Summer Northern Gardener® Packed with Ideas

A brand new summer issue of Northern Gardener® magazine is landing in member mailboxes this week. If you’re not a member yet, it will be available on newsstands May 22. It has everything you need for a fantastic gardening season, except warm temperatures!

Hands-on Tips and Ideas

Woo, boy, do we have those! We have two great garden plans to help you start imagining your space. Benjamin Vogt, author of the bestselling guide to creating a prairie-style garden at home, offers an approach, a plant list and a plan for creating a 10-by-10-foot, wildlife-friendly garden using native plants you would commonly find at local nurseries. It will be easy to recreate this garden at home. If cottage gardens and cutting gardens are more your style, Instagrammer Amy Kainz created a 5-by-10 foot cutting garden plan exclusively for Northern Gardener that you can implement or tweak for your home garden.

Also, check out Eric Johnson’s ideas for plant identification tags and Kathy Purdy’s step-by-step instructions on how to prune a shrub into a tree shape. And, if you are wanting to make sure you have plenty of food for the pollinators this summer, Beth Stetenfeld has suggestions on how to set up a pollinator buffet in your backyard.

Food Gardening Inspiration

The summer Northern Gardener is filled with useful ideas for those who grow food at home. Jennifer Rensenbrink’s article on the most ornamental vegetables suggests food plants that you can easily incorporate into your beds and borders. Lee Reich, who has literally written the book on fig growing, tells readers how to grow figs in the North, with clever ideas for over-wintering these semi-tropical fruit trees. And, we have to mention Michelle Bruhn’s profile of The Black Radish, a Minneapolis organization that grows food for neighbors in their front yards. It’s a great story and an idea that could be put to work elsewhere.

Garden Problems Solved

Lilacs looking rough? Irises not blooming? Our resident master gardener Diane McGann takes on both issues and offers research-based information on what might be happening and what gardeners can do about it.

Plants, Plants and More Plants

Of course, we have lots of information about specific plants and plant people. Sarah Colburn introduces us to Jill Stevens, a passionate peony collector and grower from Benson, Minn. Jill shares her favorite peonies and tips for growing them. Gail Brown Hudson takes readers of the summer Northern Gardener into the world of plant breeding, with a profile of amateur martagon breeder Rich Rodich. Michelle Mero Riedel suggests a dozen weird and wonderful plants to include in your containers and garden beds this year. And, Kathy Purdy explains why geraniums should be your plant best friend.

Your task calendar for the summer and a beautiful before and after from the suburbs round out this issue. Enjoy!

Mary Lahr Schier is a longtime Minnesota garden writer.