From the monthly archives:

July 2007

Peony poppies

July 31, 2007

My favorite pink. If you grow it, could I have seeds?

Of all the species in the Papaver genus, I think I like peony poppies the best. Perhaps you know them by a different name, for they are also called lettuce leaf poppies, bread seed poppies, and opium poppies. Yes, that opium.

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My Summer in a Garden

July 29, 2007

A small change in routine can make a big change in the garden

I was the oldest of a large family, and I aspired to be a good girl. Not so much in the sense of morally superior; I wanted to do it right, correctly. Even as a child, I was a perfectionist.

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Campanula rapunculoides, The Evil Twin

July 26, 2007

I call creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) the evil twin because it looks just like ladybells, (Adenophora confusa), only it is aggressively spreading and ineradicable, and ladybells is well-behaved.
So they say.

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The Weather Watching Gardener

July 25, 2007

Most gardeners don’t start out as weather geeks, but I think most end up that way. The fate of one’s plants is just too tied up with the weather. Garden chores will be different depending on the weather. And while golfers and swimmers rejoice at yet another hot, sunny day, we gardeners know another sunny [...]

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Can I have a koi pond in the Upper Peninsula?

July 20, 2007

A reader asks:
I am considering relocating to a colder clime (UP of Michigan) and I have never gardened further north than Wichita, KS so am wondering if I can have a koi pond if I run the heater (I do this now to keep a spot open in in the ice) and what plants do [...]

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Oops, make that three feverfews

July 17, 2007

Turns out that was a clump of three plants, not one stupendous one

To all the admirers of the huge feverfew in my last post, especially Digital Flower, Pam, Layanee, and Bonnie, it turns out it was a clump of three plants. The flowers were looking brown and tatty, but I could see new growth breaking [...]

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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: July

July 15, 2007

Larkspur ‘Sublime Dark Blue’

Ah, yes, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has rolled around again. I always seem to have trouble finishing these bloom day posts on time. Even though I take photos for days ahead, the actual middle day of the month always seems to be a busy time. I should probably make it short and [...]

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

July 14, 2007

Long-time readers of my blog know that I have never shied away from being honest about the poor upkeep of my garden. Sometimes I find beauty in the weeds, and sometimes they depress me, but I’ve never pretended they didn’t exist. I agree with Colleen that fear of “not doing it right,” or “not being [...]

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Dig the chicks in my garden

July 12, 2007

Unknown species of filipendula

This filipendula has been growing well in my garden for several years. I ordered it in the mail as Queen of the Prairie, Filipendula ‘Venusta Rubra’, but the flowers aren’t pink enough for that. In the last couple of years, I’ve noticed that although it grows vigorously, the center has died out. [...]

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Forsythia Pruning: Before and After

July 10, 2007

Forsythia before pruning began

Back in April, I discussed my upcoming plans to prune my forsythia bush. It wasn’t flowering very much, and my commenters agreed with me that it needed a heavy pruning. Some even suggested cutting the whole thing down to the ground. But I felt a little too nervous to do that.

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Lucky 7

July 8, 2007

Instead of a single day of good fortune like yesterday’s auspicious 07/07/07, this has been a week of luck for one reason: rain. Although it can’t be discerned from the surrounding woods with their uncommon fullness bordering on rainforest-like lushness, this summer has been uncommonly dry. Late spring and summer started out so well it [...]

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Blogging tips wanted–for garden writers

July 6, 2007

As I mentioned recently, I’m going to Oklahoma City this fall to participate in a panel discussion on garden blogs. Yes, these professional writers, accustomed as they are to newspaper, magazine, television, radio, and even marketing work, are a bit intimidated and confused by blogging–so I’m told. Some are downright misinformed. So, along with Mary [...]

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