Friday, May 21, 2010

My Garden

So, my gardens are almost 10 years old. They are growing pretty big and crowded. Time to split plants. I will have a plant sale next month, all healthy, disease free and reasonably priced. The date is June 5th, noon to 4. If you need directions just post a message.

My garden used to be called "The Collection" by my gardening friends. It was literally a collection of onesies- one of dis one of dat... I now see the value of repetition and have a lot of seedlings due to a mulching incident, but more on mulching later. I also repeat a lot of plants because I like making flower arrangements and I couldn't make very many each summer, now I have more than enough plants. I try to sneak the repeaters in here and there so when I cut there are not large open spaces without blooms.

I love planting for butterflies and was delighted to see a red admiral and viceroy last week! I don't use pesticides. Today I saw a monarch, I am pretty sure it was a male staking his territory. They are really territorial.

I was out today working on my containers and I saw a red admiral and painted lady. They really like my Allium flowers. mOre on all these subjects as we travel on through the summer. If you have a queastion, just post it! Thanks for reading my blog....

Hello World!

Well here I am starting my blog. I have been keeping a pen and paper journal of my garden for many years and now I want to share my observations with you! A little bit about myself...I am a landscape horticultirist. I work for a park district in Chicagoland. A landscape horticulturist is a person who does "a little bit of everything" in the hort field. I design, plan, propagate plants and maintain landscapes. I also do landscape consultations and plant healthcare observations. I can give you advice on how to improve your landscape, make it look more beautiful and what to add to "freshen it up" . I will tell you what you need without trying to sell you services you don't need. If you are interested leave me a post. Hope to heare from you soon! Dolly