Some bunny wishes you...

Some bunny wishes you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Joyous Kwanzaa, a Happy Solstice, and a beautiful new moon.  Whatever your holiday, I hope it's filled with love and light. This photo is our annual cookie making on Christmas Eve. We like to be creative, so you'll notice non-traditional shapes and colors. That's how we roll (the cookie dough)! 

Bonfire Night

My anglophile husband and I celebrated Bonfire Night.  We have plenty of fallen branches and cleared brush for fuel. The Fifth of November is marked with fireworks in England. Sometimes it's gets a little out of hand across the pond, but our bonfire was completely legal with our burn permit.

On this clear night, with light from the stars and moon, we sat together gazing at the fire.

A Walk on a Foggy Morning

The fog enshrouded my morning walk. It's a beautiful time of year. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Above is a the road that leads to my house. Below are oak leaves.

Above is a maple leaf. Below are the zinnias that survived the frost with a little alyssum (left)  and raspberry leaves (right). 

And below is a glimpse at my lettuce before the bitter cold arrives.

Salad in the Autumn

We've been lucky weather-wise, so I can still get some good veggies from the garden. This is my taco salad before I added ground turkey cooked with fresh garlic. I know I'm not the only one who does this, but I find myself harvesting, cleaning, chopping, and storing the different veggies so they're ready when I need them. I also made a pasta salad with the last of the green beans along with pesto chicken. And I forgot to take a photo. The photo below shows two gifts--the cucumber from a friend and the salsa from a neighbor. I'll miss my garden as we head into cooler temperatures, though I'll do my best to keep the lettuce growing as long as possible!

Melon in Minnesota

Yes, this is a cantaloupe grown in Minnesota. Yes, it's small compared to the ones in the grocery stores. For size, that's a quarter next to the melon. This variety is "Minnesota Midget" from Pinetree Garden Seeds. It's just as delicious as a full-sized variety but matures more quickly, sixty days according to the seed packet. They mature more slowly in my flirts-with-shade garden, but they're worth the wait! 

Harvest Season and Joe Pye

The Joe Pye Weed loves all the rain we've had this year and looks tall and lush (below). The bees love it (above).

After my mild neglect and the critters' voracious appetites, my vegetable harvest will be smaller than usual this year. That's okay. I know now that next year I've got to protect every stage--from seed to fruit. I did before, of course, but I'd get lazy and skip a day. Or three. With such an influx of wildlife, I know I have to be vigilant next spring. At least nothing seems to eat Joe Pye Weed plants. (Did I just jinx them?)

The Power of Coleus

As a gardener living with shade, I love coleus. The plants might not flower, but the foliage adds color, whether it's bold or subtle. This one is tall, like a column, but it branches out, looking full and healthy. It looks great on my front porch with the hibiscus, red banana, and lavender. I'd recommend this variety, but I lost the tag. (I searched and searched! I bet a squirrel stole it...) The name "fire" or "orange" may have been in it. While the stems are violet, the leaves are a bold bronze with a tinge of green. This may be my new favorite coleus.

July Garden Update

July is a great time for Minnesota gardens. My garden has mostly recovered from rodents, due to a double layer of netting around my garden beds. We've been eating green beans, but I won't have many for freezing this year. Next year I will set up the netting immediately so I can get a full crop. The photo above is one of many transplanted Milkweed plants, moved last year from the road where I almost lost them due to spraying.

Here is a hibiscus (bought on clearance!).

Above is a daylily--they're looking fabulous this year, maybe from the recent rains. Below are containers on the back deck and a row of hostas in the yard.

While the rain was needed, it took its toll on my delphiniums, which got heavy and snapped in the wind (only the ones that were extra tall this year and I didn't have a stake that matched their heights). So I took this delicate teacup/May Day gift basket and floated some of the individual blooms in them. Quite lovely!

Happy Fourth of July

This bursting Cleome blossom reminds me a little of fireworks. And for some red, I've added a photo of  Nicotiana below. Happy Fourth!

This is why...

This is why...I don't pull the "weeds" in the lawn. To help pollinators (such as the butterfly above), we mow around the field daisies while they bloom.

This is why...I've been behind on the blog. I'm teaching a summer class...fun but time-consuming. And while that may not seem like a good excuse, we're covering a semester's worth of material in a short summer space. I still have family stuff to do (we have to eat, after all), so my garden is neglected.

Not everyone is neglecting my garden. The mice, voles, chipmunks, and squirrels ransack my garden constantly. I think I've finally gained the upper hand, or maybe that's just because a large hawk has moved into the neighborhood. 

I'll get back to regular blogging soon...after I re-plant the peas. And the beans. Gosh, the weeds have taken over. And I have to do something about those flowers...

Plethora of Pictures

Early May is truly wonderful in Minnesota--few bugs, low humidity, and lots of interesting things in the garden. Yet May also seems to be the busiest month in my life. I've been behind on the blog, so here are some photos to catch up. 

I planted Fritallaria bulbs years ago...and this may be the second time blooming. I suspect it's because the area was too shady, but I cleaned the garden up a bit. That tiny line is not a photograph flaw--it's a piece of my hair. I use hair to deter squirrels and deer from gnawing at the flowers.

Cheery cherry blossoms

And apples

Blooms completely covered the apple trees, perhaps because we had a milder winter. But we had some cold temperatures a few days ago, so I'm not sure if we'll get many apples. It's hard to photograph, but I stepped into a fantastical fairy world of delicate white flowers and buzzing bees as I stood under the tree. 

When the blossoms fell, the ground look like it was covered in snow. That silly thing hanging from the branch of the tree is smelly soap to deter deer, attached in March. I'm claiming my garden as human territory. 

We cleared out some brush, and now wild strawberries are taking over. 

The wild flowers are blooming, like these downy yellow violets...

and  early meadow rue. (This isn't a complete list of what's in our woods..maybe some other time,)

And, of course, I end this post with one of my favorites, lilacs! I'm such a nerd, inhaling deeply whenever I pass them. I hope that wherever life takes me I'll be able to see lilacs in the spring. 

April Flowers

Ah Minnesota, where it can be snowy one day and flirting with 80F a few days later. My April flowers are the usual suspects. For those who attended my gardening presentations recently, I was worried about my crocuses because of all the mouse and vole activity. I do have two clumps of crocuses left--one yellow and one purple. I'm thinking about planting more spring-flowering bulbs this fall. Here's squill

 and yellow crocuses

and purple crocuses

and daffodils

Our kitty likes to sit with me on the porch in the sun. Or maybe I should say that cat allows me to share his porch.

I love this photo of pasque flower. The camera almost ate the pollen.

This lilac tree is not ready to bloom yet, but the moss is thriving on these cool, damp days. The tangle of branches must be home for ancient woodland spirits.

I'm likin' lichen

This rotting tree stump is home to both moss and lichen. The lichen in the photo is common, but it's pretty fun to see the bright color when most things are the same shade of dull (except for the squill/ Scilla, which are looking pretty good and have popped up in new places again this year). This particular lichen is Cladonia cristatella, or British soldiers, due to the red "caps." 

Kew Gardens Woodland Garden

The Woodland Garden reminded me of home.

I've seen this type of Lady Slipper (Cypripedium kentuckiense) and others not far from my Minnesota house. Our backyard gems are important enough to be a star in the Royal Gardens.

This section definitely has the look and feel of Minnesota. What a nice surprise. Kew gardeners, you are welcome to visit my woods for inspiration. Just bring plenty of bug spray! 

Upcoming Presentations

Got spring fever? I'm giving two free gardening presentations here in Minnesota. The first is Saturday, March 19 at 10 am at Eagle Bend Library. The second is Sunday, March 20, at 1 pm at Staples Library. Hope to see you there!