1. To hide the "bare ankles" of alliums, plant them with daylilies (Hemerocallis). I'm sorry I don't have a picture to back this up, but after much study and discussioin, Mr. McGregor's Daughter and I found this pairing to be an ideal solution to the scraggly foliage of blooming alliums. For the record, we observed this pairing at the Chicago Botanic Garden on Friday.
2. Who says veggies can't be artistic?
(The vegetable garden at CBG)
3. Andie's restaurant has fabulous spanakopita, baklava, and cheesecake. I realize that's not exactly gardening-related, but hey, it's something I learned. If you're ever in Andersonville, don't miss it!
4. I'm finally going to try growing an orchid. After getting some helpful tips from Elizabeth at Gardening While Intoxicated, I feel ready to take the plunge and get a phalenopsis orchid, apparently a beginner-friendly variety. Until now I have admired and feared these flowers from afar.
5. I need to monitor the moisture of my compost pile. Shawna at The Casual Gardener listened to my composting woes and shared her discoveries with me, particularly that composting won't go well if the pile goes dry. I'm very grateful for the suggestions (and any others)!
For more musing and Spring Fling thoughts, see Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago!
9 comments:
I don't think I've ever seen as many Alliums in my life as this weekend. They seemed to be everywhere. Not that that's a bad thing...
Hi, Rose! It was great to be able to meet you in person this weekend. Lisa and Beckie began referring to you as "young Rose" and me as...well, they never had the nerve to give me an adjective:)
Spring Fling was an unforgettable weekend! Your wrap-up was excellent; I'm still going through photos and coming down from a sensory overload. One more thing I'd add to your musings is that I learned that you can't see all of the Chicago Botanic Garden in one day. And another is that garden bloggers never have to worry about running out of things to talk about:)
MMG-I think alliums might win for "plant of the weekend." They were indeed everywhere!
Rose-It was great to meet you too! And I heartily agree that CBG cannot be done in a day and we always have things to talk about. It's great!
Good tip about hiding the scraggly allium foliage. I have lots of daylilies, so now I know where to plant the alliums. It was fun to read a little of what was on the menu as Andie's. I don't know spanakopita, but I bet it's something sweet.
hello Rose...what a delight to meet you! I had a wonderful visit to your town, it is one of my favorite cities. It seemed to me that Chicago put on it's best face, the weather was perfect, the gardens beautiful and Andies restaurant was delicious! Btw, I have more allium shots then I imagined I did! gail
Donna--Spanakopita is in fact a spinach dish where the spinach is wrapped up in phyllo dough. It has a funny-sounding name and looks a little weird, but it's delicious!!
Gail--It was great to meet you too! I'm a big booster for Chicago because I'm a native, and I'm so happy you enjoyed your visit!
Rose, I'm so glad to have met you and want you to know that you have my utmost admiration for gardening while mothering a preschooler and toddler! I loved Chicago ... you have good reason to be proud of your city. Have a great summer!
Cindy you're so sweet! Thanks for all your kind words! It was great to meet you, and I hope you have a wonderful summer too!
Those are some excellent final thoughts. Wasn't Andies splendid? Oh, yes, it was! I'm still ruminating on all I learned, but what a partial week it was.~~Dee
Post a Comment