Notes from Northern Gardener Blog

Each November, January and July, All-America Selections, a nonprofit organization that tests new plants for home gardeners, announces its winning plants from the previous season. The plants are all new to the market and all of them have undergone extensive testing in trial gardens around the country. (One of those gardens is in Morris, Minnesota,…

Even though it’s felt like we live in Seattle the past — oh, maybe — four months, it is still January in Minnesota. That means short days, cold temps and a chance to escape at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory at Como Park. I love, love, love the conservatory, especially in January. The air is moist,…

Each year Pantone names its Color of the Year. Pantone produces a line of color-matching products that are invaluable to graphic designers and others who have to get colors just right. In the recent past, the Color of the Year has included Marsala, Radiant Orchid, Greenery and Tangerine Tango. This year’s color is called Living Coral…

This article by Brenda Harivieux originally appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of Northern Gardener. The Episcopal Homes of Minnesota in St. Paul has a long history of caring for older adults and offers several care levels and services. With a large campus in the city, gardens are important to the residents. “There’s no green…

It’s that time of year when garden prognosticators are laying out the trends they see on the horizon. The garden trend list from Garden Design, a magazine website for high end gardeners, seems on-track with the trends we see in northern gardens here. Things like finding ways to keep landscapes lower maintenance, incorporating food-growing in…