thisgardencooks.com

August 2012 Eastern Bluebird at Wildwood, our garden. Photo courtesy of Ellen Hodges.

Welcome to thisgardencooks.com, a site for new and experienced gardeners, those who enjoy fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits, and those who simply like to observe and reflect on nature!

Brought to you by Nina Koziol, long-time garden writer for the Chicago Tribune, Chicagoland Gardening and other magazines, adjunct faculty at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum, and a frequent speaker for other organizations and garden clubs in the Midwest. The flower and shrub borders, containers and edible gardens on these pages take inspiration from her grandparents' garden in Essex, England that was a combination of flowers, herbs, vegetables, rock garden, pond, potting shed, greenhouse and blue hydrangeas the size of basketballs. The ultimate Victory Garden. Check out my blog.

Images from Wildwood, our garden.

Herbs in the fall potager. (c) Ellen Hodges.

Harvest Time.

Swallowtail (c) Ellen Hodges

Sleeping fox on our back patio.

Mr. Big Begonias in the north-facing window box.

Hummingbird border--salvia, vinca, sweet alyssum

This bed of annuals was planted in 2012 after the Norway Spruce blew down in a storm.

Future diner in our garden

A newborn fawn outside our window

Mini Potager Garden with Espaliered Apple Trees

Autumn planting of bok choy.

Organic. Dandelions!

Fawn at Wildwood Garden (c) Ellen Hodges

Wildwood at high summer. (c) Ellen Hodges

The mini-potager with espaliered apples, herbs, and greens.

Fritillary. Lays its eggs on the violets in the surrounding woodland.

The Mixed Border.

Rudbeckia, Hydrangeas, Perennials and More!

NEW! 2013 Classes!

Into the Wildwood: Looking at Nature up Close with Nina Koziol and Ellen Hodges

Thursday, August 8, 7:00 pm at McCord Gallery and Cultural Center, 9602 W. Creek Road in Palos Park, and Saturday, August 10, 7:30 am – 12:00 pm at Wildwood Garden

Class fee is $40. Registration is required and space is limited.

We may look, but we often don’t see. And that is sometimes the case when we’re in a garden, surrounded by birdsong or the buzzing of insects. There’s the intricate landing pad of a foxglove flower, a hummingbird dipping into the cardinal climber, dew on a ripening tomato, or perhaps it’s a bluebird feather on the lawn. In this special two-part program, garden writer and horticulturist Nina Koziol and nature photographer Ellen Hodges present a close up look at what really goes on in the garden in a special slide presentation on Thursday, August 8. Students are invited back on Saturday, August 10 to Wildwood, Koziol’s Palos Park Garden, for plein air painting and photography from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Space is limited and registration is required. For more information, call 708.671.0648 or email office@mccordgallery.org

Plant an Easy-care Garden

Friday, October 25, 9-2 at The Morton Arboretum

How do you create a yard that wows the neighbors but doesn't take all your leisure time maintaining it? Marcy Stewart-Pyziak of The Gardener's Tutor and I will share examples of regional gardens that were designed and planted with less upkeep in mind. We'll cover how to choose attractive plants that require minimal care and discuss how to match them to various site conditions.

Low-maintenance Perennial Gardens

Saturday, Oct. 26 9:30-3 at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Marcy Stewart-Pyziak of The Gardener's Tutor, and I will present the basics of selecting, planting and maintaining easy-care perennials. This class focuses on how to use color, texture, shape and form to create attractive combinations for sun and shade.

Read the latest on what's happening at Wildwood Garden.

Recycled wheelbarrow filled with herbs.

Hummingbird in our garden by Ellen Hodges.

Below is our 80' x 15' butterfly border this June. We've replaced the arbor and now we're adding more annuals to keep the color going through frost. We've got bronze fennel for the tiger swallowtails and pipevine growing on the arbor for the pipevine swallowtails. On June 19, the last day of spring, we found eggs and caterpillars on both plants. Nectar plants are numerous--coneflowers, calamintha 'Montrose White,' cosmos, zinnias, Rudbeckia 'Herbstonne' and many more.

Learn more about garden design, plants and placement. See "Classes."

In this issue, a Q&A about Tomato Woes. Here's an excerpt: The Problem: Leaves are Yellow, Plant is Wilting. Countless fungi inhabit the soil and two of them in particular--Fusarium and Verticillium—cause many plants to wilt (and sometimes die). The fungus enters through the roots and clogs water-conducting tissues. Cut a stem and you may find brownish stains in the center. Unable to get water and nutrients because of plugged stems, the leaves turn yellow and begin shriveling from the ground up and the plant eventually dies. The Fix: There is no treatment but you can help prevent it. Avoid planting tomatoes, potatoes and peppers in the same location for 3 to 4 years. Remove and destroy all diseased plants—don’t compost them. And look for varieties with the initials VFN on the seed packets. The letters indicate that the plants have resistance to the two fungal diseases and to nematodes--soil-dwelling pests that cause root damage. Many new hybrid varieties are “VFN” types.

Fun with Paint!