False indigo is a perennial heading up the popularity charts — and having planted several tufts of it in my re-designed front-yard bed, I can see why. Baptisia australis is a North American native (as far north as Iowa) that the Cherokee tribes used for dye and to cure tooth-aches. Its use as a dye is understandable when you see…
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Today I dropped in on the Perennial Festival at a local nursery. MSHS is participating in the event which includes several seminars each day, including one by horticulture editor, garden writer, and Bailey Nurseries production guru, Debbie Lonnee, on some of the best perennials for northern gardeners. Debbie knows all about the new plants available and pulled out her 15…
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Nearly every spring, I have to remove a nest or two of Eastern Tent Caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) from the apple trees in our yard. This year appears to be a good year for the caterpillars as I’ve pulled four nests out so far. Eastern tent caterpillars build their silky, web-like nests in the crotches of cherry and apple trees. The…
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Yesterday I noticed my tree peony has started to bloom already — in fact, it went from just slightly open to fully in bloom in a few hours Saturday afternoon. My other peonies — all the herbaceous type — have a few tight balls on them, but no sign of bloom. I bought this one (sorry, I don’t have a…
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Lasagna gardening is a no-till method of starting a garden — usually one for vegetables — that produces humus-rich soil, the ideal environment for “heavy feeders” such as tomatoes. The basic idea is that you layer materials that normally would go into compost to create your garden bed. Like lasagna, the garden has several types of layers and, after it…
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