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16.11.2023 - 09:34 / finegardening.com / GPOD Contributor
Today Susan Warde is letting us visit her St. Paul, Minnesota, garden. She was inspired by the posts from Cherry and me looking back at “the summer that was” in our gardens, and so she did the same in her garden! We’re going to see her front garden today and the back garden tomorrow. I hope you’ll share your “summer that was” in your garden as well! It is fun seeing how everyone’s plants have performed throughout the year.
April 27: Crocuses and wildflowers come up in early April in chilly Minnesota, but the garden only starts looking like one when the scilla (Scilla siberica, Zones 3–8) and ‘Royal Star’ magnolias (Magnolia stellata‘Royal Star’, Zones 4–9) come into bloom.
May 16: Here’s the sundial (seen in the background in the former photo), surrounded by midsize bearded irises (‘Cherry Garden’) and an unknown heuchera that I bought at a yard sale. It produces starry white flowers for much of the summer. You can see a bit of prairie smoke (Geum triflorum, Zones 3–7) at either side of the photo. The scilla are done blooming, but the foliage is not yet wilted and yellow. By the time that happens, other plants will have covered up the unsightly leaves.
May 21: The azaleas (Rhododendronhybrids) are just coming into bloom. These are from the Northern Lights series, bred at the University of Minnesota to be fully hardy in cold climates (some down to –40°F). Mine are in yellows and pinks, but there are also some show-stopping orange and flame varieties. The little pink flowers to the left of the walk are primroses (Primula sieboldii, Zones 5–7). The small tree to the right of the front door is a Zone 4–hardy Korean-Japanese maple hybrid (Acer× pseudosieboldianum, ’North Wind’).
June 5: This is the place where the front
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Our fifth advent prize draw comes with your chance to win a Deluxe Hedgehog House XXL, worth £124.99 from CJ Wildlife.
Words by Phil Clayton
Collaborative post
In this article, we’ll discuss Trees That Start With S, which stand out with distinct features, be it the Sugar Maple’s striking autumn colors or the Spruce’s resilient nature in cold climates.
Our fourth advent prize draw comes with your chance to win a beautiful kiln-dried Carved Oak Rope Swing, worth £379 from Sitting Spiritually.
Enter our prize draw on day 3 for your chance to improve your garden tool collection with Henchman’s ARS KR-1000 shears worth £95.
Day 2 of our “12 Days of Christmas” advent calendar gives you the chance to win a 26cm leaf green light garden, worth £125 from elho.
This month, we’re collaborating with some brilliant businesses to bring you our very special “12 days of Christmas” prize draw, offering 12 generous prizes to 12 lucky winners throughout the month of December.
Cobra, the garden machinery experts, are delighted to offer readers the chance to win a CS1024V Li-ion Cordless Chainsaw, worth over £115.
Mushrooms in the garden can be an unsettling sight, indicating changes in the soil and in growing conditions generally. While growing mushrooms is becoming more popular as a home interest, fungi can be unpleasant in gardens when they arrive out of nowhere. These unplanned garden guests can also be toxic, so you’ll want to remove them if you have curious children or pets.
Today’s photos are from Phyllis Strohmeyer in northwestern New Jersey (Zone 6A).