My Garden, part 1

POSTED BY CALEB – I find it intensely irritating to read other people’s writing about their gardens when I have no idea what their gardens are like.  For that reason, I’m going to tell you a little bit about my garden before I start blogging about my latest plant excitements and disappointments. 
I live way out in the country, [...]

A quick word about Brunnera: It rocks

POSTED BY KIM — I’m cold and wet from working outside and unloading a truck, so I’m going to make this  a quick post so I can take a hot shower!
I wanted to share a picture of one of my favorite shade plants (do I say that every time I write about a shade plant??), [...]

Virginia bluebells: a kaleidoscope of spring color

POSTED BY KIM — I can find something to appreciate about most flowers.  Maybe it blooms an especially long time, is really fragrant, or can withstand tough growing conditions.  But when it comes to flower color, I think the Virginia bluebell Mertensia virginica is in a class by itself.
Bonus: It’s native!  I always think of native flowers as [...]

How cute are these fiddleheads??

POSTED BY KIM — I was moving some plants around at work yesterday when I spotted these fiddleheads (baby ferns) on this Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides).  For those adventurous eaters (at least in my book), here is a collection of fiddlehead recipes.
It’s hard to believe these fuzzy silver fronds will transform into the tough, native, evergreen [...]

Don’t Monkey Around: It’s time to trim your Monkey Grass

POSTED BY PEGGY: Monkey grass is also know as  Lily Turf or Liriope Grass.  Liriope is pronounced (lir-RYE-oh-pee).  I find it one of the hardest plant names to pronouce.  It doesn’t roll off the tongue like other botanical names. I’ve heard lots of interesting interpretations over the years.
Liriope is a tough groundcover plant. It survives in full sun or [...]

Gardening under trees — the other competition

POSTED BY KIM — Tina gave a great talk about shade gardening last night.  (SHAMELESS PLUG — new evening hours!  Open until 7:30 every night but Sunday!)
Here’s a summary of her handout, for anyone who missed it:
o  Gardening under trees is possible if the soil is amended; leaves are collected, shredded and re-applied; trees are [...]

A whopping bed of bleeding hearts almost made me drive off the side of the road

POSTED BY KIM — I was driving my kids to school this morning and almost drove off the side of the road.  I’m not exaggerating.  This HUGE bed of old-fashioned bleeding hearts (dicentra spectabalis) must have popped up overnight – the bed is about 7 feet long by 3 feet wide.
I stopped the car in the middle of the street, [...]

Hello, Pulmonaria!

POSTED BY KIM — I looked out my second-story bathroom window this morning and could see the pulmonaria blooming below.  WOW.  Pulmonaria, or sometimes called lungwort, is one of my all-time favorite perennials for the shade or morning sun, because you get vibrant blooms in the spring, then you enjoy the interesting spotted foliage the rest [...]

I have trillium envy

POSTED BY KIM — I love trillium.  I love that they’re one of the first flowers to appear in spring, then disappear in the heat of summer, only here to be enjoyed for a short time.  I love that they’re a woodland flower, a bright spot in an otherwise shady place.
I HATE that they won’t [...]

Two new plants that made us gasp

POSTED BY KIM — We’ve been having a good time in the quonset, potting potting potting, and you always know when a really cool plant has arrived because you hear someone shriek.
There was lots of shrieking this week when we potted up the new Tradescantia ‘Blushing Bride.’  It’s as stunning in real life as it [...]