A Dozen Roses for Valentine's Day

Roses are red, violets are blue

Here are a dozen, especially for you

Happy Valentines's Day!



Falling in Love
Photo courtesy of Weeks Roses

Angel Face
Photo courtesy of Weeks Roses

Brite Eyes
Photo courtesy of the Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses

Kiss Me
Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries

Easy Does It
Photo courtesy of Weeks Roses

Sugar Moon
Photo courtesy of Weeks Roses



Nearly Wild
Photo courtesy of Weeks Roses

Perfume Delight
Photo courtesy of the Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses



Double Knock Out
Photo courtesy of the Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses

Moondance
Photo courtesy of  the Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses

Walking on Sunshine
Phot courtesy of the Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses




Carefree Beauty
Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries

By Karen Geisler

Tussie Mussies

A tussie mussie

You don't need flowery language to impress your sweetheart this Valentine's Day, especially if he or she is a gardener. And you don't necessarily need to bust the bank for a dozen long-stemmed roses either.

Take a cue from the Victorian era, when romance was in full bloom. Try a tussie mussie.

These small bouquets, usually made of fragrant flowers and herbs, have been around since medieval times. The spelling varies, with either a "y" or "ie" at the end, and they sometimes are called a nosegay or posy.

No one's quite sure where the name came from (although just pronouncing it makes me smile). One guess is that "tussie" comes from an Old English word for a knot of flowers. "Mussie" is thought to be a reference to the moss that probably was used to keep the flowers fresh.

Tussie mussies originally were used to keep the nose "gay" or happy at a time when the standards of public sanitation and private hygiene were much lower than today. Their fragrance protected the bearer from bad smells, which were thought to cause disease.

Then along came the Victorian era, which took tussie mussies to a whole new level. (Dim lights, play romantic music.) They used floriography -- the language of flowers -- to convey a secret message in their bouquets. The color of the rose you picked, for example, showed your true feelings.

A pink rose was for grace and beauty; yellow, friendship; white, innocence and purity; orange, enthusiasm or fascination; light peach, modesty; and purple, enchantment. A red rose? That was for romantic love, of course, a meaning that persists to this day.

Other flowers and their meanings include rosemary for remembrance; oregano, joy; sage, wisdom; purple heather, admiration and beauty; hydrangea, devotion; and baby's breath, everlasting love.

Traditionally, a tussie mussie had one main flower in the middle surrounded by filler plants and herbs, and came in a special metal bouquet holder. The concept has evolved over the years, though, and you can now find a large variety of shapes, sizes, styles and containers.

While most use fresh flowers that can be left to dry naturally, some incorporate silk flowers or dried materials. Ribbons, lace or even a vintage Valentine can be added, depending on what you think the object of your affection might appreciate.

So this Feb. 14, go for something a little out of the ordinary. Make your message more personal and interesting with a tussie mussie.

-- Chalet Nursery will have fresh tussie mussies available starting Saturday, Feb. 11 for a limited time. They are made by Kate Rice of Grayslake, IL.

By Karen Geisler

A Winter Walk in the Lurie Garden

The Chicago skyline from the Lurie Garden

The Lurie Garden, with its New Wave mix of native perennials and ornamental grasses, is a popular attraction on Chicago's lakefront. About 1 million visitors ramble its paths annually. You'll see very few of them in February, though, due to the Windy City's often brutal and unpredictable winters.

This year has been different, with temperatures that have seemed downright balmy, so I decided to take a guided walk offered by the garden this past weekend. While the views might have been improved with a touch of snow or frost, there was still plenty to take in.

 


Wild quinine

Colors ranged from the grey of mountain mint to the red of Moorhexe moor grass to the light tan of prairie dropseed. They were punctuated throughout by the spiky seedheads of cone flowers and rattlesnake master. And when the wind blew, the dried leaves of the European beech trees and the Northern sea oat grasses rustled softly.



Rattlesnake master intertwined with Russian sage

All of this is framed by the Chicago skyline, the Art Institute’s Modern Wing and Lake Michigan. Yet, thanks to its “Shoulders” -- a large hedge of arborvitae, beech and hornbeam-- the site is peaceful and serene. It's a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life as well as the rest of Millenium Park.



Culver's root



Ornamental onion  'Summer Beauty'

There are "communities" here as the various plants intermingle and weave a tapestry of sorts. Some of the subleties now apparent in planting plan by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf actually may have been lost in the snow most winters.



Bottle gentian, Russian sage and Culver's root

Horticulturalist Laura Young, who led Saturday's walk, said the garden is being effected by this year’s warmer-than-usual temperatures. The Lenten roses, for example, have already bloomed -- a couple of months ahead of schedule.  The chickweed (unfortunately) is doing well and needs to be pulled.

The garden, usually mowed during the first week of March, also may get its annual haircut a bit earlier this year as a result. So if you want to see the winter garden in all its glory, you probably should go sooner rather than later.  I hope it will inspire you, as it did me, to add more winter interest to your garden this summer using native plants.
 


Rattlesnake master silhouetted by the
Modern Wing of the Art Institute

The view to the north

Latin names:
Arborvitae                    Thuja occidentalis
Beech, European         Fagus sylvatica
Bottle gentian              Gentiana andrewsii
Cone flower                 Echinacea
Culver's root                Veronicastrum virginicum
Hornbeam                   Carpinus betulus
Lenten rose                  Helleborus orientalis
Moor grass                   Molina caerulea
Mountain mint            Pycnanthemum muticum
Northern sea oats        Chasmanthium latifolium
Ornamental onion      Allium lusitanicum syn A. 'Summer Beauty'
Prairie dropseed           Sporobolis heterolepsis
Rattlesnake master      Eryngium yuccifolium
Russian sage                Perovskia atriplicifolia
Wild quinine                Parthenium integrifolium

For a complete list of plants in the Lurie Garden, click here.

By Karen Geisler