An afternoon at the Arboretum

We went to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (we're members) last spring and I got some ideas for the gardens. Lots of purple and lots of petunias this year. How did it work out? Not so good. Lots of slugs. Not much grew except for the perennial garden.

So today -- Labor Day -- we went for our late summer/fall visit. The Arboretum had a better year, I guess. For the slideshow below, I recommend the full screen version. Just click the icon with the four arrows on the bottom right. Hit play and the rest will display automatically.

Garden therapy

I have always said -- only to myself -- that the more I'm enjoying work, the worse my gardens are. This year, my gardening is going very well, despite a drought that doesn't seem to want to quit anytime soon. We're getting a few showers in the Twin Cities today, but only enough to ruin some people's plans, not enough to do any good.

Here it is June 6, and some of the perennials that should be out in mid-May are just unfolding. It's been that kind of year.

Here's the spring tour.

I had hoped to expand the perennial bed in the front yard, but money being tight and the economy being what it is, a kid in college, a deck project to finish, and an airplane engine loan to pay, it doesn't seem like the right time.



It's going to be a big year for the delphinium.



The Japanese lilac is the last to bloom. Unfortunately, it's season is just about done.



I've got a lot more flowers on these cool-colored iris that my mother sent me a few years ago.



And the peony are just starting to bloom. This was my grandmother's bush. She would've been 113 on Thursday.



OK, hummingbirds, where are you?



These peonies -- one white and one pink -- aren't quite ready to show themselves.



You can't see it very well, but Carolie bought me two hydrangea bushes for my birthday. I'm branching out, as it were, from gardens on the edges of things and starting to try to develop one in the middle of the backyard. It seems silly to have a big patch of grass back there now that the kids are gone. Better to have a nice "nature walk."



The original garden, back by edge of the estate, isn't much to look at anymore. Trees have grown so much that it's shady most of the time. Still, I planted some beans and radishes and corn, all of which sprouted. The rabbits have pretty much eaten everything except the radishes, however.



And there's not much to the yellow iris garden around the apple tree. I spent an hour or so last week weeding this. There's also some bee balm in there... somewhere.



Now that part of the deck has been rebuilt, I'm trying a little container gardening this year.



I even threw some extra radishes, beans, and corn in this one. I realize it's too much for one container, but what the heck. By the way, my corn is now -- technically -- knee high.



We'll check in a few months and see how they all did.

Naturalizing with daffodils

I'm back in Minnesota but wanted to share a tip from my gardening mother. She has dandelions daffodils and narcissus sprouting up in remote locations. It looks quite nice.





Here's how she does it: She cuts the dandelions daffodils for bouquets, and then when they wilt and die, she just tosses 'em in spots where she wants them to sprout later. Simple, eh?



"How long will it take before they come up?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said.

Painting the springtime bridge

This weekend I started the gardening and lawn care work. Nothing serious. Just raking. I'm starting to reach the stage where I wonder what I really get out of doing the same thing over and over again? It used to be I'd get a bit of satisfaction from vacuuming the house on Saturday and emptying the bagless filter. I could see the product of my work: lots of compressed dust and dog hair. My victory against the unseen germs! But now I take it out and wonder what's the difference? The dust and dog hair will be back by next Saturday. Who will ever know I've been here if all I do is vacuum and, in this case, rake? Nobody ever comes over to see it anyway.

No matter how nice the gardens end up looking -- or not -- it'll all be covered by snow again next year.

So this is always a good time to head to one of my favorite spots: the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on the other side of the Twin Cities. If ever decide that my ashes shouldn't be scattered around Home Depot, the Arboretum would be my backup.

It was sunny and quite warm today so Carolie headed over, anxious to do a little birdwatching. But by the time we got there, rain and thunder had moved in, so we walked around in the rain, not quite as smart, I guess as the birds, who headed for cover and silence.

The flowers and shrubs there are a little ahead of me. My forsythia bushes are in full blossom, theirs are past. Their daffodils are out, mine are barely up.

I like theirs better. As always, click the image for a bigger view.


We found this guy -- or maybe it's a woman flower, I forget -- around some ground cover. We have no clue what it is, but it's cool.



Every year, the Arboretum has a "theme" of color throughout the zillions of acres. Last year I think it was reds and oranges, the year before that red, white, & blue. This year it's whites and yellows.

We're going to go back in a few weeks. By then, hundreds of Lady Slippers should be out.

I also like the Arboretum because of all the benches around the property. I love benches. I thought it would be cool to get one to honor my mother and father. But today I found out you can do that -- for $10,000. I don't like benches that much.