Trudi Temple farm walk

Last year we had the pleasure of having Trudi Temple speak at the Nursery. She also graciously welcomed us into her Hinsdale garden. This year Trudi has invited us to tour her Northern Illinois sustainable farm. One thing for certain, when Trudi is sharing her gardening knowledge, it is a memorable experience. I can't think of any other speaker I have enjoyed listening to more. Trudi is a kindred spirit. On Thursday August 12th we will be taking a chartered bus from Spring Bluff Nursery to Trudi's farm. We will enjoy lunch at the farm and Trudi will be our guide for this rare opportunity.

Nodding Onion

Last year I propagated Nodding Onion from our farm. I am excited to see it getting ready to bloom. This is a plant native to north east Illinois. The latin name is Allium cernuum. Unlike other allium, it has flat leaves. In early spring it is amongst the first plants to appear and it has a blue color to the leaves. The name comes from the nodding habit of the flower.

Early Morning in the Garden

The rain last night and the cooler air temperature made for early morning fog. What an enchanting setting for the garden. The garden is much work when you work full time but definitely worth it!! I am almost ready to mulch and like any gardener I know, I have thoughts of changing things. I am trying to talk Doug into making the patio bigger and moving the grilling area. We have a brick patio so it is easier to enlarge and keep the same theme. I think I have a good chance of a win this time.

Simple container

I put Sedum and Lantana together with an old bird house and left over curly willow branches. This container sits at my front door and everyone comments about it. I am having fun this year using odds and ends instead of all plants in my containers.

Window Box

Last year Jake built me a window box for Mother's Day. I planted it with a ton of beautiful flowers. This year my feelings are "keep it simple". I love the way it looks and the new Pretty Much Picasso petunia looks fabulous in it with red cabbage. Great job Linda!

Its Gardentown!

Oh my goodness! Its finally back, EXTREME Gardening. I woke up to sunshine, coffee and a walk to water a few plants and the hanging baskets in my yard. Next I filled two truckloads of plants to take to a Garden Festival. I got to talk with other gardeners and back to the nursery. I was talking to a client about getting trees and shrubs installed and I noticed a pound of dirt under my nails. I have funny tan lines on my feet from my Crocks. I love summer!

Feels like summer

Today I helped plant a large garden. We planted 30 different varieties of Tomato plants,15 types of peppers, eggplant, basil, cabbage, lemon grass, melons, cucumbers, squash and onions. I had a good time and learned how to plant a large garden in uniform rows. It looks really good and it will be fun to watch it grow. I got a little sunburned, I think that was meant to be.

Bill Shores in Rick Bayless' Garden

I am very excited because I got tickets to a tour of gardens designed and tended by Bill Shores of Shores Garden Consulting. The tickets for the tour sell out within days. Last year a waited to long to decide and I missed the boat. This year however I acted quickly and got 4 tickets. Myself and a few garden buddies are going to spend the night downtown and make a few days out of it. The following day I volunteer in the Lurie Garden. I love my life!
We are very fortunate to have Bill Speaking at Spring Bluff Nursery on June 5th. His talk will be on Urban Agriculture and Small Space Food Production.

The BEST gifts

Last spring I was working with a new client who has a wooded back yard. She has no turf only the forest floor and many woodland plants. We decided to make an exchange of woodland plants I had at my farm for Trillium which grows abundantly in her woods. Spring went by so quickly I did not get a chance to return for the plants.

Would you believe that wonderful gardener called me this week to remind me to stop over and collect the plants. I of course was not going to let this opportunity pass me by again. I found a small window of time on my next day off and I have adopted a small group of beautiful Trillium.

MINT mint MiNT

The early warm snap has given the plants a jump start and it is time to start my spring clean up. I enjoy weeding the mint bed because it smells divine the entire time your in it. The harder I work the more fragrant it is.

Just when I thought no one knew what I was doing, my daughter popped her head out the back door with excitement "your in the mint"! She then proceeded to open all the windows.