Author Archives: aheronsgarden

Chicago for Gardeners

Urban Oases and Millennium Park Dateline October 2015. Susan and I had both read Erik Larson’s absolutely spellbinding book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that changed America. Our curiosity was piqued. A visit to … Continue reading

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Under the Garden Spade

Alice’s tumble down the rabbit hole is quite the adventure, but it wasn’t much different from winding through the maze that lies a few inches beneath our garden spades. Of course, if you really want to follow Alice, there is … Continue reading

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Last Monarchs. . .First Honeybees

Early November, Lowe’s Home Improvement was selling agastache ‘Purple Fortune’ almost bloomed out and looking like a ragamuffin, for one dollar. Like the perennial optimists we gardeners are, I rose to the challenge and bought two. Yes, I can coax … Continue reading

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Missing Summer — Already?

I can’t believe I spent most of the summer fretting about too much heat too much humidity too much sun and not enough rain, and now that cool weather is here, I am already wishing I could have another go … Continue reading

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The Taking of a Tree

It was a Norman Rockwell tree. Each spring the crabapple, on schedule, would unsheathe its buds and break into a great song of white blossoms. Always the first week in April. The crabapple is blooming, we would say (as if … Continue reading

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Midsummer Madness

The thing about spring is its order. There is a natural progression starting from bare twigs, bare earth to lovely bloom. There is space, precious precious space, for plants to expand and show off. Insects are usually a little behind … Continue reading

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The Bee Report

We owe the beleaguered honeybee and his friends Bam! Statistics on honeybee survival leave you reeling. Take a look at some news items released this year. (Bold italics my emphasis.) From Reuters in May, 2015 comes this alarming report: “Honey … Continue reading

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St. Petersburg V: From Tar Yards to Revolution. . .and Beyond

(Click on Peterhof and Catherine Park for pictures and discussion of these gardens. For the first post in this series of five, see St. Petersburg: I: First Impressions) Thank goodness Irina brought a car and driver with her today, Susan said. I … Continue reading

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St. Petersburg IV: A Church, a Museum and Sunday in the Garden

(Go to Peterhof and Catherine Park for discussion and pictures of these gardens.) Today, we meet Ilya Repin, but first we must explore a historical whodunnit. You can’t miss Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky Prospekt with its colonnades and statues and roses still … Continue reading

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St. Petersburg III: The Neva Runs Through It

(Go to Peterhof and Catherine Park for pictures and discussion of these gardens) We decided not to climb to the dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral for the tourist view of St. Petersburg because we were taking a late-night boat ride on … Continue reading

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