April in Chicagoland and Coreposis Sienna Sunset

I'm not sure what happened after my last post. Fall, a season I love but cannot seem to garden in? Mild depression after job loss? Rest assured, I did not use
deadly plants (or any other means, for that matter) to
get rid of old bosses. And I have a new job working for much nicer people. (see post from August 18, 2008)

Now it's trying to become spring and I am in need of green things and plant therapy. Here is the first plant I've decided is a 'must have' this year. Coreopsis Sienna Sunset. Hope those colors are for real.

By the way, we're expecting rain and up to 2 inches of snow tomorrow!

I don't love roses, but...

This rose is from a bush that was a house-warming gift from Bill and Maureen. My husband dug a hole and we stuck it in the ground. I have been a little superstitious about moving it, though it was planted long before any real interest in gardening took off. I don't treat it very nicely, but so far, after over 16 years, it returns. When I saw this blooming this week, it was an especially welcomed sight. We are cleaning up a nasty basement flood/sewage backup after over 8 inches of rain fell in the Chicago area. We have a mess and had to replace our water heater and repair our furnace, but plenty of people have it worse. We have had wonderful support from family and friends. And we have this rosebush still blooming from the Garritys, 16 years and counting.

Top Shrubs

Pink Diamond Hydrangea
In September
Pink Diamond in October
I love this shrub. I bought it at Craig Bergmann's Country Garden. It was a wonderful trip with my friend and gardening mentor, Kathy. I spent what felt like a fortune on it as it was one of my first big purchases. Now it always reminds me of her and the wonderful trip we had to a nursery that is no more. When I first got interested in gardening, I visited Kathy's house and fell in love with her wonderful perennial border. She had plants I'd never heard of before and I was immediately hooked. Hydrangeas, cannot get enough of them! I have Limelight,(two and I love them) and Annabelle (one). I love my Annabelle. It's lovely in the shadiest of shade and it survived at least two wack attacks from my husband trimming weeds. And one I don't yet love--Quick Fire. It does bloom earlier like the promotion claims, but it doesn't seem very colorful. And finally, I have two Oakleaf hydrangeas. Very nice but would probably be happier in other spots. Hobbs and I discuss this, but I have yet to move them.

A Plant to Love 2

Geranium Rozanne
It really does bloom its head off. I love the speckled leaves as well. I will have to have more of these next year and I need to position them in nicer places.

A Plant to Love

Hosta Cathedral Windows
Very soothing. When I first started gardening, I turned my nose up at hosta. (What a snotty beginning gardener I was.) Rich, more about him later, was astonished that I would scorn such a versatile plant. But they were everywhere and scorn them I did, daily, for a few years. But now I have some and I like them, just as long as they aren't lined up like soldiers all over the place.

Time to Garden

It's the perfect time to get out into my garden and enjoy it. They just let me go at work after 22 years! "Bittersweet?" someone asked. Mmmm, maybe. Or what about enraged, infuriated, betrayed? Oh, wait. This blog is supposed to be therapeutic. Let's go with 'bittersweet.' (And that reminds me that I want to grow my own bittersweet so I don't have to buy it dried on Ebay anymore.) I have no place for it, but I need it. Enough said. And see, just thinking about putting another plant in the ground is lowering my blood pressure. How about planting hemlock, oleander, deadly nightshade...? Just kidding.