Zonker Goes All Garden

I have about four comic strips that I have to check in on nearly every day: For Better or Worse (yes, I’m one of those saps who teared up when Farley, the dog, died); Luann, Crankshaft (the recent bit where the parents take their daughter to college was a hoot), and Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury. It [...]

Read Full Post »

New Northern Gardener Available

The September/October issue of Northern Gardener is on newsstands now and it’s packed with practical and interesting articles for fall gardening. For instance, if you want to plant a tree –  and fall is a great time for tree planting — Nancy Rose offers 10 choices for yard or street trees that are not green [...]

Read Full Post »

Rain Report

After a fairly dry summer, we’ve certainly been making up for it over the past two weeks. On Aug. 7 and 8, my rain gauge collected 2.75 inches of rain; over this past weekend, it picked up another inch. Today, after extremely heavy rains, the gauge had 1.75 inches in it — with more rain [...]

Read Full Post »

Pie Time!

Earlier this week, the cherries on my ‘Bali’ cherry tree looked like rubies; they were shiny, lush, bright red and definitely ready for picking. So after removing the layers of netting that kept the birds off the tree, I got to work picking. When positively ripe, ‘Bali’ cherries come off easily, and I pitted most [...]

Read Full Post »

A Little PR for the Blog

I could not have been more surprised this morning when the phone rang at 8:30 and my mother asked, “Have you read the Pioneer Press today?”
“I’m reading it now.”
“You better check section E.”
Whoa — there on page 5E was a story about my blog. The same story appeared about a month ago in Spaces magazine, [...]

Read Full Post »

A Succulent Event at the Home and Patio Show

The Minnesota Home and Patio Show at the St. Paul River Centre this weekend has a passel of great programs for gardeners, as well as a chance to talk with many landscapers from the Twin Cities. One of the trendier topics on the Northern Gardener stage is Jim Laupan’s program scheduled for tomorrow afternoon on [...]

Read Full Post »

Another Lousy Day in Paradise

I’m traveling home today from southwest Florida, where it is — as my father is fond of saying — another lousy day in paradise. I am leaving Naples to head back to Minnesota where the weather has been rainy, windy, and really lousy during the few days I’ve been visiting my folks. The weather here [...]

Read Full Post »

Best Bets for Beginning Vegetable Gardeners

I spent most evenings over the past week digging through the stacks of seed catalogs that have been arriving at my house since Thanksgiving. While I probably get more catalogs than most gardeners, it struck me how daunting deciding what to grow might be for beginning vegetable gardeners.
And, there will be lots of beginning vegetable [...]

Read Full Post »

Terrace Horticultural Books: A Gardener’s Haven

Tuesday I had the chance to visit a St. Paul gardening landmark — Terrace Horticultural Books, and for a reading gardener (or a gardening reader), this place is fabulous. Run by Kent Petterson, a retired electrical contractor and master gardener, the store houses about 15,000 volumes related to gardening. It’s located on the first floor [...]

Read Full Post »

New Northern Gardener Available

If you are planning a garden or landscape renovation for this year, please pick up a copy of the January/February issue of Northern Gardener, which  is on bookstore shelves now. The magazine includes a story by Don Engebretson, a.k.a., the Renegade Gardener, on how to design your own landscape. As usual, Don’s advice is spot [...]

Read Full Post »