social creatures unafraid of humans.

Eternal Spring

2009-06-10T08:11:00.002-06:00

What I remember most about her was her sunny smile and happy countenance despite the ravages of breast cancer that she valiantly fought for several years. She loved to garden and looked forward to Spring when we'd go shopping for flowers at the garden center. Roses were her favorite and even though she had a small urban garden she had to have them .

After finishing the planting she'd always say " See you in the Spring. "

I could always count on a call from her beginning the middle or end of May but this year the call didn't come. I had a gnawing feeling of despair that she wasn't going to have another Spring.

The call came a few days ago that she had been very ill for the past several weeks and passed away last Friday. I was her gardening coach for many years , but she was more than a client to me, she was a fellow gardener and a lover of all things beautiful.

Spring symbolized rebirth and hope for another season to her and I was the harbinger that brought great joy.

I will miss you, Joan, but take comfort in knowing that you are at peace in the garden of eternal Spring where there is no pain or suffering. I hope that you will be watching in approval as I plant the last rose in your memory.

APRIL IN JUNE

2009-06-10T07:41:00.008-06:00

May is usually a very capricious month in Chicago and I was a little nervous that Chicago Spring Fling was being held at a time when our gardens were really just starting the season. But we got really lucky and the rain held off until the end of our program.

Above is a photo of what my garden looked like at the end of May. It's a newly planted garden this year and you can see a lot of bare soil , spaces I've left so that the plants can fill out.

The above photo was taken yesterday and you can see how quickly everything has grown.

It looks amazingly lush for a newbie !

I wonder if I jinxed Spring by adding that rain chain? This weather is beginning to remind me of Ireland and the forty shades of green they have.

I am so ready for some sunshine.

MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK

2009-06-09T17:13:00.006-06:00

I LOVE dianthus, especially the ones that act like perennials but are sold as annuals. These came back prettier even than last year and they are planted in many areas of my garden, which means that I saved a bundle. In addition to red there are bi-colors, raspberry, white and pink.

In Chicago this is a tender perennial but I've seen it return for at least four years. That's why I call dianthus more " bang for the buck. "

An Engineer in the Garden

2009-06-08T08:05:00.006-06:00

Simon can build an elaborate front porch ....

A wood surround for the pond....

A rain chain that circulates water even on a rainless day

and countless other projects to keep Sweet Home and Garden Chicago in tip top shape.

But while he enjoys the garden I know that deep down he would be perfectly happy if I turned it in to an orchard and vegetable garden, no matter how it looked.

Like many Asians I've encountered, Simon is a neat freak, to put it lightly. He doesn't handle unexpected situations very well because they are not in his schedule for that day. In his perfect world everything is neat and orderly. Thus, when you see an Asian garden in the Japanese manner you will realize that it is just this compulsion that reigns supreme.

He could probably name two flowers by sight - a rose and an iris but that's about it. I've tried to instill an appreciation for gardening in him but the other day, after another heavy rainfall, I realize that I'd failed utterly.

As Peonies will do they were bent over to the ground. "What's this ?, " he asked. " What ? Do you mean the shrub? That's a Peony. " " No, Simon says, I mean what kind of plant can't support itself ? "

Time to buy one of those Peony hoops.

An Iris by any other Name...

2009-06-06T05:40:00.005-06:00

'Lorelei ' and 'Orange Perfection '

A newly divided clump of 'Lorelei ' in my renovated bed

Close up of 'Lorelei '

"She" has been gracing my Spring garden for the past forty years but I never knew her name until one of the Spring Fling visitors told me that my iris was an heirloom .

Her name is 'Lorelei ' , circa 1909 . A neighbor gave me a few rhizomes and as the clumps spread I divided and planted them all around the garden.

I've seen many varieties of iris but none that I like so well as my 'Lorelei'. She's the queen of my Spring garden . This year she is joined by 'Orange perfection ' and an amazingly fragrant light blue variety my daughter Cathy gave me, name unknown . I'm on a mission to find out its name because it has the most intense perfume I've ever smelled .

The Cultured Tomato

2009-06-04T04:53:00.008-06:00

As the daughter of a farmer it was my job to dig holes for the rows of tomatoes we planted each Spring. I still chuckle at the memory of looking down the long row of holes I had meticiously created and seeing my cat use one as her potty. Too bad cat manure isn't beneficial for tomatoes.

In my small urban garden I have little space for growing vegetables but always make room for tomatoes. I may not have the biggest or tastiest tomatoes on my street but they are certainly the most cultured. I am practicing the art of thigmatrophy this year to see if it really works. Several times a day I touch them and tell them how wonderful they are. I also play music for them since the vibrations from it are known to increase production.

Tomato lovers are eager to share their methods of growing the perfect tomato. Some put salt, sugar, compost and wood ashes in the planting hole and others swear by rabbit manure. I planted mine in an organic soil mixture that supposedly contains everything the tomato could possibly desire. I've already got two small tomatoes so it must be working.

This year I am trying the Czech and Russian Heirloom varieties that are grown in the greenhouse at Gethsemanegardens . I will be the first in the neighborhood to harvest because I'll pick them when they are still green to make my traditional fried green tomatoes. Its odd that when you want ripe tomatoes all you can find are green and when you want the green they're all red. The only way around this is to grow your own.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' MUSE DAY

2009-06-01T05:43:00.003-06:00

Welcome, June ! I used to have a Chinese wisteria standard ( shown above ) but last year I had to dig it up and move it to another location. Unfortunately it didn't make it.

This Spring I noticed a vine winding its way up my fence from my neighbor's yard. When I looked closely I saw that it was the Wisteria that had sent up a shoot from its root. Instead of staying on that side of the fence it had come home.

I love wisteria and last year I planted the American variety which is more reliable -Kentucky blue moon. I'm happy to report that it has two fat flower buds on it right now.

It's raining again in Chicago. This is the rainiest Spring since the 1920's. We are due for some nice warm sunshine.