I love where I live…Southern Indiana has great people and beautiful landscapes. I don’t want to bad-mouth Southern Indiana, but right now, I wish I was living a little north of the Arctic Circle! We are in the middle of a heat wave…highs in the high 90’s with ridiculous humidity. The few minutes I’m outside ...
Read More | Perennials ForeverThose of you who have read my blog for a while* might remember that my Wonderful Husband loves bamboo…and I don’t! I have been (not so) secretly hoping it would die for a decade. The stuff doesn’t die, but if the temperature gets down to 10 degrees F, the above ground parts will die off, ...
Read More | Perennials ForeverA few years ago, I had one of my epic enthusiastic brainstorms: I would buy a large quantity of seedlings from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, thereby reducing costs and getting a whole BUNCH of plants. Seemed genius to me. Wonderful Husband stayed remarkably silent and so I proceeded to the DNR’s website (www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/3606.htm). ...
Read More | Perennials ForeverWhen Wonderful Husband and I combined our gardens, I brought my beloved native and heirloom plants and he brought bamboo. Actually, that’s not entirely fair or accurate – he also brought columbines (NATIVE columbines! Miracles do happen!) as well as, ornamental grasses (including Miscanthus sinensis, which is invasive in the eastern U.S.), hostas (which I ...
Read More | Perennials ForeverOne of my greatest discoveries as a gardener was the Solomon's Seal hidden in our very own property. Did I mention that when we first bought our property, it really was an impenetrable jungle of Autumn olives, invasive honeysuckles and floribunda roses. We literally had to ask the seller’s permission to whack a few paths ...
Read More | Perennials ForeverLast year, I wrote a blog about cherry laurels (Prunus laurocerasus) (see “Skip and Otto”) – I was pretty enthusiastic about them, and really, what’s not to like? A broad-leaf evergreen, its leaves look like a Southern Magnolia’s leaves: broad (of course), dark, shiny green, and ovate. The foliage is quite dense and its blossoms ...
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