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February 11, 2014 · 3 Comments

How to Create Beauty in the Vegetable Garden

How to

During these last cold days of winter (hope, hope, hope!), I’ve been taking refuge in the garden photos I took last summer. Among the images are many from vegetable gardens that are truly beautiful spaces as well as nourishing.

mixed lettuce bowlMy vegetable garden usually has the shabby chic look (or maybe just shabby), but I’ve found that lettuces planted in pots or window boxes can be very attractive, especially those with rose-tipped, ruffly foliage. But a couple of the gardens I visited last summer took vegetable gardening beauty well beyond that.

vertical cabbageThe vegetable garden at Squire House Gardens in Afton, for example, was lush, colorful and full of texture on the warm August afternoon when I stopped by. Planting green and purple cabbages together created a round contrast. Big ripe peppers hung from plants, like green ornaments, ready for plucking. A tall trellis covered in green beans created a produce wall at the back of the garden. The gardeners included a water feature and garden art, too, which encourage visitors to linger. Even the asparagus plants, long past their picking prime, added soft texture with their mature fronds.

Earlier in the summer, I visited the garden of Amy Andrychowicz, proprietor at the Get Busy Gardening blog. You can read all about Amy’s garden in the March/April issue of Northern Gardener, which will be out in about two weeks, but suffice it to say, she has a way with vegetables. The big arch covered with squash is like a grand entry to the garden, and she mixes annuals, such as nasturtiums among the vegetables to add color and encourage pollination. It’s a lovely garden and I was delighted to be able to write about it for Northern Gardener.

vegetable garden with raised bedsFor more photos of vegetable garden prettiness, see the gallery below. What will you be planting in your vegetable garden this year?

Mature asparagus add a feathery look to the garden.
Mixed cabagges!
Pretty pepper

Romaine heads in a window box
Tomatoes ripen in the sun
Time to water the garden

More peppers

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Comments

  1. Nancy Lizette Berlin says

    February 13, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    Great blog Mary. The link to follow your blog does not connect. How about adding a WordPress Widget???

  2. Mary Schier says

    February 13, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Thanks, Nancy — I’ll fix that ASAP

  3. LondonPlanters.co.uk says

    March 10, 2014 at 2:22 am

    One good thing about vegetable gardening is that you can sell excess vegetables to earn some money. It may not a load but still is something. But rather than the money, the feel you can have by selling vegetables from your backyard is more satisfying. Cheers Mary…

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Grow it, Minnesota Podcast

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It’s National Gardening Day! I’m not much for It’s National Gardening Day! I’m not much for special days (sorry, siblings, I missed that one last week) but any excuse to post a picture of a gorgeous peony, I’ll take! 

Peonies are a huge part of Minnesota’s horticultural heritage. They aren’t native but our cold climate is perfect for peonies. They’ve been hybridized in Minnesota for over 150 years, and the state still has several peony breeders based here. If you ever get a chance to go to a peony open day in June, jump on it. Seeing rows and rows of peonies all blooming at once is a northern gardener’s joy. 

Peonies will last forever, too. Plant one in the right place and it will outlive you by decades. What’s your favorite plant? 
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#nationalgardeningday #nationalgardenmonth #garden #peony #horticulturalheritage #garden #mygarden #mynortherngarden #gardeninspo #gardenblogger 
#mngardening #minnesota #mnhort
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#stpaulgarden #stpaulmn
#Zone4garden #zone4b #nofilterneeded
This week’s podcast and blog post are about grow This week’s podcast and blog post are about growing summer bulbs. I grow lilies in containers, 1) because they look great and 2) because the rabbits 🐇 can’t get them as easily there. Growing bulbs in containers means you can move them around the garden for extra color where you need it. 

Bulbs aren’t that tricky to grow, though you will have to pull dahlias, gladiolus and canna lilies for the winter. Lilies can stay in the ground. This winter, I left some in their pots and held  them in the unheated garage. They survived and are already putting up foliage. 

Check the 🔗 in bio for links to my interview with Mike Heger as well as the blog post on growing bulbs in containers. 
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#bulbs #summerbulbs #lilies #liliesinpots #containergardening #summergarden #garden #mygarden #monalisalily #mynortherngarden #gardeninspo
#mngardening #minnesota #mnhort
#gardeninglife #coldclimategardening
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#Zone4garden #zone4b
In bloom at the big box store: Columbine! These lo In bloom at the big box store: Columbine! These look pretty but most of the in ground columbines are just greening up in Minnesota. That’s one thing to remember when shopping for perennial plants now. If it’s in bloom, it’s a spring plant and will probably be green all summer. Nothing wrong with lots of spring bloom in the garden, but plan for the whole season by picking things that bloom in July, August, even the fall, too. 
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#columbine #plantshopping #gardentips #minnesota #mngarden #coldclimategardening #zone4b #springblooms #garden #perennials #perennialgarden #perennialflowers
So many things are suddenly blooming! . . . #spri So many things are suddenly blooming! 
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#spring #springinmn #bulbs #forsythia #irisreticulata #squill #earlyspring #garden #gardeninspo
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Uff da! This seems really early for daffodils 🌼 Uff da! This seems really early for daffodils 🌼 in Minnesota. Last year, I posted my first daffodil photo on April 12, and it was in snow ❄️! No snow this year, and this tracks with the info I heard earlier this week that we are 10 to 14 days ahead of schedule. I’m enjoying the warmth but can’t shake the memory of 2019’s mid-April blizzard. The joys of cold climate gardening! 
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#garden #mygarden #mynortherngarden #gardeninspo #spring #mnspring #daffodil #springbulbs 
#mngardening #minnesota #mnhort
#gardeninglife #coldclimategardening
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This weeks podcast is about rain gardens with Madd This weeks podcast is about rain gardens with Maddie Poling of @sacredspacegardensmn while rain gardens are great for water filtration, they also can be incredible pollinator gardens, especially if you plant lots of milkweed. Link to the entire episode is in bio. 
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#growitminnesota #raingardens #pollinators #pollinatorplants #milkweed #growitandtheywillcome #coldclimate #coldclimategardening #minnesota #mngarden #gardenpodcast #mnpodcast
Fun news 🗞! I have an essay in the upcoming iss Fun news 🗞! I have an essay in the upcoming issue of Gardening for Health, a special interest publication of Better Homes & Gardens. It’ll be on newsstands and in grocery stores, home centers, drugstores and more starting tomorrow. The essay is about why gardening matters, for our health, our spirits and our communities. I haven’t seen the layout yet, but I’ll be prowling my local Barnes & Noble tomorrow! Can’t wait to see it. 
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#gardenwriter #gardensmatter #gardeningforhealth #bhgspring #bhggarden #bhgspecialinterestpublications
Wondering what winter burn looks like on shrubs? C Wondering what winter burn looks like on shrubs? Check it out. I’ve got three of these dwarf Alberta spruce. This is the worst case. One has no burn, the third just a bit. This one faces south so it gets the most sun and wind. After it starts growing this spring, I’ll trim off the burn. May need some wrapping next winter. 
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#whatswrongwithmyplant #winterburn #evergreen #albertaspruce #dwarfshrubs #dwarfspruce #garden #mygarden #mynortherngarden #gardeninspo
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#gardeninglife #notpretty 
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A pair of crocus cuties. This spring is coming on A pair of crocus cuties. This spring is coming on fast, though we know Mother Nature can slam on the brakes anytime she wants. Enjoy the early blooms and have a great weekend! 
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#crocus #springiscoming #minnesotaspring #springbulb #flowergarden #growflowers
#flowersofinstagram #plants #garden #mygarden #mynortherngarden #gardeninspo
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#stpaulgarden #stpaulmn
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My conversation with Amy from @milkweed.and.daisie My conversation with Amy from @milkweed.and.daisies on the @growitmn podcast got me thinking about annuals that are easy to grow from seed. There are a lot! She grows some I haven’t had in years, like hollyhocks and snapdragons, plus plenty of my favorites. Seven really easy options are listed in a new blog post (🔗 is bio) on the My Northern Garden blog. Cosmos, zinnia and sunflowers may be the easiest of  all. 

The sunflower 🌻 pictured is The Joker. The zinnia photo is one I took of the zinnia beds at the @ballseedgardens I’m not sure about the cosmos, which are from a tour garden. 

Plant any of these annuals in sun and let them grow. Suggestions for annuals to try this year? I’d love to hear them! 
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#annualflowers #cosmos #sunflowers #zinnias #growfromseed #growyourownflowers #coldclimategardening #minnesotagardening #northerngardener #zone4b #mnpodcast #gardenpodcast
The 3+ inches of snow from a couple of days ago is The 3+ inches of snow from a couple of days ago is melting, and the crocus continue to bloom. Hang in there, little flower, spring is on the way. 
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#bulbs #springiscoming #springbulb #minnesota #crocus #meltingsnow #garden #mygarden #mynortherngarden #gardeninspo
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#stpaulgarden #stpaulmn
#Zone4garden #zone4b
Crocus so soon! I was taking apart the holiday pot Crocus so soon! I was taking apart the holiday pot and noticed three crocus blooms in my south-facing front bed. This is a full week earlier than last year, and that felt early to me. They’ll probably get snowed on come Monday. 🌨🌸
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