Going Green: Blooms & Bloomin' Pests

I planted this lily when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter. Just shy of three years later, it has finally bloomed! Whenever I look at it, I think of the miracle of her.

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Midsummer is such a fun time in our garden. Spring and early Summer plants are setting seeds before Fall arrives. Tomatoes and peppers are fruiting heavily. The green beans are ready for a third picking and already blooming for a fourth. And the eggplant, cucumbers, pumpkins, and cantaloupe are all flowering profusely. I am so glad I decided to plant more than just tomatoes this year. We are enjoying the abundance that comes from vegetable gardening in the Midwest.

Of special note is the success of our herb garden. I have always grown oregano, parsley, and basil, because I use them heavily in our home cooking. Last year, I planted lemon thyme, rosemary and peppermint as a way to branch out. What success!

The peppermint, especially, has been thriving and is in bloom. Although I have to tend it carefully to make sure it doesn't steal garden space from other plants, I love the look and smell of it in the garden. I have even caught the children stealing nibbles of the minty leaves.

Elsewhere in the garden, we are enjoying carpets of black- and brown-eyed Susans. Large sunflowers and smaller 'wild' sunflowers are providing the birds with plenty to eat. Since yellow is my favorite color, I find the display delightful.

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There is, however, a pest I've been battling for at least a month. The dreaded Japanese Beetle has made a home in our garden -- again! Each year, I wage war with this creepy, seemingly indestructible bug. Fortunately, I find that my hatred (I know it's a strong word, but fitting) of this pest is overcoming my tendency to be totally creeped out by it.

I typically have used Japanese Beetle "bug bags" out to lure these beasts to their doom. In theory, the citronella-smelling bait attracts these horny devils into a bag, trapping them because they're either too stupid to fly out or too distracted by the teeming beetle orgy that eventually takes place. Personally, I don't care which it is... as long as they don't keep eating my plants.

I have noticed, however, that there are certain plants the Japanese beetles find irresistible. In my garden, it is the zinnias, evening primrose, and apple tree that have sustained the most damage. Lately, I have had success going from plant to plant knocking beetles into a cup of water and then pouring the fiends into the bug bag. I go around in the morning and evening, and I usually can collect 18-25 of the disgusting things in the cup before I'm done. It has helped to minimize the damage.

You may wonder why I don't just spray with an insecticide. I'll tell you -- chemicals are stupid. They don't know the difference between the super-creepy Japanese Beetle and the 20+ beneficial pollinators that help our plants be more productive. When a commercial- or home-gardener decides to let a spray do the work, they are choosing to kill bees, butterflies, and other fantastic insects like walking sticks and leaf-hoppers, and even spiders, praying mantis and other hunters. Garden chemicals can also easily leech into groundwater. I suspect they may be, if not the cause, certainly a contributing factor in our nation's honeybee problem, Colony Collapse Disorder.

Even against a pernicious pest like the Japanese Beetle, I don't believe chemicals are the answer. So, for now I'll keep doing the circuit with my cup of water. It's a good excuse to get out in the garden on a daily basis...

.. even if it is pretty creepy.

Midwest Mom

Plants that Attract Butterflies

If you haven't guessed it, this week is devoted primarily to the garden. We've had beautiful weather in Illinois. It has been cooler than expected for July, and less humid. As a result, some of my summer bloomers are a little slow to take off.

But, I received an email yesterday asking what plants are most likely to attract butterflies. I am happy to respond.
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Our family loves gardening to attract bees, birds, and butterflies. It is a great way to teach your children about nature -- right in your own backyard. If you are interested in easy-care butterfly-friendly plants, consider the following:

• Butterfly bush -- I have a blue butterfly bush, because it is supposed to be slightly more cold hardy than other colors. (I still have to mulch it in the winter, though, for protection on cold nights.) It can grow up to 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Mine is in its second year in its current place and has grown about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It has large bloom sprays, much like a lilac, and is very fragrant. We find it becomes a home for many butterflies, but also praying mantises who like to hunt them. It is disease resistant and (maybe because of the mantises) we've never had a problem with it being attacked by bugs.


• Orange Butterfly weed -- This is a beautiful plant that grows in native prairies and wetlands in our region. I have not had success growing it at home. But, feel free to give it a try. It serves both as a host plant and as a nectar plant for several species of butterfly. (It is actually a species of milkweed -- see next entry.)


• Milkweed -- An obvious choice for Monarch lovers. I have pink milkweed in my wildflower garden, where it will blend in and not be disturbed by the normal traffic of the front flower bed. In my opinion, it is not nearly as attractive as Butterfly Bush or Butterfly Weed, but it is very useful if you want a 'homegrown' crop of Monarchs.


• Stonecrop, also called "Live Forever" -- This succulent is a great addition to any sunny, rocky area. It has the ability to establish itself well, even where there is little soil. It blooms in late July with tall, flat pads of pink blossoms. Butterflies find them easy to feed from because they must land to drink nectar. Stonecrop blossoms are a sturdy platform for them. Last year, there were so many butterflies at our Stonecrop, they made a little dancing "cloud" around us. It was magical.


• Purple Coneflower/Echinacea -- As you can see from my son's photo (below), the center of the Purple Coneflower is very attractive to butterflies of all sorts. It is easy to grow and requires very little care.


• Speedwell -- Speedwell comes in several varieties. I have the larger, white variety (in the background of the monarch photo) and also a smaller, pink variety. It is a hardy perennial that blooms from late Spring through early Fall. Bees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds love its long blooming spikes.

There are so many other plants that will attract butterflies to your garden. But the above list is a good starting place for anyone hoping to start a butterfly garden. One more hint on attracting butterflies to your garden will be useful: they need a source of moisture somewhere in the garden. I keep a clean birdbath filled with fresh water right next to my Butterfly bush. Especially in later Summer, do not underestimate the power of a good drink to these wonderful creatures.

Good luck in the garden!

Midwest Mom

p.s. -- If you have suggestions you would like to share, click "comments" and post them! We'd love to hear about your butterfly garden, too.

Going Green: Time off in the Garden

After weeks of rain in the Midwest, we have finally had one whole week of sunshine. It has been in the high 70's each day with a light breeze. Weather like this almost makes you forget that the hot stuff is on the way.

This is the reason I love the month of June.

The kids and I took the morning off to spend time together and play outside. Because it's been dry, we decided to do some watering... the old fashioned way. To water my plants, I usually fill a 5-gallon bucket and put it near the flower garden or the vegetable garden and ask my children to choose one of the 17 plastic watering cans in their toy box. They water the plants, they water each other, they water me. As a matter of fact, I'm sure I've grown as a result. (ha. I'm such a shorty.) We have fun, and they help me to notice all the small changes in our plants since the last time we were out.

Spending that time -- they are much more observant and thorough than I am -- made my wonder whether it was time for a garden update. I checked the blog, and LO! It is.

After a healthy run -- clearly the best spinach year ever on record in this house -- all the spinach has finally bolted. We had one variety that lasted a really long time -- I wish, now, I could remember what it was called. But, it is done and setting seed. I will probably have one more really good harvest -- enough to make a big batch of wilted spinach with slivered garlic a'la The Barefoot Contessa. I could eat the whole bowl of it, it's that good.

The lettuce, though, is going strong. This wet, cool, long-lasting spring has been a salad-lovers dream. In the past, I always planted mesclun, but this year I opted for Green Leaf lettuce. It is so nice to just go out and pick a whole head of it for the evening's salad. You can't get any better than fresh lettuce, and it is so good, it doesn't even need dressing.


In worse news, my sugar snap peas have been totally decimated by the cutest baby bunny I've ever seen. Why does the creature ruining my peas have to be so darned lovable? It makes it impossible to be angry. I even sat with my daughter about 6 feet away from the thing (about the size of one of her shoes) while it ate an entire plant from root to tip. Total pea harvest =5.

We have several vegetables in flower, and as long as our bunny friend doesn't get to those, we should be okay. They are: tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and green beans. There are seedling basil and cilantro plants in the garden that are looking quite healthy, too. So, the next month should be a fun one for cooking with fresh vegetables and herbs.

Our flower garden has also been fun to watch. Our roses are in full bloom, although we lost one planting near the arbor in our backyard. We replaced it with two clematis vines. So, keep your fingers crossed. Our petunias from last year seeded themselves, so we have a mixture of pink, purple, and white petunias popping up all over the place.



In the wildflower garden, there are day-lilies, tiger lilies, bluebells, and forget-me-nots. It makes for a few pockets of color, but the big bloomers, like the bee balm, purple coneflower, brown-eyed-susans, sunflowers, and cosmos are waiting for warmer weather. They have a good number of buds, though! So, it looks like we're promised a colorful July.

That's all from the garden! I hope you don't mind if I head out again with the kids. You just can't pass up a day like this!

Midwest Mom

I'm Looking Over a 4-Leaf Clover

I have a very good friend named Mary who has a knack for finding 4-leaf clovers. I guess she's lucky. Maybe she just knows where to look. Maybe she's a secretly a leprechaun. She always talks about having "Irish Fey". I haven't been able to nail down exactly what that means. Maybe it's leprechaun for something...

No, but clover. This is about clover. I have another friend who lives "out East" and has two daughters. Speaking to them recently, I made a reference to clover and was met with silence. Her four-year-old had no idea what it was or where it grew, and yet her mom is an avid gardener. Is that possible? I guess, in this world of 4-step lawn chemical treatment systems and broad-leaf weed killer, it is possible that a neighborhood could exist somewhere (apparently in Pennsylvania) without clover. It makes me sad just to think of it.

Here in Illinois and everywhere else I have visited or lived across the country (23 States and Washington, D.C.) I have always seen clover. I remember as a child in the Northern Virginia suburbs that every yard had it. We used to run around the neighborhood barefoot (much to my mother's chagrin), so we experienced the cool softness of our clover patch on many summer afternoons. It was the perfect antidote for a barefoot hop across the steamy blacktop of the driveway. We also learned that, while clover has a soft feel underfoot, the bees in the clover patch definitely do not.

This week, our back yard clover came into bloom, and while the kids were playing outside yesterday -- shoes off, of course -- I could smell the blossoms. Honeybees were there, too, working in the sunshine. And as I watched my children pick the flowers and watch the bees, it was a nice feeling to know that my kids were having an experience that I had at their age. Even though in life I'm probably much more like the bees, constantly moving, working hard to make something sweet and wonderful for my family, yesterday I had the joy just to watch my children and smell the clover in bloom. The feeling was as simple as it was good.

So, let the clover grow. Take your shoes off and enjoy it. Put the weed and feed away for another season. There is nothing better, really --even finding a 4-leaf clover.

... now if I can only find Mary's Lucky Charms....

Midwest Mom

Going Green, Part 3 - The Lawn

Two years ago, my husband and I completely re-landscaped the front of our house. It was back-breaking work. And, yes, plenty of our neighbors slowed down as they drove by to say, "Hey! what are you doing?!?" When you're up to your elbows in dirt for the fourth afternoon in a row, you get tired of answering that question.

But, being the frugal family we are, we weren't about to spend ten times the money to have a group of 4 or 5 shirtless 19 year olds doing the work for us... (Darn! I think I missed out on something there!)

Well, the point is, we did it ourselves. Yet another way to save dough. And two years later, we have a beautiful garden and lawn. I said two years... T-W-O. We learned some lessons from the work we did. I thought it would be useful to share them. (Did I mention it took 2 years?)

Out with the Old, in with the New ... Lawn

When we got started on our landscape project, we decided it would be best to get rid of everything first. My husband grabbed his 1996 Ford Ranger (basically a wheelbarrow of a pickup truck) and a chain. After about 15 minutes, we realized we'd have to call in his dad's GMC. 15 minutes after that, six evergreen bushes were out and hauled away. A great start. I distinctly remember saying, "No problem! That was quick!" Ha.

Our (my husband's) next task was to break up the old sidewalk and remove it. Yeah. A little more difficult.

I got started removing the lawn. With a spade and a wheelbarrow. Not wanting to waste, I made sure everything was composted. Did I mention I was pregnant at the time? Yeah. No more "that was quick."

So, two and a half weeks later (or two containers of Icy Hot, however you mark time) the lawn was out. We had to re-grade so that water would drain away from the house. More dirt. More back-breaking labor. No, not LABORlabor.... just hard work.

Essentially, you can tell we did nothing the easy way. What I have found since then is that there are actual tools available that would help with this whole process! So, if YOU are planning a tear-out of your lawn and plant a new one, here's what you need to do:

1.) Go to your local tool-rental place and ask for a sod-cutter. It is a machine that will actually cut and roll up your weedy lawn. What took us a couple of weeks will take you a little cash and a couple of hours. Then roto-till. Get the ground nice and broken up.

2.)Add whatever you need to the dirt to make it light and the right pH. You can use peat moss, dry manure, compost, and even some sand if your soil is mostly clay. Till it again.

3.) Get a roller to press the soil nice and even, so you don't have too many dips and bumps. It works best either when the soil is tilled nicely OR after the grass has grown and you have had a really soaking rain. Later, when you're mowing, you will appreciate that you took the time for this step.

4.) Spread a seed-starter fertilizer and the best quality seed you can find. Call your local extension office -- they will know what grows best in your area. Keep it lightly watered (I think evening watering is best) until it sprouts. After that, a soaking watering twice a week will be enough. Try not to walk on it and do not mow it until it is 3 inches tall.

5.) You may be concerned about weeds. I can tell you that your new lawn will have weeds the first season. Once you cultivate the ground, you'll expose weed seed and it will sprout. You might be tempted to seed and then throw straw all over. If you do, annual ryegrass (otherwise known as crabgrass) will grow all over your yard. It is just as easy to use shredded newspaper (or nothing) so you don't have all the weeds instantly in there. Whatever you do, and however many weeds are in there, do not use weed killer until you've been able to grow and mow the new grass 4 times (about a month of mowing). Then it will be safe to use a weed & feed type of fertilizer.

Good luck. I think, start to finish, this job will probably take 4-6 weeks.

Did I mention ours took two years?

Midwest Mom