The Hennepin County Master Gardeners held a garden tour today and, despite my poor navigational skills in South Minneapolis (what can I say? I come from the east side of the Twin Cities), I managed to hit four of the 10 gardens. It was well worth all the missed turns. Each of the gardens had a theme — wildlife garden (that’s where the hawk at left was hanging out), garden retreat, farm garden, etc. — but the gardens had many things in common, too. In addition to wonderful, well-cared-for plants, here are three things I noticed:

Entries: Maybe it’s because these gardens were mostly on fairly narrow urban lots, but the ones I saw had distinct entries. In two, you walked through an arch that seemed to beckon a visitor in. Even those without obvious entry portals had paths that seemed to lead you into and through the garden.

Water: You could not get more simple than this water feature, attached to the exterior wall of one of the homes. But this was positioned just at the point where you entered the backyard and the sound of the water added another sensual element to the garden. A larger garden near Minnehaha Creek boasted a formal fountain as a centerpiece. With curving, perennial-filled beds on each side, the fountain with plants encircling it offered a place for your eye to rest as it moved through the yard.

Art: Whether a simple leaf-cast (very easy to do with a rhubarb or large hosta leaf) or a funky metal sculpture, all of the gardens I saw included artwork — and not just one piece. I saw mosaic stones, stone welcome signs, even a tea-cup glued to a narrow metal pole and planted in the garden — another easy-to-do project.

Thanks to the gardeners for opening their yards to the public and to the Master Gardeners for organizing the tour. The homeowners were present in each of the gardens I visited and happy to share advice. In addition, other Master Gardeners answered questions and offered lots of information and handouts.

I’ve gotten a few inquiries from the neighbors lately about what might be wrong with my cherry tree, since it’s covered up with a strange wrapping that looks like a cross between a bonnet and a shroud. Nothing’s wrong — I’m just protecting the tree from the many roving birds in our yard. This is my third year with this ‘Bali’ cherry tree, a northern-hardy, sour cherry that was developed in Canada where it is called the Evans cherry, and for the first time, I’ve got enough cherries to harvest. The past couple of years, I left the tree uncovered and the birds cleaned me out just as the cherries got ripe.

The day I put the covering over the tree — which is my own combo of netting and garden cloth held in place with bicycle bungee cords — the birds squawked like crazy. I would guess it will be another week or two before the cherries are ripe and I get out my pie-making equipment. I can hardly wait.

I had been lamenting that the bee condo I built last year would go unoccupied this year, but I was surprised yesterday to discover that a swarm of leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.) had moved in. Leafcutters are native bees in the western U.S. and important pollinators. They build nests in soft wood, looking for spots with narrow tunnels, similar to those in my bee condo. Like the orchard mason bees I had hoped to attract with the condo, leafcutters are solitary insects and not particularly aggressive. Their one flaw is the leaf cutting that earned them their common name. I haven’t noticed any plants that seem particularly harmed by the leaf-cutting — but I have noticed happily many bees buzzing around my flower and vegetable gardens recently.

Welcome back, bees!

Because I edit a garden magazine, I’m constantly tempted by new plants — whether they are new on the market or just new to me. This year, I’ve planted two “new to me” plants that have brightened up different spots in the garden.

On the front porch, I put a Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) in a pot. Despite the common-name reference to a favorite prairie plant, this vine is tropical. It was easy to grow from seed and once out on the porch, it started to climb its support. Vines grow 5 to 10 feet long and can be used as a trailer in a window box or hanging basket or as a climber on a trellis. The 2-inch-diameter flowers come in orange and yellow shades and contrast starkly with the deep black eyes at the plant’s center.

In the July/August issue of Northern Gardener, native plants columnist Lynn Steiner recommends Mexican hat (Ratibida columnifera) for its diminutive size, attractive foliage and bright flowers. This is a tough plant that preforms well in dry conditions, sun or light shade, and has an unusual, sombrero-shaped bloom that inspired the common name. When I saw some plants on sale, I bought three. They seemed to struggle a bit at first in the bed, which has plenty of shrub roots, but they’re blooming now and seem to be establishing themselves.

The July/August issue of Northern Gardener is available and it’s full of summer. The cover feature takes readers on a tour of a garden near Two Harbors, where the owners use structures and drifts of flowers to create a northwoods cottage garden. Be sure to check out the article on using succulents in your garden by the always creative Eric Johnson, and if you are starting to harvest more produce than you can eat, be sure to read Ana Micka’s story on home canning. Good reading for a hot day — if we have any again!

You would hardly call our lovable snout house a cottage, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy cottage plants. Right now, I am lovin’ this hollyhock. Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are biennials, which means it takes two years for the plant to complete its lifecycle. I bought this plant in spring 2008 at the Dakota County Master Gardener plant sale. Last year, it was a clump of greenery all summer long. This year, it shot up the way teenage boys do between 9th and 10th grade — so I went from having a stout little plant to big a 6 or maybe even 7 footer.

Last week, it started to put out these lovely deep pink and yellow blossoms, which will go all the way up to the top of the plant and bloom for several weeks. Hollyhocks are easy to grow and they make a dramatic vertical accent in the garden. They are said to self-seed freely, so I will let some of the flowers go to seed this year. One bit of history on hollyhocks: Back in the days before indoor plumbing, homeowners often planted hollyhocks near the outhouse. That way, any genteel visitors would not have to ask where the necessary was — they simply looked for the hollyhocks.

This week I’ve had the opportunity to visit three stunning private gardens in the Twin Cities. Each of these gardens is on a city lot (although large ones) and is primarily tended by the homeowners. While each is glorious, the gardens had very different ambiance and show how the owners’ personalities come through in long-tended gardens. One thing that all three had in common, however, was a sturdy fence around the perimeter. Bunnies, deer and other critters are kept out.

'Claude Shride' lily

A Scientist’s Garden

The first garden I visited is owned by a gentleman who loves martagon lilies and does a great deal of hybridizing. His large, shaded and hilly lot backs up to a pond. Amid the many beds of shade plants were the stars of the show, the lilies he studies, photographs, and breeds. His use of rock throughout the garden gives it real backbone and makes the garden interesting year-round.

Formal in the City

Yesterday I visited this garden in St. Paul. It’s owners take meticulous care of the many carefully designed beds. They mulch with only two things: pine needles and oak leaves. The smell of the garden with its roses, lilies, and that marvelous mulch is intoxicating. While the garden has curving beds and an impressive vegetable garden, its formal room was especially beautiful, symmetrical yet varied, formal but inviting. It also features a hidden gazebo, where the homeowners enjoy the many birds that make a home in the garden.

Artfully Arranged

The last garden I visited was in my hometown, Roseville. This large suburban lot has everything: beautiful conifers, undulating perennial beds, rock gardens, a charming shed, and a continually changing palette of color and blooms. This garden looks beautiful from May to October. The homeowners (the husband says it’s mostly his wife’s talent) have an artisitc sensibility that shows in how everything in the garden is arranged and displayed.

After visiting these gardens, I’m excited about this weekend’s Northfield Garden Club tour, where six Northfield gardens will be open to visitors.  See the Northfield News article for more information.

My sister sent me an updated photo of her deck garden. As you can see, even in this small space, they have herbs galore (parsley, three basil plants, and rosemary), and a couple of very nice looking tomatoes. The family has already had pesto a few times this summer. With the heat we’ve had the last couple of days, the plants should get even bigger in the next week or so.

I’ve also discovered another benefit of deck gardening in my own yard. I have a small window box on my deck that I planted greens in — mostly beets and chard. While the bunnies have been rampaging through my raised bed with lettuce and greens, they stay off the deck, so I’ll be eating deck-grown salad this week.

Squaring the boards up.

My sister and her husband have a large, sunny backyard, but they prefer to leave that space open for pickup football games and other neighborhood fun. (They have four children of their own and lots of little visitors.) So, when they decided they wanted to grow some vegetables, the solution was to build a deck-side garden. My brother-in-law, John, is an engineer, so he had no problem coming up with a good-looking, efficient design. It’s also easy enough to construct that you don’t have to be an engineer to build one. So, here’s John’s Deck Garden — and thanks to my sister, Elly, for sharing the photos. (By the way, these are larger photo files, so feel free to click on the thumbnails to get a closer look at what’s happening.)

Attaching boards to the supports.

John and Elly wanted a garden large enough to grow a couple of tomatoes, some basil and a few other herbs, so they decided to build a box 6 feet long by 2 feet wide. After buying 1-by-8 cedar boards for the sides, some 2-by-2 lumber for the support pieces and a piece of plywood for the bottom, John (with assistance from my dad) went to work. He cut the lumber to size, then used wood glue to attach the boards on top of the plywood bottom (top photo).  He started building the box, attaching the side pieces to the supports using deck screws. (This is where having two people working makes the job much easier.) He built it one layer at a time, so that the final box is about 22 inches deep.

2-by-2s raise the box off the deck.

Plenty of room for roots.

Once the box was complete, John flipped it over and attached four strips of 2-by-2 to the bottom to raise the deck garden off of the deck. It’s not shown in the photo, but he also drilled some drainage holes in the bottom and lined the box with landscape fabric. The fabric helps the bed retain some moisture and the holes make sure it doesn’t retain too much.

Nothing beats fresh herbs right outside the kitchen door.

With the box ready, John and Elly filled it with a mixture of top soil and compost and planted their tomato and herb starts. The photo at right was taken right after planting, and I’ve since heard that the plants are all doing well and the tomatoes have gotten big and already have blossoms. What a great way to raise vegetables in a small space!

Blue forget-me-nots

Shortly after posting the item on an amazing tree that clings to life from the cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, I got to thinking about another aspect of persistent plants: the invasives. These, too, find homes on the sandstone cliffs off of the south shore of Lake Superior — and once they’re established they don’t want to go away.

Clintonia borealis

Miner's Castle on Lake Superior

While visiting Miner’s Castle (photo below), we admired the pretty forget-me-nots (Myosotis spp.), blanketing the forest floor nearby. It turns out these are not natives to the area, but a very aggressive plant that is displacing trout lilies and other plants of the region. Since this is a rare ecosystem, the National Parks Service is taking some steps to remove (or at least reduce) the forget-me-nots and other invasives such as garlic mustard and spotted knapweed from the area. We also saw what I think is Clintonia borealis (yellow corn lily), which is native to the Upper Penninsula.