Cantigny's Open House this Sunday

We are in the process of making everything spiffy for our visitors this Sunday, and hopefully you're one of them!  We had a bustling day yesterday with scads of dedicated (and much appreciated) volunteers come in and help us make the space clean and pretty. 

Do you have the time at some point on Sunday for a stroll through our greenhouses?  We're open from 10am-3pm.  Not only will our summer plantings be on their best behavior for your viewing pleasure, but we will also have a variety of worthy agencies and organizations set up for you to snag a few interesting tidbits and widen your world a bit.

Stop in, say hello, have a cookie and a glass of punch...you know flowers always make you smile :)

Your Garden is the Best Teacher

We've had a string of rainy, soggy days.  And it's been hard to get out into the garden to do much of anything.  (Please don't work in wet soil--you'll do more harm than good, wreaking soil structure that you've tried to improve with great soil amendments).

I love to read.  Gardening books are invaluable; periodicals too.  You've probably got a stash at home, but the library is a great resource too.  Or you can possibly borrow a fellow gardener's favorite.  Winter and these mucky spring days are great to learn about something new or brush up on a topic you might have forgotten about.

But there is really no substitute for getting out there in your garden and trying it.  Maybe you want to try vegetable gardening for the first time.  Or maybe you fret about the "right" color combinations (hey, if you like it--try it!  Don't think about right ways or wrong ways here--let the garden snobs worry--you be the adventurer!).  Maybe you're smitten with a plant that is just out of our zone....Try it I say!  You may not always be successful...but then again, you just might be.  What's the harm in giving it a try?  I'll bet my favorite trowel that you'll gain some very specific knowledge particular to just you and your garden that you probably wouldn't find in any written word.  And that knowledge is worth sharing. 

We're trying a few plants for spring this year that might be pushing the temperature boundaries (we're going to plant out snapdragons, sweet peas this week--and yes, they like cool temps, but cold?  I don't know, we'll see...).  We're also trying out a millet called 'Flashlights'...will it do well in a cool, wet spring season?  I hope so.  We're also going to be creating some hanging "ball" baskets for spring, summer and fall.  Will our plant choices work?  I think so.  I'm going to be trying some new veggie varieties that are touted to be beautiful, but will they be tasty too?  I'll let you know.  Will you let me know about your garden adventures?  Are you courageous enough to share your not-so-successful stories along with the super-duper ones?  C'mon, we'll both grow 'n tell!

April Snow-ers Bring May Flowers

Wow!  What a difference a week makes, doesn't it?  Last weekend we had a drop of summer--sunshine, balmy southern breezes, temps in the 80's.  Back to winter this weekend--gray clouds whistling through bearing gifts of snow and wind.  Hmmpf!  What kind of a spring is that?  Just a typical spring in Chicago; I guess that's how we get our 50 degree average temperature around here....a few days in the twenties and a few days in the eighties and our average temperature is now fifty.

Which is why, my last week's post was cautioning not to buy or plant too early.  A reader did have a response to me....Yeah!  (I often wonder if I am writing for myself only).  So, thank you, thank you, thank you, to Heather for sending me a courteous and informative reply!  Heather wrote to me, as an employee of the Growing Place.  She agreed with me that many garden centers--very often the big box stores--put out inappropriate plants for our weather--like tomatoes.  And Heather you are so right!  We are a good two-three weeks out from safely planting those types of plants out...unless you do have a crystal ball and can foretell the future, knowing that we will not have another frost again for the rest of the spring.  Unfortunately, I don't.  So I will abide by the garden rule of May 15th being our average frost free date.  But, remember what I said about above about averages, and even our garden rule isn't a guarantee.

Heather also mentioned that at The Growing Place, (which is a wonderful garden store, by the way...and sidenote here,  often when I am out working in the Idea Garden, a guest may ask where she may locate a particular, maybe unusual, plant that we have in our designs.  While I don't think it appropriate as an employee of Cantigny, to tout a particular business, I will make a suggestion of several local businesses, and I can tell you, that The Growing Place is one that frequents my suggestions) they do their best to make sure that the plants they are selling you now are the ones that you can safely be planting now.  And, Heather, it has to be a difficult balancing act between demand and customer success, as you pointed out--and I applaud you folks for doing your best to educate our local gardeners!

If you want a shopping experience, seek out some of your neighborhood garden centers for knowledgeable suggestions and design tips. The big box stores serve their purpose as well--but please know the difference.  So, you, as a local gardener, have a balancing act of your own.  When to plant....when to be patient.  Where to shop to get a "bargain"-priced plant and where to shop to get some solid (and friendly) garden advice.  Happy (patient) Gardening!

Is it Spring or is it Summer?

It's April 10th and we're forecasted to have temperatures in the high 80's, possibly the 90's?  I'm gearing up to make a nice big pitcher of sun tea!  We dig out the short-sleeved tops and shorts and feel completely giddy...after such a winter, who wouldn't?  And after today, a lot of things that have been lying in wait just under the surface of the soil or unbudded on branches will burst forth showing off their "summer wear" as well. 

Garden centers have somehow created a specialized magnetic force that draws gardeners of all skill levels into the depths of their aisles showing off their finery of spring bloomers, herbs, vegetables and tropicals.  (Side note:  Yes, I was sucked into that magnetic field yesterday and purchased a Knock-out rose at Wal-mart for under $9.)  After a 5 month palette of white, gray, brown, tan (and mud) we physically need our fix!

But don't be fooled.  You do know that garden centers' main goal is to make a profit?  As much as we might like to think that if the plants are in the stores/nurseries--it must be time to plant...it really isn't so.  Sure, you can plant those that enjoy the bite (frost) of spring that is sure to make a return visit:  Bellis (English Daisy), Dusty Miller, Osteospermum (Cape May Daisy), Violas, etc.   As well as lettuce, cabbage, Brussels sprout, and parsley plants. Don't forget you can directly sow seed for carrots, lettuce, peas and radishes too. 

But please don't buy (and plant) those plants that really only thrive in true warm weather conditions:  basil, peppers, tomatoes, and any kind of tropical anything (Caladium, Canna, Colocasia, etc.).  You know how those tropical types are--they never pack anything for when a cold spell hits us...and then there they sit--shivering, slumped over, looking miserable like a young fashionista caught in a cold spring rain.

Do try to restrain yourselves a bit when purchasing plants on days with temperatures like today.  The cold temps will make a few more return visits yet and if you've purchased those sensitive characters you'll either end up hauling them in and out of your house or garage on cold nights/warm days or they will sit in your soil glaring back at you when you're tucked inside the house enjoying a hot cup of tea on a blustery spring day.  When the magnetic field draws you in, just think, "Iced tea today, but hot tea tomorrow".

A Gardener's Best Friend?

Knowledge is a great assest to gardening. Especially for beginning gardeners.

Reading is great way to get that knowledge.....but a friend can be even better.  So, a gardener's best friend can be a friend who's a gardener.

I've learned a lot over the years from fellow gardeners--people that I took gardening classes with, people I meet through participating in the Cooperative Extension Service's Master Gardener program; as well as as my co-workers and my volunteers.  The first gardening friends I made were in a gardening club in my community.  Over a period of years in getting to know everyone in the club I made many friends.  Friends who shared their seeds.  They shared plants and opinions.  They shared their gardens.  Gardeners are some of the most generous people I know. 

I'd encourage you to join a gardening club--one that suits your style (you might need to visit a few before you decide which one might be to your liking).  Generally speaking, gardeners are wise, they have a good sense of humor (they have to considering they've stuck it through droughts and downpours, voracious insects, steadfast weeds, etc.), and most of all--they are generous.  And who couldn't use a friend like that?