This is a test of Chicagoland Weather Confusion System. If you are a bulb, stay right where you are! This warm weather is only a test. If this had been an actual spring, you would have been instructed where to go for official information. This concludes this test of the Chicagoland Weather Confusion System.

This site (and most gardening sites) say it'll be OK, though. See you in the spring!

A few notes:
I imported a number of plants from Indiana around Memorial Day, but sadly they aren't doing well. I'm not sure if it's the weather or the change of soil, but most are just barely hanging on. This is very sad.

Planted a bunch of caladium bulbs in the front yard and also at the back of the Southern Annex (pictured in last entry). Nothing has emerged yet, but we should see plants soon. Until we do, things look a bit barren.

The containers are doing beautifully, to my relief.

Sad to report that the Ravenswood Manor Garden Club will not be holding a garden walk this year, due to lack of volunteers and the fact that "it is difficult to justify the activity as an integral part of the Club’s mission," according to their Web site. This was one of my favorite events last year, so I'm sorry to see it cancelled. Other garden walks listed here and here.

KJ Gardens goes on vacation this week and prays for rain.

Had good luck plant shopping (we are on a meager condo association budget) at Home Depot on a windy, cool Friday night. On Saturday the weather was fine, however, and I got started with a palette of petunia, coleus, New Guinea impatiens, and various foliage like potato vines.

Containers on the West side of the building. Everything looks tiny and tenuous here, but we'll see.

On the East side of the building, last year's purple sage and hosta are on fire. Although I pruned them thoroughly last fall, the sage plants have already grown to last year's full size.

Honestly, I have not done a thing here.

I think I'll like this one a lot, assuming the coleus do well.

Henry James wrote a book called Daisy Miller. I wish there had been a sequel about her brother, Dusty.

Hostas spring eternal.
In the eternally problematic center bed, I have pinned my hopes on two nice-looking hosta. Filled in with a few New Guinea impatiens, which we had great luck with in 2002 and indifferent luck ever since.

Vine-O-Matic.
This silver vine, which I can't remember the name of, came back with a vengeance this year. I cut it back somewhat and added a few things to duke it out therein.

Full speed ahead with petunias.
They did well in this very spot last year.

Speaking of doing well...
The pulmonaria in the dark, mossy West bed has come back with a vengeance. I may well try a third in the space where the silver dragon did not return.

Let's hope for a good year!

Daffodils and hyacinths are sprightly in the center bed.

And the pulmonaria is back. It didn't bloom last year, so at first I didn't recognize it.

Here in KJ Garden's we're in the process of sorting some new landscaping and yard needs for the Southern Annex, but were impressed by FOKJ Scott's recent yard work. Heavy Equipment + Greenery!

On Friday I did an informal census of what worked and what didn't.

What worked:
Most of the things in my containers, most notably the magilla perilla, which grew into a lovely if somewhat outsized plant.
After a summer of struggling, the alyssum staged a late-game comeback. Results shown here:

The calladium and elephant ear added late-summer color.
The salvia in the sunny bed was a raving success. This was not due to me, as I only recently learned that it requires pruning. So it ran a bit amok until I finally pruned it (hopefully not too hard).

What didn't work:
The celosia never thrived and just didn't seem to be worth the trouble. We'll try something else next year.
Lamb's ear: too invasive and sort of ugly, this lost its charm early in the summer.

Jury still out on:
The hypoestes, a plant I liked but which seemed to require more care than I could reasonably give it. It's not dead, just sort of scruffy.
The begonias were a nice touch, although perhaps I overdid it. They seem to be growing taller than nature intended here:

On Saturday, as 40 mph winds blasted Chicago, I determined to put in daffodil, crocus, tulip and hyacinth bulbs for the spring. Adverse conditions may have made this a sloppier job than I intended. But we'll see what happens.

Despite disappointments, I've found my time in the garden to be very rewarding. It's not a quiet place--people are always walking by with dogs or kids or driving past in oversize trucks quaking with sound. But it functions as a quiet place for me, and that's what matters.

October sky seen from my garden. (That green floating thing is a pizza flyer stuck in the fence. Ah, urban living!)

Sissinghurst Castle is the former home of Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicholson. Over the course of a couple of decades, they created a truly remarkable garden. An an unapologetic Bloomsburyist, I found the whole trip fascinating.

A-bustle in the hedgerow, with tower in background.

The sheer size and scope of the grounds can be intimidating for novice gardeners like me, but the plants were largely well marked, so we didn't feel too lost. One really needs a flock of employees to follow in Vita's footsteps today. But seeing an exhibit of her handwritten garden planning notes (including my favorite line, 'What is the matter with the lilac?') made me feel a little less at sea after all.

The lime walk, consisting of lime trees trained to grow together, is a striking sight.

More links about Sissinghurst garden design here. More about Vita and Harold here.

We also took a day's trip to Chartwell, former home of Winston Churchill. The garden was a welcome respite from the overwhelming 'Churchill cult of personality' that the place seems imbued with. It's hard not to like a place that greets you with this giant rhubarb-like plant (not labeled, alas).

This plant is as tall as a person, although there's no relative scale shown here.

The Chartwell gardens are somewhat more traditional than at Sissinghurst and in some places they are still being restored. The golden rose garden, shown here, was a peaceful place.

The husband stays in the picture.

More about Chartwell here.

August and early September were good months, with frequent rain, and I daresay things looked the best they'd ever been. Then I went on vacation and a drought set in, and the garden suffered in my absence. Now there's a chill in the air and the flowers are rapidly preparing to say goodbye. I knew autumn was on the march when I took my potted geraniums inside in a panic last night.

As this article shows, they'll need to be trimmed back a good bit. Will I have the nerve? Stay tuned.

I moved the cranesbill (which I brought back from Bloomington in spring 2003) from the patch in the back yard, which will be decimated by porch repairs soon, to the container by our doorstep. In: the unfortunately named Magilla Perilla and some ivy. Out: most of the lamb's ear, which was looking patchy and bad, and the trailing viola, which also was ailing.

In the front, the center bed continues to mystify me. Some things just aren't doing well at all. Only the begonia and the calladium thrive, with the random violets finally fading. To complement the red calladium, I added some red celosia and some red and pink hypoestes.

In the dark east bed, filled in some gaps with some pachysandra from the back yard. Added some more mulch, as some areas had gotten pretty uncovered. Crossed fingers.

Of all the spots in my garden, this one makes me proudest. Ironically, it's one I've given the least thought to. Still, the combination of hosta, calladium, and elephant ear looks nice and balanced here, at least for now.

The other beds are puttering along. Several failures in the center bed have left a big gap and I'm not sure how to fill them in yet. The violets are fading out and some of the other things are struggling, so we may need some happy, hardy late summer variety here. A couple weekends of travel loom, however, so we may not see resolution soon.

Meanwhile, efforts to find a home soil test kit have proved, well, soggy.

In other news, about a year ago we had grubs in the lawn, and it looks like they're back. Here's an article with a tip about grubs.

FWIW, here's an alternative view about soil quality from an organic perspective.

This is a grim, sleeves-rolled-up entry. But not all is bad. Holy moly, more calladium! Pictures coming soon.