Late May, Shakespeare Garden at Northwestern University (top to bottom):
1) Late tulips, hosta, rhododendrons, Allium.
2) Allium, Aquilegia (Columbines). Iris & roses, pre-bloom stage.
3) Late tulips and hosta, with ferns.
4) End-of-the-season bird’s-eye Narcissus.
5) Convallaria (Lily-of-the-Valley).
6) Catmint, buttercups, boxwood, and more Allium.
All manner of things:
1) Allium, Aquilegia, June-bearing strawberries, French tarragon, spearmint, Sweet William (foreground, in bud).
2) ‘Champagne Elegance’ bearded iris, ‘Everest’ alliums, Shasta daisies
Allium, French tarragon, kale.
A close look at the Fargo/Hoyne bee & butterfly garden, Chicago (1 of 3): ‘Biedermaier’ series Aquilegia, in three subtle pastel colors. No care required; short-lived, but they reseed promiscuously. (June-bearing strawberries to the left, in flower.)
May Update, Fargo/Hoyne Bee & Butterfly garden. First butterfly sighting today, a modest white cabbage butterfly; also an early-season wasp. All pollinators are good pollinators:
1) End of the season Narcissus, 5/7/13. Love the unusual double-cup pure white variety.
2) Another 5/7 newcomer: Siberian iris. This overachiever is already in flower, despite just having been transplanted last fall.
3) 5/1/13: “Apricot Beauty” tulips, with multiple varieties of narcissus, including “Passionale,” in background.
4) Mid-season narcissus “Pink Paradise” and Passionale,” 5/1/13. Note ruffled kale in foreground, which inexplicably overwintered with minimal mulch, and is about to come into flower (!). Nature is very mysterious.
(all photos by Peg Wolfe)
Further progress at the Shakespeare Garden at Northwestern University, 4-14-2013: Forsythia, first blooming daffodils of the season, scylla
Last Sunday (April 7, 2013) at the Shakespeare Garden at Northwestern University. Rugged-but-delicate snowdrops, peony shoots, and about-to-burst daffodils; updates shortly, weather permitting.
Some James Thurber for a cold, gloomy day
Have you ever tried saving your own seeds after the harvest? Want to know how to do it, and why?
(photo courtesy of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange)
From Margaret Roach’s wonderful blog, ‘A Way to Garden’: 
(Source: awaytogarden.com)
Gardening, eating, drinking, and all of the good things in life.
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