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The Impatient Gardener

ABOUT

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Thank you for stopping by my little corner of the internet. I’ve been blogging here since 2009, offering garden inspiration and information for everyday gardeners, as well as a bit of DIY (and hilarity often ensues). My goal is to provide inspiration and education to real-life gardeners like you.


Need to get in touch with me? Reach me by email.


I started gardening as a toddler, or so the photos in my parents’ albums would have me believe, but didn’t really pick it up again until after college. When I had filled an apartment patio so full of plants that walking on it was no longer an option, we found a house with enough room for a garden in southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5b. And it turned out there was room for several gardens! I’ve been battling weeds and deer there for nearly two decades, creating and recreating gardens around the 1.3-acre property and sharing the lessons and beauty I find there on this site. Along the line I became a master gardener and I love to continue to learn more about gardening every day.

The Impatient Gardener has been featured on Houzz, in Birds and Blooms magazine and on the Young House Love blog, as well as being named one of the top gardening blogs by Lawn Starter and one of Toolversed’s top 10 bloggers.

https://gardencomm.org/In addition to The Impatient Gardener, my work has been published in Luxury Magazine, SAILING Magazine, the Ozaukee Press and other publications. I’m a member of GardenComm, the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society, the Perennial Plant Association and other organizations.

I am also available to speak to groups on a variety of fun and interesting gardening topics (no boring topics may apply).

On occasion I work with carefully vetted companies whose products I like and use. To request a media kit, send me an email.

Mailing address:

P.O. Box 249, Port Washington, WI 53074

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About

The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Garden Comm award

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia th Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia things are happening very soon. I actually started dividing my dahlias last weekend, about two weeks earlier than I usually do because the weather kept me cooped up inside. I’m glad I did it because I had some (not unexpected) losses that I’ll have to adjust some plans for. So stay tuned: we’ll be talking lots about dahlias soon. 😀
Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall plant snowdrops and winter aconites and I guarantee you that it will bring you happiness the next spring. They are tiny blooms of joy.
A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. Fi A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. First off, you should know that I really love groundcovers. I would rather see a plant than bark mulch any time. Ajuga is a favorite because there are several forms (my favorites are ‘Black Scallop’, shown here, and ‘Chocolate Chip’) and because they can handle most conditions from sun to shade. Popping up next to it is Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’ (Jewels of Opar). It reseeds around the garden and I just move it around where I want the chartreuse, succulent foliage. Tiny flowers in red and pink bobble on with stems, looking a bit like peppercorns. Then they drop their seed and come back the next year.
Make this the year that you grow a plant you know Make this the year that you grow a plant you know very little about. If you love your garden that’s all that matters. BUT I promise you’ll find even more joy it it when you broaden your horizons. I feel like I’m starting to see the same plants in gardens over and over again. By all means appreciate and love those plants, but also add something you have to learn about. There is great reward in getting to know new-to-you plants. 

Here are two good candidates you might consider: Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ and Persicaria (or Bistorta, thanks to the taxonomists) amplexicaulis ‘Golden Arrow’.
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