Mother's Day Gifts for Gardeners

Mother's Day is fast approaching. Visit any garden center next Saturday and you'll be sure to see several very harried fathers with their kids in tow, shopping frantically for Mom. If you're one of these non-gardeners, you could fall back on that old standby -- a rose bush. But if you want to give something a little more special this year, here are a few suggestions.

-- A make-it-yourself garden stepping stone.

This requires a bit of advance planning/shopping but it will be worth it. I would have loved one of these when my son was growing up. Alas, now he's practically grown up and my chances of getting one of these -- well, I might as well wish to actually get the car on a Saturday night.

 -- Great garden clothing.

Who says you have to wear dowdy, grass-stained clothes when gardening? That's just so Medieval!

Boots and clogs now come in all sorts of wonderful colors and patterns. Just be sure to know Mom's shoe size before you go to the store.  And if your Mom is a hat person, well, you're in luck! There's no better way for a gardener to keep the sun off her face and neck!



-- A cool looking birdhouse. Invite the birds to join your mother in the garden. You could buy one at your favorite neighborhood garden center. There also are kits available. Just don't leave it plain. Dress it up with your own special style!

 

 

-- Garden statuary. Depending of the size of your budget, a statue, fountain or wall hanging might be something to consider. Does your Mom love frogs? There are lots of those available. Garden gnomes and decorations you can hang on a wall or gate are also awesome!



-- A colorful garden accessory. Pots, chairs, globes and other goodies for the patio come in a lot of exciting colors these days. Of course, clay pots do have their place. But if your Mom just wants to have fun, something lime green may be just the ticket.

-- Containers planted with flowers. You can buy them ready made or, if your Mom is more a do-it-yourself-er, get her a gift certificate for her favorite nursery.

-- Good hand tools.  At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will reiterate a suggestion I made just before Christmas. Practically every gardener would like some high-quality tools, Alas, these generally aren't something we generally buy for ourselves -- not when we need more plants for the garden.

-- The usual suspects. These include a membership to the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum or another public garden near you. Gardening books, especially those on a topic near and dear to your Mom's heart. Gloves, but only if they're not too big. (Save the receipt.)

-- The best gift of all. This is spending time in the garden with your mother. Help pulling weeds or picking up the same is very, very much appreciated! It's right up there with turning the compost pile, planting annuals or hauling bags of topsoil to the back yard.

Here's hoping you all have the happiest of Mother's Day!!!

 

By Karen Geisler





On the Wings of Columbine

Aquilegia 'Music Blue and White'

Mention the word "columbine" and most people, unfortunately, think of the tragic 1999 shooting at a Colorado high school of the same name. That's a shame because this plant is a wonderful way to move the garden from spring into summer.

The flowers always make me think of flying. Its sepals, the colored petals in the photo above, are the wings -- when viewed from the side at least. Its spurs, the long tubes on the back of the flower, look like the tail of a bird or a comet. In fact, this plant's common name stems from the Latin word columba, or dove.



Aquilegia 'Dove'

Those long tubes serve a purpose. They hold the nectar favored by pollinators such as hummingbirds and moths. In fact, one scientific study showed that the length of these tubes has changed over the years to accommodate the available pollinators!

Columbine has been around practically forever and is native to most parts of the world. The wildflower version, aquilegia canadensis, has orange/red and yellow flowers that face downward. It will easily cross-pollinate and actively self-seed although you can avoid the latter problem by deadheading the flowers once they are finished blooming.

The plant has changed a lot since its beginnings as a wildflower. Size now varies from the 10-12" of Little Lanterns, a miniature version of the wildflower,and the Winky series to the 2-3 feet of the Songbird, Music and Origami series. Colors include all shades of pink, purple, yellow and red. Some flowers, especially those of the Songbird series, face upward. There are even columbines with green and yellow marbled leaves and others with double flowers.



Aquilegia vulgaris 'Leprechaun Gold' with
Alchemilla mollis in the background

Cultivation is easy. This plant prefers part shade and is hardy from zones 3 to 9. It likes a rich, consistently moist soil that is well drained and blooms from late spring to early summer. My garden especially needs more columbine this year as the early, warm spring caused most of my spring bloomers to finish up early.

A note of caution: If you have a dog, it's probably best to avoid this plant. Although you will find it listed on the Internet as both dog-friendly and dog-toxic, the foliage and roots apparently are harmful if eaten. Better to be safe than sorry.

Aquilegia 'Origami Rose and White'



Aquilegia 'Origami Yellow'



Aquilegia 'Spring Magic Rose and Ivory'



Aquilegia 'Winky Double Red and White'

Do you have a favorite columbine?

By Karen Geisler

Adopting Sophia

Thermopsis chinensis 'Sophia'

This is a story about a little girl, adoption and a great new plant.

When I first spotted the plant, I thought it was lost. Its leaves, from a distance, looked like those of a baptisia, or false indigo. Yet there it was, sitting quietly in the “T” section at my favorite nursery. A closer look at the tag revealed it actually was a variety of thermopsis chinensis, also known as the false lupine, pea bush or Chinese bushpea.

The word “lupine” instantly caught my attention. I have lusted after lupines for years, lured by wonderful pictures in books and magazines. Yet, I had been unable to grow them, something that apparently is the case for many Midwest gardeners.

The tag promised this plant would be much easier to grow than a true lupine and produce lovely canary yellow flowers in full sun to light shade. Its height was estimated at just 1 ½ feet, perfect for the space I had in mind, so I decided to take Sophia home with me. She joined a bed of mostly ornamental grasses, coneflowers and rudbeckia where she could star in her own spring show. The plant grew so well that I returned and bought two more.

The leaves of thermopsis chinensis 'Sophia'

My efforts were rewarded this spring with a wonderful burst of color. The flowers are just now starting to fade after three weeks and that's despite numerous frosts. They’re a softer yellow than forsythia and the color goes well with daffodils. The foliage will provide some interest even once the flowers fade.

Sophia took on an added dimension when I contacted the grower that had introduced it, North Creek Nurseries. Turns out the variety was named after an employee's newly adopted daughter, Sophia. As my husband and I also have adopted, the plant now has a special meaning for me.

I guess, in a way, a gardener is always “adopting” plants, nurturing them, helping them to grow and reach their full potential.

Here's hoping the real life Sophia is doing well. If she's anything like her namesake, I'm sure she'll go far.

A closeup of the flowers on thermopsis chinensis 'Sophia'

 

By Karen Geisler