THE FIRST FLOWER OF SPRING

THE FIRST SIGN OF SPRING IN CHICAGO
GETHSEMANE GARDEN CENTER 'S
5TH ANNUAL SPRING OPEN HOUSE

It's just around the corner so I'm alerting you early on to be ready to attend the above event on Saturday, March 31st and Sunday, April 1st. There will be four special lectures :

10:00 a.m. - Begonia Care and Propogation
11:00 a.m. -Hellebores and General Gardening
1:00 p.m. - Hellebores and Lilies
2:30 p.m. -Herb Gardens for Small Spaces

The hellebores, also known as the Christmas or Lenten Rose, will be available for purchase that day, so if you don't have this delightful first flower of Spring, please consider adding it to your garden. It is so wonderful to see it poke its head up out of a late snow. Hellebores are among the easiest of plants to grow and will be a great addition to any garden.

SHE'S THE 'SUPERSTAR' OF ROSES, A REAL KNOCK OUT !

Since its introduction in 2000 the Knock Out Rose was hailed a "breakthrough shrub rose " by the All-American Rose Selections because of its exceptional disease resistance and hardiness. It was one of three roses that year to win the prestigious AARS award for outstanding garden performance.

I have been in love with the Knock Out rose since I discovered it growing in profusion in a client's garden. I could hardly believe my eyes because it was late October and the rose shrubs had a profusion of blooms in full flower. " That's nothing, " the resident gardener said, " It'll bloom right up until the hard freeze kills it. "


Texas A & M University conducted four years of research and found Knock Out to be one of the finest landscape roses that they had ever tested. No pesticides of any kind were used and it proved to be almost resistant to blackspot, the fungal disease that is the scourge of roses across much of the U.S. It is also resistant to powdery mildew and aphids and is cold-hardy and heat and drought-tolerate once established.

Knock Out was given the Texas Superstar designation by the horticultural experts at Texas A & M. "Only the best adapted, highest performing and most pest-resistant plant materials are designated Texas Superstars , " said Dr. Steve George , Texas Cooperative Extension horticulturist in Dallas A & M. He said they present that title to plants that have undergone rigorous field trial testing to demonstrate they add beauty to a landscape with minimal maintenance and maximum protection for the environment.

While most roses need 4-6 hours of sun a day, Knock Out can tolerate as little as 3 and thrive. Of course they will perform better when you give them more sun. And for the cold climate rose growers, Knock Out is hardy to -20 .

I have a Pink Knock Out in my garden, but it comes in shades of Light and deep pink, cherry red and there is a double specimen as well. A new introduction this year is called " Rainbow " and it has a mix of yellow and orange colors.

So for those who love roses and didn't think they had the time or expertise to grow them, Knock Outs are no-brainers.

From 5 to 9

Al's Creative Use of Houseplants Make a Wonderful Statement

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a lily-livered chicken. I escaped the weekend wintry blast in Chicago and went down to Florida to visit my friends, Sara and Al , near Tampa Bay. From Zone 5 to Zone 9 is a tremendous change, both for people and plants.

It was an education unto itself. The above photo is of Al's Live Oak ( that's what they call them -can you believe they're evergreen ? ) right outside the Lanai. He just stuck a houseplant in the ground and created a living work of art. It must be a trend because I saw quite a few houseplants growing in the ground. The Live Oaks are a very artistic-looking tree with a lot of odd shaped, contorted branches, some growing low to the ground.

In my observation, two things almost every house in the area have, not counting Palm trees are a Lanai (screened gazebo-like structure) and a swimming pool. Must- have's I guess for the climate and the huge bugs. They say that the Palmetto bugs get so big that if you try to squash them with you foot they'll twist your ankle.

Florida has a severe drought at the moment and watering is restricted. Due to the heat they can't grow regular grass, and the kind they can is like the quake grass we pull out for weeds in Chicago. It's awful looking and not pleasant to walk on and a lot of lawns were brown from lack of moisture. But, it seems everyone has a lawn and most lawns get really thirsty.

I was disappointed that not more homeowners in the area didn't use Xeriscaping to conserve water and maintenance. Rock gardens look very natural and would be perfect for the climate but most landscapes were very formal and surprisingly, without much color. So much for conservation. I heard a news report today that Al Gore's energy bill for one day is more than the average American in one week. It's enough to make you lose faith in your fellow man.

It's amazing to see orange and lemon trees with fruit, azaleas in bloom, annuals already planted, tomatoes and herbs, and an assortment of beautiful palm trees. Ahhhh, it's Spring in Tampa Bay!

On the way back we got a rude wake-up call in St. Louis from the airlines : It's snowing in Chicago and your flight will be four hours late. That's the price of going from 9 to 5. I don't think I want to sit down again for a very long time.

A WABI-SABI HOME AND GARDEN

A DENT IN MY NEWLY INSTALLED COPPER SINK.
COULD YOU LIVE WITH THIS ? IF SO, YOU'RE
VERY " WABI-SABI" LIKE ME. GIVES IT A
KIND OF CHARACTER DOESN'T IT ?

First it was the Chinese Feng Shui, and now the Japanese rule with Wabi-Sabi . Wabi-what ? Feng Shui is all about perfection in a harmonious environment, while Wabi-Sabi is more to do with how you accept your environment, imperfections and all. It's about things with a timeworn beauty and appreciating things that may have flaws, like yours truly. I'm a wabi-sabi kinda gal . We have a similar saying down South, " If it ain't broke, don't fix it. " We're not inclined to throw anything away just because it has a nick or scratch. Heck, that's what adds character. And, if you keep it long enough, it becomes an antique, with character.

I was going to re-finish my old wood floors but the floor finisher told me that he was being paid to beat the heck out of new floors to try and give them an aged look just like mine. I reckon I saved myself a couple of thousand right there.

My hubby Simon swears that nothing in our century-old house is square and the solid plaster walls get cracks now and then. The stairs squeak but I figure that's good for knowing who's coming and going. The original wood windows are not air-tight or perfect., but I refuse to do those vinyl replacement ones. Our old house has charm that no builder today can duplicate. The solid quarter-sawn oak floors have an aged patina and show the use of a generation of people walking on it.

Wabi-Sabi is not about accumulating a lot of stuff, it's about simplifying your life with things that are natural and earthy, cherished family pieces or flea market finds. It's the exact opposite of perfectionism and materialism.

It's about what feels comfortable and right to you. So clean the clutter , get some earth toned organic stuff, acquire some handmade things, bring out the family heirlooms and keep that worn out old chest with a nick in it.

Whew ! I'm glad Feng Shui is passe. It really stresses me out to try to be perfect.

ALIEN INVADERS

The Queen of Kudzu

The Vine That Ate the South

The photo above was taken at my Alabama counsin's home . Crawling across the telephone wire above my head is Kudzu, a vine that can grow up to 100 feet in a season. It has covered 7 million acres in the South and costs around a $1,000 an acre to control.

I recently learned that it's reached 22 counties in Illinois. Yikes ! I hope I didn't bring it with me when I came up here. Kudzu is such a part of Southern culture that we've resigned ourselves to living with it. " Don't leave your car parked there too long my dear , or you won't be able to find it when you get back, " is a common joke. Or folks would go on vacation and when they came back they found their house completely encased in kudzu.

Kudzu was brought to America by the Japanese in 1876 in celebration of America's 100th birthday in the Philadelphia Centennial. American gardeners were attracted to its large leaves and fragrant flowers. It was touted as a prevention for erosion as well.

The Southern climate was the problem - everything grows well there and the Kudzu vine took off like " greased lightning " . Those resigned to live with it have taken to making baskets, jelly, syrup, paper and hay . The Chinese have used it for more than 2,ooo years as an herbal medicine and the Koreans and Japanese make tofu, drinks and other products from it.

Most herbicides have no effect on Kudzu. Goats, who'll eat any and everything , were brought in to eradicate the vine and this has worked well in some cases. Farmers also cut and bale it for hay . The most promising control so far is from North Carolina State University who may have found a way to defoliate and kill it. They take a soybean looper caterpillar larvae, inject them with a stingless wasp larvae and then the action begins. The caterpillars eat the kudzu, then the wasps inside the caterpillars hatch and eat the caterpillars from within, killing them before they can turn into moths and eat the crops nearby. The caterpillars also ate twice as much as normal.Brilliant !

We have a saying that " a good attitude is like Kuzu- it spreads. " More later on invasive plants and how they affects us .