I’ve planned to get into the gardens for an hour or two a day, while the weather lasts. It’s got to be easier on my body, and on my schedule, to spread it out over several weeks. With that in mind, I went out yesterday to plant six tulips about about a dozen lilies in the garden closest to the front door.
I wrote earlier that I had trimmed back half of the vinca in that bed. As I got ready to plant the lilies, I thought that it would be wiser to cut out the superstructure of the vinca, and remove as much of it as possible. I told Cop Car that I’m not kidding myself that I’ve eradicated it, but at least it will start from a much smaller base next year. That little project took the half hour that I thought I would be spending in the garden.
I started moving dirt with a trowel before I smacked myself in the head, got up, and started to shovel dirt out of the way. Clunk! Huh?? I tried again. Clunk! Okay….back to my knees with the trowel. I heard a metalic scrape. Light began to dawn. Probably 15 years ago, in an effort to outsmart the chipmunks, Dear Husband created a box for me out of hardware cloth. It’s a grid of wire that must be a half to three-quarter of an inch square. I dug out a huge hole, lowered the box into it, partially filled in the box, planted the tulips, covered them, lowered the lid, and covered that with dirt, too. It’s been buried there all this time. ONE lonely tulip has bloomed every year.
I figured that I was this far along, I might as well dig the thing out. Oh boy…..do my muscles feel it! Most of the work had to be done with a hand trowel. When I got most of the box emptied, I used the shovel to lift it out, and it came out in pretty darned good shape. There were two crocus bulbs, and three baby crocus bulbs. Not a single tulip to be found.
By that time, I had a hole that was perfect for the tulips and the lilies. IF the chipmunks let me have a year of bloom on the tulips, I’ll be lucky, but the lilies should last for a while, and be a nice addition to the garden.

I have been THINKING about gardening for a month or so. Lately, I’ve been telling myself that I needed to take advantage of the wonderful sunny, not too warm days, to get out and begin the work of putting the gardens to bed for the winter. When I started falling asleep planning what needed to be done, and waking up, thinking, “I’d better get into the gardens today, the rain is coming,” I figured I’d better DO something about it.
This morning I worked in the herb garden. Because we put a new layer of chat down in the walkways this year, there wasn’t much that needed to be done there. What a relief. It’s stupid to spend your time on your hands and knees weeding a walkway when it’s chilly and damp! I’ll put some Preen down later this month and perhaps that will help head off any seeds that have strayed from the garlic chives and feverfew and lemon balm.
I clipped the tomatoes at the base of the stems and then lifted out the branches and the supports. I decided to cut the garlic chives back this year, but I waited too late to keep them from spreading their seeds. I’m seriously thinking about digging them out next year. I don’t use enough of them to justify the headache of weeding out the new plants.
I cut back the sweet basil plants. There are still two small globe basils, but I’ll get them the next time. I’m growing zinnias in the herb garden this year. Zinnias were one of my Dad’s favorite plants. I thought the seeds I had would be plants about twelve to eighteen inches high. These are HUGE! I think some of them must be over 36 inches tall. I’ve left them for the time being because the birds seem to like the seeds, and we’ve seen humming birds visiting them. Once the hard frost kills them off, I’ll probably cut them down.
After lunch, I worked in the sidewalk garden at the front of the house. I pulled spent plants from several planters and moved three of the planters into the garage. I’ve had volunteer tomatoes growing in the volunteer vinca, and I ripped out all the tomatoes on the north side of the sidewalk, and half the vinca. I added dirt around the base of a very old Palace Purple huchera, and planted three small starts that were knocked off when I weeded. I have six tulips and about a dozen lilies to plant in that area when I get the rest of the vinca cleared out.
I still have some iris to clean out, and a dahlia to lift. I hope it will store over in the basement during the winter. I want to put straw down over the ferns and some of the daylilies, and there is a garden on the east side of the driveway that needs some TLC. I’m not done by a long shot, but I got a good start today. I think the rain that we are supposed to have this week will make some of the chores a little easier to do.
It was a good day for gardening!

We live on a wooded lot, and I have learned that where you have dappled shade, you also have poison ivy. We have a LOT of poison ivy, unfortunately, and I am very allergic to it. For the most part, I can ignore it, or kill it off, but there has been a rash of it (Get the pun???) in the garden at the front of the house.
Dear Husband was kind enough to spray one of the plants that was in an area where other plants wouldn’t be hurt by the spray. But, there’s an amazingly healthy poison ivy plant that has settled into the middle of my perennials where I can’t spray it. Because I’ve dithered about this, it has sent out arms to colonize the area, and now, I must do something about it.
Either tomorrow, or very shortly, I plan to pull on an old pair of pants that I can throw away, an old turtleneck with long sleeves that I can ditch, and old socks. I’ll find three bandanas and cover my nose and mouth with one, my forehead with another and my hair with the third. I’ll put on latex gloves, and cover those with a pair of gardening gloves that can be pitched out, and I’ll wade into battle with the darned plant!!
I can’t burn the plants I pull, and if I leave them lying somewhere, we could still brush the dead plant and pick up the oil. I guess I have to put the plants into a garbage bag and dispose of them. My clothes will go into another, and I’ll leave the gloves on until I have thrown my outer wear away. I’m not taking ANY chances. I know what it’s like to have poison ivy, and I really hope to never have it ever again!!
Wish me luck.

I MUST get into the habit of taking before and after pictures!
Frankie worked with me in the herb garden for an hour and a half yesterday, when it was deliciously cool in the early morning. I looked out over the garden this morning, and to the side there are three huge piles of herbs and brush waiting to be picked up, and a wheel barrow that is filled to the brim, waiting to be sent to the north 40. There’s also a new pile of mulch that needs to be distributed, but I’ll have to wait until the guys empty the wheelbarrow for me.
We cut back the chives, feverfew, lemon balm, the flower stalks of the lamb’s ears, and a good portion of the oregano. I decided to take the oregano down to the crown, and in the process came across a bunny nest. Something moved. Oooops…… I left some of the oregano around it to shade it. I hope….well, never mind. Enough said.
I also cut back spent stalks on the salvia, at Frankie’s suggestion. There are new starts coming up in the center of the plant, and Frankie tells me that there will be a flush of new growth now.
I have a rudbekia “Goldsturm” in the herb garden, and one more in a tiny area to the left of the back door to the garage. Catnip was trying to overgrow the one by the garage, so I pulled out all that catnip. It has spread to virtually all the gardens, so I don’t have to worry about running out of it. Besides, with Ed gone, I don’t need a lot of catnip right now.
I was startled to find that the chives were already growing back today! What an amazing plant!
Friday we had unexpectedly heavy rain. Frankie was woken by the sound of the rain on the roof, which is a pretty rare occurrence in this house. It’s structured in a way that there’s a lot of air space between the roof and the ceilings in most of the rooms, but the two “barrel” bump outs at the front of the house and the skylights can be pretty noisy in really hard rains. When we were out and about on Saturday morning, we found lots of streets that were closed due to flooding. I understand that some of the expressways in Chicago were closed for a bit.
I was delighted to have the rain. We were getting a little desperate, and I had begun watering with a hand-held watering wand. I was going to have to shift to a sprinkler, not my favorite thing to do. I had just planted cosmos and cleome in the gardens at the front of the house. I suspect that all that seed is now lodged at the front of the bed, and I’ll get a line of plants right at the sidewalk! Still, I am glad we had rain.

I have five oregano plants in my herb garden. Each of the five would like to multiply, but I’ve discovered that five oregano plants provide enough oregano to supply all of the collar counties around Chicago, so I’m pretty ruthless about ripping out new starts.
Our weather is running at least two weeks early in terms of temperature this year, so it was time to trim back the oregano. A master gardener who specializes in herbs told me that you can cut back a third of a plant at a time and still have a viable plant. A few years ago I asked Frankie to trim back the oregano and she took it back to a mound about three inches tall and the plant was actually healthier for the haircut. In all fairness, I had not trimmed for the previous two years, so the plants really needed that cleanup.
Thursday morning, we cut back chives, oregano and catnip when we worked in the herb garden. I have an over-abundance of oregano and catnip. I put together fifteen large bunches of the oregano and took them to share with the members of my exercise class. I surfed for some information on how to use fresh oregano, and shared that along with several recipes.
In addition to what I’ve already given away, I have TWENTY-TWO bunches of oregano and ten bunches of catnip. They are bundled and tied to an old-fashioned wooden drying rack that’s sitting in my dining room. The entire house has an Italian smell to it.
If you wish to dry oregano, tie the stems together and hang them in a warm, dry, well-ventilated place. You can store the branches of dried oregano in a paper bag, in a dark place, and then crumble the leaves off as you need them. Storing whole branches helps to keep the volatile oils intact. If you don’t have the space, you can crumble the oregano once it’s fully dried and then store it in a glass jar out of sunlight.
If you are fortunate to have fresh oregano, try toasting the leaves lightly in a pan and add them to your favorite chili or taco recipe. You can sprinkle oregano leaves over feta, drizzle with olive oil and serve with olives. You could grill slices of provolone cheese that have been sprinkled with oregano. When the cheese is warmed and starts to melt, spread it on crusty fresh bread. Or, you can add fresh oregano to salsa, or to sautéed zucchini and onions.
Here’s a link to a recipe for fingerling potatoes with Oregano Pesto that I’ll be trying this summer. Get out there and harvest your oregano, or find a friend who will share. There are loads of great recipes that use oregano!

According to Wikipedia:
“Deadheading can refer to the following:
* Pruning in landscaping and other plant care.
* Deadheading (aviation) – the transport of off-duty crew to their next assignment.
* Deadheading (railroads) – the movement of non-revenue personnel or equipment to a position required by schedule.”
This is the season for deadheading iris and peonies. We dead head the iris for aesthetic reasons. The stalks with shriveled, dead flowers are not the prettiest sight, so once we have gotten to the end of the bloom time, I cut back the stalks and dispose of them.
The peonies, if not dead headed, will create a seed pod. Rather than have the plant put the effort into making seed that I don’t want, I cut off spent blooms so that the plant itself will grow and become hardier. Elegante Mother taught me to cut the stems back to shape the plant for the summer.
Soon, I’ll need to deadhead coreopsis plants to encourage them to continue to bloom.
I should be deadheading the daisies, but instead, I plant to either dig them up and give them away, or I’m going to prune them back so severely that it would be considered more than deadheading. We have masses of them this year, and with the recent rain, and the heat of summer coming early, they have gotten lanky and are leaning out from the center of the pods. There are so many of them that you can hardly get up the sidewalk.
So, I have my work cut out for me (no pun intended). The gardens will look better, and the plants I want to keep will be healthier. We’ll have greater air circulation and each plant will get more sunshine.
Summer’s here…..and it’s time to be in the gardens!

I may be pushing it just a bit, but I started planting annuals, and herbs today and I think I may plant tomatoes this weekend. I’ll have to keep an eye on the forecasts for the next ten days or so, to be sure that we aren’t surprised with a frost, or I could loose everything I planted today.
I have an inordinate number of volunteer ox-eye daisies. I ripped out several pods of them about ten days ago, and a few more today. (I’m going to send them to Bogie for her gardens! lol) That made room for Homestead purple verbena, nicotiana, petunias, and allyssum. I’ve already planted two more lavender plants, and a dahlia. I think I may have crowded that dahlia a bit. I’ll just have to see how things develop as the weather warms up.
This evening I planted Genovese basil, sweet basil, lemon verbena, rosemary, flat leafed and curley parsley and dill. (I forgot that I have two globe basils to plant.) I need to clear a section of the herb garden that has been taken over by plants I don’t want, to make room for a miniature pear-shaped yellow tomato, and a cherry tomato plant. I think they should do well there because they will be easier to water.
My iris are going to open a week or so early. I already have a gorgeous dark blue, a garnet, burgundy, peach, and two rose bi-color iris open. I’ll take pictures of them tomorrow, and post them on the blog.
I decided to use the Homestead purple verbena as a theme through three of the gardens. I’ve planted it at the sidewalk garden today, and tomorrow I hope to plant it in the long driveway garden south of the house, and the smaller garden across from the house on the east side of the drive. I think the purple will be a good contrast for the plants in those gardens, and will give a sense of unity to the landscaping.
More, tomorrow!

Twenty years ago, Dear Husband created a raised herb bed for me during the summer. I was eager to have some color and display, so that first year, I planted a wildflower mix in the center box. I thought that I’d be able to cut flowers for the house, and the following year the box would be ready for herbs.
What I didn’t understand, not having had a place to grow wildflowers, was that the chipmunks would harvest the seeds of the annuals and store them, and the following year I would find flowers growing in all sorts of unexpected places! The hardiest of all those flowers were ox-eye daisies. They are the traditional simple white daisy that everyone recognizes. They start with a low mound of leaves and then shoot up multiple stems with blooms. I still have the relatives of those first plants growing twenty years later!
We have had two days of rain and these low mounds of leaves have exploded into two foot tall plants ready to bloom! They were shading the rose, the iris, and several plants that I have been babying, so some of them had to go! I went out for two “weeding” sessions today, and by the time I was done there was a pile of unwanted plants roughly four feet by three feet by two feet sitting at the edge of the drive.
The sidewalk bed is looking much better, and now I have a place where I can put in a few annuals to give the bed color during the hot months. I planted two lilies, a dahlia and two lavender plants, and potted a geranium. My iris already have buds (it seems just a little early), and we’ll have masses of daisies to accent the iris color later this month.
My next foray into the garden will be to plant spinach and wildflowers. I’m looking forward to my trip to the nursery. I need to pick up tomatoes and basil and some alyssum, but I’m going to do one bed from seeds. Spring has arrived so early that I may be able to get things started by the end of the week.

If you should be in the vicinity of Peru, Indiana, I highly recommend that you look for Garden Gate Nursery. I’ve been visiting this nursery for years on my annual visit to my sister, and they have wonderful plants! The variety is excellent, and the plants are healthy and strong.
What makes me tell you about them is not the quality of their plants, but their generosity of spirit. While I was there, I dropped my cell phone in their parking lot and left without realizing my loss. When we returned to Illinois the next day, there were two messages from them on my answering machine, asking me to call to determine what to do about the phone.
When I called, I asked if they would mail the phone to me. The owner took my name and address, and then made a sound of understanding when he realized I live in the Chicago suburbs. It was going to be difficult for me to get back to them the next day. I offered my credit card number to cover the cost of postage and handling, but he refused it! They wrapped the phone in bubble wrap and placed it in a Priority Mail box and sent it off. It arrived safely two days later.
So, I am pleased to let you know about this company, and hope that you will have the chance to visit with them. I’m sure you will enjoy the visit, and the plants you purchase, as well.