Articles about my experiences with landscaping and gardening in Southeast Wisconsin
After three long months of winter, we all look forward to some sign of spring. For me, that sign is the emergence of woodland wildflowers in my front yard shade garden. One of the most conspicuous early risers is Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica. This member of the forget-me-not family, the Boraginaceae, loves rich, moist …
Continue reading "Virginia Bluebells Ring in the Season of Spring"
How can you not like a plant called Zizia, named for the German botanist Johann Baptist Ziz (1779-1829)? This genus of plants found on prairies and meadows belongs to the parsley or carrot family, the Apiaceae, which may sometimes still be called the Umbelliferae, a family which contains upwards of 446 genera and over …
If you walk or ride your bike along the Interurban trail between Cedarburg and Mequon, WI this spring, you may notice one of my favorite spring wildflowers in bloom - Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris.) Look for it in low lying areas, for this plant loves wet soils but can also be grown in rich, …
Roses are red, Violets are blue. Both statements are only partially true, for roses come in virtually every color except true blue, and the hue of violets extends beyond blue. Since many of us know little about this plant beyond the simple poem, let’s dig into it a bit deeper. Violets are found …
Continue reading "The Versatility and Persistence of Violets"
When Europeans settled North America, one of the plants that impressed them the most was Trillium, a genus of the lily family containing about 30 species that are found only in North America and Asia. Twelve of these species are found east of the Mississippi River including five in Wisconsin. Four of the five …
A common plant found along Wisconsin roadsides and in fields is Chicory or Blue Daisy (Cichorium intybus.) A member of the aster family, it displays its sky-blue flowers from July into October. To see them, however, you must get out in the morning, because by noon on sunny days the 1 1/2-to-2-inch flowers have …
Spring is my favorite time of the year and woodland wildflowers are my favorite group of plants. When the forest has said goodbye to early blooming spring beauty and toothwort, and is welcoming the flowers of trillium, Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is just making its emergence through the leaf debris and humus. Soon, though, the …
I continue to be amazed by the beauty and adaptability of woodland wildflowers. Their ability to survive and thrive under what is often summer dense shade is incredible. Many complete their entire life cycle in just a few short weeks in the spring, before leaves form on the overhead tree canopy. By early summer …
What do you plant when you have a shady yard? Why, hostas of course! Few herbaceous plants tolerate the dense canopy of tall trees better than hostas. I planted hostas under all three large trees that shade the front of our house. Unfortunately, though, hostas don’t become full size until June in Southeast Wisconsin, …
Gardening is a hands-on hobby. Soil under the fingernails can be considered a badge of honor. So when a plant is tagged with the common name "Touch-me-not," as is the moniker of Impatiens pallida (Pale Touch-me-not; Jewelweed) and Impatiens capensis (Spotted Touch-me-not; Orange Jewelweed), visions of toxicity come to mind. However, the common name …
The Cottage Gardener 