By Katherine Whiteside (Clarkson Potter, 2007)

I first read The Way We Garden Now when it came out in 2007, and almost immediately did one of the 41 projects in the book to create a new garden in my front yard. Looking it over again to do this review, I found two other projects for the coming garden season.

That’s what I really like about this book. It meets gardeners where they are and gives them the hands-on tools to create the gardens they want. It’s inspiring, but not in that you-need-a-degree-in-horticulture-and-a-fulltime-gardener way that some garden books are. The projects are organized into five categories: basics, design, ornamentals, edibles and seasonal gardening. Within each category, there are projects appropriate for rank beginners, such as the smother method project I did in 2007, as well as those for more advanced gardeners, such as installing a patio. In between, Whiteside gives accessible instructions for how to build a compost pile, create an herb bed, plant for birds, use garden ornaments, plant a hedge, create a path and a couple of dozen other ideas.

One reason I think this book is so accessible is that it includes no photos. There are plenty of illustrations, whimsically drawn by Peter Gergely, but these are not overwhelming. They show you how to do the task, rather than what the task should look like when you’re done. It’s great for those of us happy to embrace imperfection.

If you are looking for ideas and instructions for ways to improve your garden next year, check this one out.

Hoar frost on Karl Foerster grass

Fog persisted into afternoon and ice crystals clung to grass, wondering, “Where is winter?”

Walk through the Marjorie McNeely conservatory, warm and green.

Maybe it was because I’m at the end of a moderately miserable cold, but I really wanted to visit the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park this week. Luckily, I had two meetings in the Twin Cities today, with a nice spot of time between them to go soak up the warm, humid air.

Even though the outside temperatures were mild for January (about 40 at midday), it felt wonderful to walk into the fern room and experience the sudden rush of warmth and humidity. My camera fogged up, so I had no choice but to settle down on a bench and just breath deeply. (My sinuses felt better already!) The sunken garden, one of my favorite parts of the conservatory, was closed as the conservatory crews took down the holiday display and put up the spring display — lots of bright, beautiful lilies, which may inspire a return trip.

Conservatory pool -- very Zen.

It was all green-on-green in the palm room and then I visited a room full of plants that produce the spices we love — an over-the-top-of-the-door vanilla vine, black pepper plant, ginger and other medicinal and useful plants. With a pool in the center, flanked by a statue of St. Francis, the room was calm and soothing. Francis is surrounded by Pothos, a common houseplant, that really thrives in the sun and humidity of the conservatory.

Calanthe grouville

Later, I wandered into the room where the winners of a the conservatory’s orchid contest were displayed. The smell was glorious on one side of the room; pungent on the other — at least to my nose — and all the orchids were showstoppers.

Soon it was time to head out to my next meeting. I left feeling refreshed and inspired.

From USDA

A sliver of Minnesota is officially in USDA Zone 5, according to the new hardiness zone map released today by the USDA, the first update to the map since 1990. Beyond that corner of Jackson and Martin Counties going officially zone 5 (a place where the lowest winter temperatures don’t sink below -20 degrees F — like say, Chicago), a huge chunk of Minnesota is now rated zone 4b (lowest temp: -25) and the area around St. Cloud has shifted from borderline zone 3 to a firm zone 4a — break out the Japanese maples!

According to the USDA, the changes in zones are the result of several factors. Mapping techniques are much better than in 1990, allowing for finer distinctions. For the first time, cities with urban heat islands may show up a zone or half-zone warmer than in the past — though not the Twin Cities.  USDA also had access to more accurate data and more data because it has more weather stations checking in with information. This map also is based on 30 years of weather information (1976-2005) rather than the 12 years (1974-1986) used for the 1990 map. This smooths out the weather fluctuations plants experience and gives a more accurate picture of growing conditions, according to USDA. For instance, mountainous regions may now be rated colder because the new data takes altitude into account more accurately.

The fact that about half the U.S. is a half zone warmer than in the previous map certainly brings up the issue of climate change. The USDA takes a cautious approach, noting that this map may merely be more accurate than previous maps and that climate change shows itself over even longer stretches of time (50 to 100 years).

The USDA has a very informative website about the new map, which allows folks to input their zip code to get very detailed information.

By Cassandra Danz (Three Rivers Press, 1993)

Mrs. Greenthumbs: How I Turned a Boring Yard into A Glorious Garden and How You Can, Toois a march through the gardening year with a hilarious, opinionated guide: Cassandra Danz.  I was sorry to read elsewhere that Danz died in 2002, but she left behind two books full of stories and advice. This is the first one, and Northfield readers can find it in the Northfield Public Library.

Mrs. Greenthumbs started out as a character in comedy sketches Danz performed, but Danz was a knowledgeable gardener and her advice is spot-on and delivered with humor and joy.  In a chapter on Japanese beetles she notes that “to have a cultivated garden, you have to be prepared to kill something.  You have to pull out weeds, cut down weed trees, and scare off, fence out, or murder woodchucks, rabbits, deer and destructive insects.” The beetles, she says, “would make a lovely brooch,” but the have to go. Many northern gardeners would agree.

In addition to rants on beetles, Mrs. Greenthumbs will tell you how to prune a tree or shrub, how to avoid double digging, and which seven perennials you must have in your garden (columbines, peonies, irises, hollyhocks, daylilies, phlox and asters). Like a good friend, she’ll tell you the garden truths you do not want to hear (In my case, that you really need to have a fence or other form of enclosure to have a truly comfortable garden), and she’ll keep you laughing all the way through.

Find it, read it.

Snow covered chokeberries.

“Well, you got what you wanted,” my husband said as he stomped the snow off his feet from shoveling our back deck. Over the past 24 hours, we got a good coating of ice (not what I wanted!) followed by about 4 inches of snow, according to our shoveling estimates. Northfield seems to have picked up more than the Twin Cities, which is fine by me, as we at last have snow on the gardens.

Ice clings to 'Karl Foerster' grass. (click to see more clearly)

The ice formations were pretty last night, but the sidewalks and roads were more than a little treacherous. It’s good to have snow — we’ve had a brown winter long enough!

By Gayla Trail (Fireside, 2005)

I can’t believe (well, yes I can) that my 30 book reviews planned for the holiday season stopped at 23. Life and laziness intervened, but I’m back at it this week with some new and old books – and, with any luck, we’ll hit 30 by spring.

Today’s book is You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening by Gayla Trail, one of the first blog-to-book publications. In 2000, Trail – a stalwart Canadian, so she has northern gardener credentials – started a website called YouGrowGirl.com. It’s still a lively site for folks with an interest in small space and food gardening. Since the publication of You Grow Girl in 2005, Trail has written two other books. Grow Great Grub on small space food gardening and the soon-to-be released Easy Growing on growing herbs and flowers in small spaces.

You Grow Girl has a fun, cool vibe. It covers a lot of the basics of gardening: choosing a space, deciding what to grow, how to deal with poor soil. But what distinguishes it from other basic garden manuals, other than its hip tone, are the projects. Trail tells readers how to make a simple planter box, a wire cloche to protect plants, tea bags for herbal teas, seed packets and a succulent container among many others. All of the projects are well-illustrated and easy to follow. She lets readers know how difficult the project is, and truthfully, none of them are that hard. When I first got the book, I made the garden apron for my sister, who cheerfully modeled it at our family Christmas party.

There isn’t a lot in You Grow Girl that is new but it is loads of fun to look at and, if I knew a young woman who had an interest in gardening, I would give her this book. It would provide a good start in the garden and lots of crafty fun to boot.

Not sure what this daylily is called, but the color will be hot in 2012.

At this time of year, there’s plenty of discussion about what’s hot, what’s new and which trends will influence gardening this year. Some of the trends are fun, if superficial. Expect to see even more hot orange flowers now that Tangerine Tango is the color of the year. More gardeners are also playing with succulents and a few are heading back to the 70s with terrariums. (We’ll have an article on terrariums in Northern Gardener later in 2012.)

But beyond what looks good and what is fashionable, gardens reflect some underlying social shifts. For instance, interest in food gardening continues to be on the rise, including among young people, who traditionally are nongardeners. (According to a Garden Writers Association trend report, 59 percent of homeowners are now growing some food.) Whether trend watchers call them Urban Knights or The New Beginners, these are folks who want to eat healthy and to know what they are eating. They are concerned about food miles, eating seasonally and growing really tasty, clean food. To help these young gardeners, you’ll see even more information about small-space gardening and plants that are easy to grow as well as organic methods and heirloom seeds. Renee’s Garden Seeds, for example, recently introduced “Easy to Grow Seed Collections,” one for a container kitchen garden and one for a colorful kitchen garden.

Another trend can be loosely called concern for the earth. After growing food, the issues homeowners want information about most included earth-friendly gardening (49 percent) and native plants (41 percent). Planting for butterflies, bees and birds — pollinators — is motivating plant selections by more gardeners and more gardeners are committing to heirloom plants and organic methods.

Another not-exactly-surprising change is that more gardeners are seeking information about growing plants on the Internet. About 25 percent of gardeners turn to the web for information. (Only 8 percent turn to garden blogs!)

In many ways, these are continuations of trends from as far back as 2008. I’m excited about all these trends (even the terrariums!) so it’s an good time to be a gardener.

Lynn is a native plant enthusiast and has written several books on natives, but her home garden is a mix of prairie, native plantings and traditional garden plants. She pulls it all together in  a lovely country setting. It’s a great story by Susan Davis Price and Lynn provided the photos.

Elsewhere in the issue, we have a bundle of articles to get you excited about your 2012 garden, including articles on what to plant under trees, how to design a curb garden and what to expect from the Japanese beetle next year.

Sweet potato vine makes an encore.

I wrote earlier this week about the weirdly warm winter we are having and its effect on a few perennials in my yard. But I have another plant that just won’t stop in the house.

Last summer, I planted sweet potato vines in a couple of pots with the houseplant Mother in Law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata) and some petunias. It was a pretty container and, when the annuals faded in fall, I decided to bring the mother-in-law’s tongue (I think it’s also called snake plant) in for the winter. I pulled out all the annuals, cleaned the plants and pots off, and put two matching containers of mother-in-law’s tongue flanking our fireplace.

A few weeks passed, and as I was getting ready to put up the Christmas tree, I noticed something growing in one of the pots — and it’s not a pointy, desert plant. A piece of the sweet potato vine was growing! Now that the holidays are past, the plant has really taken off. I’ve watered it a bit, and it gets very little direct sunlight (sweet potato vines are said to need 6 to 8 hours of sun) but it keeps on growing.

I’ve written before about the persistence of plants. Their drive to survive, to live, to flower, to set seed, to grow, grow, grow, always amazes and humbles me. So, I won’t be pulling the sweet potato vine from its pot. Let it grow, and we’ll see how far it gets.