Chicago Flower and Garden Show

Yesterday, I visited the Chicago Flower and Garden Show for the first time.  The big exhibit hall on Navy Pier was full of blossoms and greenery.  The show gardens were impressive, with waterfalls, koi ponds, fire pits, trees, playsets,  garden sheds, and gazebos-- all brought indoors for the week long show.

The structural elements of the gardens were surrounded by flowers from all seasons-- strikingly different than the melting piles of snow outside.  Forcing is easy for Spring bulbs, but these gardens had a wide array of plants including tree-sized rhododendrons and crabapples.   

Besides the dozen, or so, show gardens, there were demonstrations-- cooking, potting, gardening-- and a "marketplace" where vendors pitched everything from bulbs and cut flowers to home saunas and kitchen devices that slice and dice.   The show also had smaller exhibits, like windowbox gardens from various garden clubs.

Chicago Flower and Garden Show through March 23
$17 weekdays-$19 weekends

Rather than drive all the way to Chicago, I took the South Shore Line (or the NICTD, its less- charming modern name) from Michigan City, IN to downtown Chicago.  The train was on-time and was much easier than driving through heavy traffic. The round-trip fare, at $17, cost less than parking and tolls.  This was another first for me and I would do it again.

MSU Children's Garden

 Michigan State has several gardens on its campus.  The most appealing may be the  4-H Children's Garden.  The garden is appropriately small-scaled and packed with colorful flowers and structures.

Features include a maze, a swinging "gate" that powers a fountain when kids swing on it, a pond with turtles and fish, a rustic treehouse, and lots of plants.  The gardens are themed-- Pioneer Garden, Kitchen Garden, International Garden, Cereal Bowl Garden-- and combine grains, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals.  When my daughter was little, her favorite feature was the Sensitive Plant whose leaves folded when she touched them.

Admission is free.
Parking $3
(I recommend arriving by bike.) 

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is, perhaps, our best-known prairie flower.  Native to North America, its bright yellow flowers bloom early in the summer and can continue throughout the season.

A related species of Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida, is also native to our area (and much of the eastern US).  It became a popular garden flower through an interesting path.  Rather than being directly adopted from the wild, the most popular horticultural variety "Goldsturm" crossed the Atlantic twice.   A German horticulturalist found an attractive variant in a Czech garden and developed it for commercial purposes in Germany.  From Europe, it returned to US gardens.

I'm not absolutely sure which Black-eyed Susan is in the photo.

Winter blooms

Early March, with snow on the ground, isn't usually the time for flowers in Michigan so I enjoyed seeing Witch Hazel in bloom last weekend at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. The flowers were very small but fragrant.

Witch Hazel is a large bush or small tree widely distributed in Michigan and throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada.

The plants I saw were planted at the edge of the parking lot at the nature center and were tagged Hamamelis virginiana. But, I'm not sure. Several sources suggest Hamamelis virginiana blooms in late fall. Another species of Witch Hazel, Hamamelis vernalis, which is native to the Ozarks, does bloom in Winter.

Witch Hazel has been used and is still used medicinally.

Planting time

Springtime, for many, means vegetable gardening and the first hint of warmer weather can make us eager to start. Starting too early, however, leads to poor results. I try to stick to the dates below (my rough calculations based on the book Square Foot Gardening)

Kalamazoo Earliest Planting Dates

April 10: Peas, spinach (from seed)
April 20: Broccoli, parsley (from transplant)
May 1: Carrots, lettuce, onions (from seed)
May 15: Potatoes
May 31: Tomatoes (transplant), summer squash (transplant or seed), beans (seed)
June 15 Peppers (transplant)

Michigan State Extension has detailed information on gardening in Michigan.

The Grand Rapids Press published an article on last freeze dates in W. Michigan.

Dow Gardens

Dow Gardens, in Midland, are about 3 hours from Kalamazoo. The gardens were planted by Herbert Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical, on the grounds of his estate. His son, architect Alden Dow, designed many of the garden's structures.

With over 100 acres open to the public, the gardens are a pleasant spot to spent an hour or so. Paths wind along streams, across bridges, and through woods. Most of the gardens have an informal, naturalistic style, inspired perhaps by Japanese gardens rather than the geometric arrangements of Europe. There are colorful annual and perennial beds, sculptures, ponds, a bright children's garden, and a circular yew maze.

Admission $5
Students $1
Annual pass $10

April

Spring really feels like it's here now. The daffodils are in full bloom; turtles are sunning themselves after their winter hibernation; toads are hunting for insects and the days are warm.

Winter aconite

Aconites are always one of the earliest flowers in my yard. Only the snowdrops are earlier. These are the first sign of spring colors to come.

Spring in Kalamazoo

After nearly three months of continuous snow cover, Spring is coming to Kalamazoo. Officially, it started with over a foot of new snow about a week ago. Now, there are some signs that warmer weather is actually on its way. These snowdrops just broke through this morning.