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CHICAGO IN BLOOM

May 9, 2016

We spent part of the weekend in Chicago for a function we were attending Saturday night. I can’t seem to sleep well in hotels, no matter how comfortable they may be, so when I woke up at 6 a.m. I figured I would get some coffee, get ready and head over to nearby Millennium Park to check out the gardens. I consider Millennium Park to be up there with the best public works projects in history, on par with Central Park, and I visit it every time I get to Chicago.

I swung over to the Lurie Garden first, as I’ve not ever seen it at this time of year. I was shocked by how far ahead all the plants are from what we’re seeing by us, even though we are only about 90 miles north of Chicago. As you probably know, famed dutch designer Piet Oudolf designed the Lurie Garden in his typical natural, almost meadowlike style. If you ever needed to learn the lesson of the value of planting en masse, the Lurie Garden is the place to do it.

Baptisia is such a good plant. It looks great even shooting out of the ground.
Prairie Smoke is a native geum that I really can’t believe I don’t have in my garden.
I had to look this plant up. It’s actually a bulb called Quamash ‘Blue Danube.’
If anyone recognizes this plant, let me know. Lower growing mounding habit with leaves similar in size to Lady’s Mantle. 

After a swing through the Lurie, I went over to Maggie Daley park, where the trees were in full bloom and looking so beautiful.

The beds in Maggie Daley were chock-a-block with this lovely dimuniative butter yellow daffodil planted in huge swaths. Entirely charming.

As I walked back to the hotel I took in all the fabulous plantings on the street. Huge planters overflowing with brightly colored tulips made me swoon enough to want to try to plant tulips again, deer be damned.

We got home early enough on Sunday for me to spend a good amount of time in the garden. Although there are no pictures to prove it, I got all the beds on the east side of the house weeded (again) and edged and as anyone who has read this blog long enough knows, nothing makes me happier than a sharply edged garden bed. Lots of work to be done elsewhere but at least some of the garden is looking decent.

How was your weekend in the garden?

lurie garden
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
5 Comments

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Comments

  1. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: May 10, 2016 at 2:40 am

    Where is Maggie Daley Park?

    Reply
  2. Heather @ new house new home says: May 10, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Chicago is on my bucket list – in fact, hubby and I talked about going there during the upcoming long weekend. But it's a day's drive from here. So it would really cut into the three day weekend. One day. And now you've peaked my interest with these lovely gardens.
    Honestly didn't get too much time in my garden over the weekend. Spent a bit of time weeding, clearing and edging the front gardens and then the rain started. Sunday was spent Mothers Daying.

    Reply
  3. Garden Fancy says: May 10, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    I once planted some Camassia bulbs and apparently they were not the right plant for the right place, as they disappeared without a trace…. They like moist soil and at least partial sun. Glad you had a fun weekend! -Beth

    Reply
  4. Scott Stewart says: May 10, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    Your mystery plant from the Lurie Garden is lovage (Levisticum officinale), which has both horticultural and edible value. We selected the species for the garden for both the interesting leaf texture and the umbel-shaped inflorescence.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: May 10, 2016 at 6:02 pm

      Thank you so much, Scott!

      Reply

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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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E R I N 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I had a rather unpleasant realization last night w I had a rather unpleasant realization last night when I remembered that I’d not yet ordered tomato seeds. And I’m not going to rectify that until I dig into my seed stash, because I don’t go through tomato seeds quickly so there are definitely some lurking down there. 

I never used to grow tomatoes from seed because there are great varieties to be had in garden centers (including many heirloom varieties). But it’s almost non-negotiable for me now that I’m a convert to dwarf tomatoes. If you’re not familiar with the #dwarftomatoproject championed by @nctomatoman and others, these are heirloom varieties that are crossed with dwarf varieties to create plant that produces all the flavor and interest of an heirloom in a short (usually less than 4 feet) plant. 

They are particularly great in my tall raised beds. Of course I leave room to try new non-dwarf varieties every year (I loved Sun Dipper from @panamseed last year and I’ll grow it again).

Last year was a good tomato year and the photo shows some of the varieties I harvested in one day. I hope this summer will be equally good for the tomato harvest. 

One of my favorite questions to ask gardeners is: What is your favorite tomato variety to grow? So have at it in the comments because inquiring minds want to know!
And this is why I leave my winter containers assem And this is why I leave my winter containers assembled until at least March. A dusting of snow gives them a whole new look (even if it’s shades of gray). Also, I think I love my Limelight hydrangea even more in winter. Fabulous winter interest!
I’m going to look for opportunities to add more I’m going to look for opportunities to add more ferns to my garden this year. They are such interesting plants and often real problem solvers, bringing texture and color to places that many plants aren’t interested in. Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ grows well for me in part shade (even pushing a bit into part sun) and looks great next to Persicaria ‘Golden Arrow’.
Birds chirping, glorious fresh (i.e. not nibbled o Birds chirping, glorious fresh (i.e. not nibbled on) foliage, and texture galore. I can’t wait to have moments like this again. The star, by the way is Hakonechloa ‘All Gold’ which looks so good with the bold foliage of Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’ next to it. 

With the new path, this area will be getting a small revamp. It’s the next spot I’ll be focusing my planning on.
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