Garden Blogger's Muse Day - March 2008

It's poetry time again, hosted by fellow Chicagoland blogger Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home & Garden Chicago.

March
A blue day
a blue jay
and a good beginning.

One crow,
melting snow --
spring's winning!

Elizabeth Coatsworth

No, the Snowdrops are not blooming in my garden yet. At least I can't tell if they are, as they are buried under a couple of feet of snow. (This photo was taken in December 2006.) It depicts what I hope to see in a couple of weeks.

"There comes a day towards the end of March when there is but little wind, and that is from the west or even south-west. The sun has gained much power, so that it is pleasant to sit out in the garden, or, better still, in some sunny nook of sheltered woodland." Gertrude Jekyll, "Color Schemes for the Flower Garden." I can't wait for such a day. Hopefully, it won't be long now. Come on spring!

Northwest Suburban Chicagoland - a Filmology Quiz

Welcome to Professor McGregor's Filmology of the Collar Counties or the Northwest Suburbs. A more accurate name for my area is the Fox Valley, named for the Fox River. For Part Deux of Garden Blogger's Geography Project , I have devised a quiz of places in my neck of the woods that have appeared in films. There will be no prizes.
But first, an explanation. The tagline to this blog states "Garden Musings from the Land Beyond O'Hare." My part of the world has been referred to as "The Land Beyond O'Hare" because O'Hare International Airport is usually as far northwest as visitors to the Chicagoland area get. I decided to do this second Geography Project post because of the unique character of this area which is not as well known as Chicago proper. Although I have indicated that my garden is in Northern Illinois, I must make clear that it is actually in the northeastern corner of the State. The northwestern corner, including Galena and Rockford, is a whole climate zone colder than my Zone 5 area. I grew up in the Fox Valley and have returned to it after living in more urban places. Contrary to popular belief, not all of Illinois is flat. The Fox Valley has a hilly terrain. While nothing comparable to the hill in "The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain," the hills here are enough to provide a kid with a tough bicycle climb to the top and a thrilling ride down.

And now, the quiz:
1. This town played a starring role in the movie "Groundhog Day," with the main action centered on the Town Square and its historic buildings. Where in Northern Illinois is this?

This is Woodstock, whose historic opera house once featured Orson Welles, as well as my aunt and my dad (not all at the same time). Woodstock was also the home of "Dick Tracy" cartoonist Chester Gould. In addition to the popular Mozart Festival in the Square, Woodstock also hosted an arts and garden show last summer, which my family attended to see the art work of my aunt, Anne Marie Cina.While in Woodstock, the garden tourist can visit nearby Rich's Foxwillow Pines, the conifer enthusiast's Nirvana. Rich's has everything from giant trees to tiny witch's brooms, from the rare to the common, including some non-conifer offerings.

2. The beach scene with the car with the loudspeaker on top in "The Blues Brothers" was filmed at Phil's Beach on the shores of Bangs Lake in what former resort town in Northern Illinois? Wauconda - yes that is me when I was much younger, taken around the time the movie was filmed, in 1979 or 1980. Sadly, Phil's and Honey Hill beaches have since closed, but there's still plenty of boating and fishing on Bangs Lake. Wauconda also was the site of the world's largest snowball fight a couple of years ago. While in Wauconda, why not drive to nearby Crystal Lake to visit the place that regularly empties my wallet, Countryside Flower Shop, Nursery & Garden Center? Although they have a printed catalogue, this nursery sometimes has unusual perennials normally only found at specialty mail order nurseries, and at reasonable prices, making frequent visits necessary. Also in Crystal Lake is the Raue Center for the Arts which features nationally known musicians in concert. If Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics, Crystal Lake is the probable venue for the rowing events.

3. The wedding in the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" was filmed at the Cunio estate. Where in Northern Illinois is this? The Cunio Mansion and Gardens, which are open to the public, are behind Hawthorn Shopping Mall in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The house is open for tours, but it is the Italianate garden that is the real draw for gardeners. In addition to the swimming pool garden, there is a tropical garden in the greenhouse, a small lake with swans and a fenced in area with imported deer.

4. The scene where Jude Law goes down in the movie "The Road to Perdition" was filmed in this town along the Fox River because of its authentic looking downtown. Where in Northern Illinois is this? (Photo by pgOxd.)
West Dundee, Illinois, which used to have my favorite lunch break destination, Platt Hill Nursery. It has moved to a new, much larger site in nearby Carpentersville.
While suburbia continues its relentless march, many open, rural areas remain here. In addition to State parks and County forest preserves, there are hiking, biking and skating trails, including one from Dundee to Elgin which runs along the Fox River. Elgin has an excellent Symphony Orchestra and a fantastic historic district featuring mansions in the Arts and Crafts, Prairie, Italianate and Queen Anne styles.(Photo by Elginite.)
It also has authentic Sears kit houses. Elgin holds a housewalk of the historic district every fall. While in Elgin, why not visit a microbrewery and the nearby riverboat casino? Although I don't gamble, I can tell you that the riverboat is a thing of beauty.(Photo by Matthew Herndon .)
Okay, I admit that I'm biased. Before he retired, my dad's company did the painting and drywall for this project, and he used to stop in and visit me at work whenever he came to check on that job.


5. Local young independent filmmakers Marc Muszynski and Michael P. Noens set the ghost story films "The Legends of Cuba Road" and "Return to Cuba Road" here. Where in Northern Illinois is this? The Barrington area, home of the horsey set. Local lore has it that there have been ghostly sightings around this cemetery on Cuba Road, including a phantom farmhouse, as well as feeling cold near it. Although I've passed this cemetery at night, I've never seen or felt anything. The only thing I'm afraid of on Cuba Road is getting a speeding ticket. It's hard to drive only 35 m.p.h. here.
While Cuba Road runs through Barrington Hills, with its mansions of the uber-rich and its horse farms, in the Village of Barrington are two historic sites. Buried under the snow here is a plaque commemorating the site where infamous gangster George "Baby Face" Nelson was killed in a gun battle with F.B.I. agents in 1934.It's now part of Langendorf Park on Route 14. Recently acquired by the park district, Citizens' Park is on the site of the former headquarters of the Jewel Tea Company. After a battle with preservationists, the building, which used to stand here,was torn down. It was historically significant because it was the site of the invention of the coffee break. Citizens' Park is connected by a walking trail to Cuba Marsh, one of several restored prairies in the Fox Valley area. Cuba Marsh is home to two types of heron, egrets, swans, Mallard ducks, Canada geese, crayfish, snakes, rabbits and deer (boo!), a black squirrel, and coyotes (yay!). There is a Great Blue Heron rookery on Baker's Lake in Barrington. An added attraction of the Barrington area is Pasquesi Home & Gardens.

These are only a small sample of the interesting sights and things to do in my area.

Do They Know Something?

Yesterday morning I got up around 6 o'clock. On opening the shades, I noticed a lot of bird activity in the garden. In fact, it was the most all Winter! There were half a dozen Juncos, a couple of Chickadees and two male Cardinals. (Of course the camera malfunctioned when the Cardinals were posed near the patio door.) There even was a Mourning Dove, and I hadn't seen any of them in months. This bird hopped right up to the patio door and looked in at me. All the little birds were busily cleaning off any remaining Aster seeds. It's too bad these birds didn't visit on the day of the Bird Count. Maybe they came because meteorological Spring begins next week!

The Wonderful World of Blotanical

For those of you just joining this program in progress, Blotanical is a new site that is more than just a listing of blogs or a gardening directory - it's a community. This became crystal clear to me when I found myself in need of advice on tropical plants. I went to the map on Blotanical, found out who is blogging from Florida, then visited their "Owner's Plot." From there, I was able to leave each my plea for help, to which they generously responded. A big thank you to Rusty in Miami at Dragonfly Garden, Wicked Gardener in Ocala, and Becca at Brighthaven Times. If you haven't yet checked out Blotanical, get on over there. There's a whole world waiting.

These beach photos are for Gintonio at Jardim com Gatos, who wanted to compare the seaside flowers of Florida with those of Portugal.

Small Tropical Garden Quandary

Well, I'm back from Florida with a design question. My parents have a condo on the ocean in the Palm Beach area. My mom is dissatified with the small garden in front of the building. In particular, she doesn't like these Croton-thingies, as she finds them too autumnal looking. As is painfully obvious from the previous sentence, I know nothing about tropical plants, but I agree with her that the orange of the foliage doesn't really work with the white Hibiscus (at least I know what that is). The building is white and peach. This garden faces west and is in sun for most of the day.

The north end of the garden has a challenge, with this utility panel which needs to be camoflaged.There is also a problem with the Crotons dying in the area around this Palm. Here's the view from the south end which shows a more prominent utility box.The garden is symmetrical, which compounds the problem of dying plants. The Palms and Hibiscus will probably have to stay, but I don't know whether the condo association would be willing to get rid of part or all of the hedge.

My mom likes this plant, which is in the garden of the building next door.This plant is another candidate,but I'm concerned that both plants might be too large. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please share them. I'm clueless.

When Life Gives You Snow...

make snow sculptures! The weather was perfect on Saturday for the 4th Annual Chicago Snow Sculpting Competition in nearby Mount Prospect, Illinois. Fifteen professional 3-person teams and a dozen high school teams
entered the competition, including two foreign teams: one from Canadaand one from The Netherlands.
(If Yolanda Elizabet's weather is at all representative, I can't imagine that the Dutch team gets much practice at home.) Most of the teams are from Wisconsin.

This isn't like making a snowman, it's more like carving a stone statue. Each team creates a clay mockup of their proposed sculpture. A week before the event, large blocks of snow are made by using a snow machine to blow snow into large wooden boxes. The snow is then packed down. Each team starts with an identical 10-foot tall block of snow and begins carving on Wednesday. Many work through the night to have the sculpture finished for Saturday morning, when the event opens to the public and the judging begins. This year, the winner was decided by public vote. Deciding on a favorite was very difficult."The Fat Lady Swings"The detailing on each one is incredible, even on the back. It's amazing all the hard work put into something that will melt away.The team that created this sculpture, The Starvin Carvists (love the name), won first place at a competition in Italy last month. I almost voted for "Flight of the Zephyr" because of its technical proficiency and its Chicago theme - sailing on Lake Michigan past the skyscrapers.My son did, but my gardener's heart made me choose this one instead:
It reminds me of a garden pond in the middle of summer. Apparently, lots of other people feel the same: this took home the prize.

I've decided to include this post in Jodi's Garden Blogger's Geography Project as it is not about gardening, but instead about a regional attraction. Finally, I promise that this is the last snow post for the near future. I'm out of here this week for my annual pilgrimage to Florida. If anybody wants me, I'll be at the beach.

Winter Games

" Oh I used to be disgusted and now I try to be amused." Elvis Costello, "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes"

We've had so much snow here in Chicagoland, that it is laughable. I have to laugh about it, or I'll cry. So, in the spirit of trying to look on the bright side, it's time for The Games.

Game #1 - Count the Shrubs

How many shrubs are in this picture? (The snow at the right is piled up about 5 feet high.)
With just the tips of the branches sticking out, you'd think there is only this Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo' (Diabolo), but of course, you'd be wrong. See the little Cotinus coggyria 'Ancot' (Golden Spirit) in front of it? Of course you don't! It's buried under the snow. At least it was the last time I saw it, about a month ago. Granted, it is still a small young plant that I planted last summer, but, come on, I wrapped chickenwire around it, increasing its height to nearly 3 feet. It is slightly downhill from the Physocarpus and closer to the driveway, but still, it's completely buried.


Game #2 - Spot the Dogwood

Can you find the Cornus Kousa in this picture?
It is still a sapling, about 3 feet high and was planted about 2 years ago. Hint - look for the little bit of twig sticking out of the snow.
Yes there it is. Now, wasn't that fun? At least I feel better about it.

According to Tom Skilling, Chicago meteorologist par excellance, we haven't had this much snowfall in a winter since the 1978-79 season - the year with the infamous "Blizzard of '79" that caused the Chicago political machine to lose control of the mayor's office and resulted in the election of Chicago's first female mayor, Jane Byrne. I think that puts it all in perspective.

Color in the Garden

February's topic for Garden Bloggers' Design Workshop is Color in the Garden. When I first started considering the topic, I thought about the colors of flowers in my garden. But then I realized that there was a color theme going on in the woodland garden, like a running base line in a musical composition, and the unifying color was a surprise to me: chartreuse.
I've read garden design books that have opined that chartreuse should be used sparingly in a garden, and only as a focal point. I've also read that combining chartreuse and purple is so 90s, and just should not be done. I say, thanks for your opinions, but I do things my own way. My garden is not for public consumption, it will never win any design awards. Squirrelhaven exists for one reason only - it makes me happy. If I like the look of chartreuse foliage liberally sprinkled throughout the garden, then it achieves its purpose.

I have not always liked chartreuse. In fact, I always disliked my birthstone, the peridot, because of the color. However, over the last 10 years, the color has grown on me, probably because it combines so well with the colors to which I have always been drawn.

The first, and most obvious combination, is chartreuse and green.
It is not as cold an effect as the harsh contrast of white and green variegation.

A great combination is, yes, purple and chartreuse. As complementary colors, together they shine. All the various tints and shades of purple combine well with chartreuse.Chartreuse is the perfect foil for dark purple foliage; without the strong contrast, the purple foliage fades into the background resulting in a black hole in the garden.
Blue and chartreuse are a less dramatic combination.
Although, as the above photo shows, pink does combine with chartreuse, I prefer the darker pinks with it, such as the pink of this Geranium maculatum:and the pink of this Astrantia.
My current favorite combination with chartreuse is crimson. The lesson I've learned from using chartreuse is that it looks best in shady areas in combination with strong tints and shades. And how does it combine with orange? I don't know - I don't do orange.

(Plants from top: Campanula 'Dickson's Gold with petals of Malus 'Prairiefire;' Heptacodium miconiodes with Hosta and Aquilegia vulgaris 'Woodside Strain'; Hosta 'Winfield Gold'; Astrantia and Hosta; Aquilegia vulgaris seedling with Hosta 'June'; Cotinus cogygria 'Nordine' with Lobelia 'Monet Moment,' Heuchera 'Lime Rickey,' and Alchemilla mollis; Aquilegia vulgaris seedling, Uvularia perfoliata, and Viola labradorica; Campanula 'Dickson's Gold'; 'Woodside Blue' Aquilegia seedling; Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume' with Dicentra 'Zestful'; selected Geranium maculatum seedling with Heuchera 'Lime Rickey' and Labrador Violet; Astrantia 'Claret'; Heuchera 'Hollywood' with Hakonechloa 'Aureola.')