The Jewels of Chicago

Hello all! It's an exciting time of the year when the plants start to bloom and the customers start to call. It's hard sometimes to get out and see what the world has to offer this time of year. I wanted to show you what exciting things there are to see. Of course with a little of the Midwest Groundcovers gardens as well!

Thursday May 29, we hosted our 2nd annual Garden Writers' Day. 22 writers from Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois attended the event. Steve Castorani of North Creek Nursery and the inventor of American Beauties Native Plants(TM) was on hand for the event and did a presentation to the group to kick us off. Many thanks go out to those who attended and to those who helped carry out the day. We were able to get a group picture at the end of the tour of all the writers who made it. As you can see, it didn't take long for the poses to become a little goofy.


I guess I expected a little goofing around, but I didn't expect the bunny ears from Mike Nowak.

Green Roofs

On Wednesday a few of us got the rare oppurtunity to go onto City Hall's roof in Chicago. It was quite the experience seeing such an elaborate display of an intensive green roof. Seeing a Washington Hawthorn on top of a building in the city is quite cool.

Here is a picture of an extensive green roof. This one is planted at our St Charles facility. Intensive green roofs have more depth and can hold different types of plants. These are typically irrigated. Extensive systems, like the one to the right, are usually 2"-4" deep and are best planted in Sedum.

While on the green roof at City Hall, we walked upon some bee hives. Quite nice that people in the city are trying to help out our honey bee populations. They are in dire need of help. For more information on the current bee crisis, follow this link.

Millenium Park and the Lurie Garden

The Lurie garden is truly a Horticultural treasure. The Salvia river, and the Camassia bulbs are spectacular right now. If you have a chance to see this soon, go! Never before, have I felt so close to heaven.

Baptisia Starlite Prairieblues(tm)

The first of the Baptisia to bust out in bloom. It's light colored flowers are quite stunning right now. Big and bold and so much larger than the straight B. australis. These have also been a dream in production. They make size twice as fast as B. australis! Next week, I'll be attending a Baptisia Field Day, where we'll look at potential future introductions from the Chicagoland Grows program. Jim Ault is really doing a great job. We in this industry have to figure out how to get the public's interest.

On this cool rainy day, I'm looking back on the things I've been able to do these past couple weeks. It is quite easy for me to believe that I have the best job in the world! Thanks for reading, and until next time, have a great day!