Posts tagged as:

cold-climate-gardening

Mud Season Chores: Cleaning up

March 24, 2009

I hate to admit it to you Southerners, but when the snow melts, what it invariably reveals is…a mess. I’m not just talking about the dead vegetation that needs to be cut back. There’s human-made messes that ought to be dealt with, too. But let’s talk about the plants first.
Cut back and clear out dead [...]

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Mud Season: A primer for newcomers and Southerners

March 10, 2009

ud season has finally arrived. As I have had more contact with gardeners in other climates, I’ve come to realize that certain aspects of my climate are completely foreign to them, so I thought I’d explain mud season for those who have never encountered it. It will sound pretty elementary to my fellow cold climate [...]

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Kerry Mendez, Garden Coach

March 7, 2009

fter reading about the symposium and poking around her website, I was surprised I hadn’t come across Kerry Mendez before. After all, she gardens in my state, in a similar climate. Some of her gardens are featured in Gardens Adirondack Style, which I reviewed for Horticulture in 2006. I decided I needed to know more [...]

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Sixth Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium

March 7, 2009

Kerry Mendez (see above) emailed me briefly about the Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium that she has organized for the sixth year in a row. Since it is focused on gardening with cold hardy plants, I thought it was worth passing on to my readers.
Besides Kerry herself, Paul Tukey, Tara Dillard, and Dr. Mark Starrett [...]

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Why rain gauges break and plants heave

December 28, 2008

It was a balmy 57F out today, a pleasant change from last week’s snow, so I took a stroll around the garden to see what I could see. I saw the new growth of sedums at soil level, and I saw colchicums emerging from the earth, way too early as usual also saw the damage [...]

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How do I winter over hardy plants in containers?

November 11, 2008

Not too long ago, a reader emailed me and asked,
I bought some hostas and dwarf bleeding hearts to plant. Shortly thereafter I hurt my knee and I can’t go out there and plant them. They are all planted in one gallon plastic pots. How can I safely winter them? If I put them in my [...]

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Endless Summer Hydrangea in two different climates

November 4, 2008

Recently, Chris of Backyard Gardening Blog published a timeline in pictures, demonstrating the growth of his ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas. I found it very interesting to compare his photos with the few I took. You might want to have his post open in a separate tab of your browser so you can quickly flip back and [...]

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Really northern gardener looking for a shade plant

June 26, 2008

Wyn recently commented elsewhere:
I live in zone 2 and am looking for a shade plant that is non-poisonous to pets for the north side of my fence. When I entered that info in google it sent me to this site. Lovely pictures and great info, unfortunately not really my zone. LOL.
Judging [...]

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A Garden Labyrinth

April 26, 2007

And what is retirement for, if not to make a few dreams come true? And what is a garden for, if not to satisfy the longings of your heart?
I have learned a lot from watching the garden of my best garden buddy, Bub, develop. The most satisfying garden, for the gardener and for others, [...]

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Is vegetable gardening in the Rocky Mountains possible?

April 22, 2007

Readers, I’d like your help in answering this email:
I live at 8800 ft. in the Rocky Mountains ( yes, we have had snow recently also) and want to garden. I did not get 1 tomato last summer because nights are cold.–although my flowers and herb pots did well. This year I have cut [...]

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Classic Garden Structures: Book Review

April 14, 2007

When I’m thinking of building a garden project, the first book I turn to for ideas and inspiration is Classic Garden Structures by Jan and Michael Gertley. I’ve read and leafed through many books on making and building objects for the garden but this one remains my favorite. Beyond their inherent usefulness, all of the [...]

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Northern Gardener Magazine praises Cold Climate Gardening

April 13, 2007

Look at the hardiness map for Minnesota and you will see that the whole state is in zone 4 or colder. The Minnesota State Horticultural Society, which publishes Northern Gardener Magazine, is devoted to helping northern gardeners. If you join the society, besides the magazine you will get borrowing privileges at the society’s library (they [...]

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The Intimate Garden: Book Review

April 8, 2007

The Intimate Garden: Twenty Years and Four Seasons in Our Garden by Gordon and Mary Hayward belongs to the rare breed of landscape design book that is actually helpful:

One private residential garden–not little glimpses of a dozen gardens
The garden was developed over many years. (They figured it out as they went along)
They tell you the [...]

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