Chicago Parks in Vintage Postcards

Chicago's motto "Urbs in Horto" translates to "City in a Garden" and there is no best example of this motto than the our collection of public parks. While our collection of parks today is nice, it was once impressive. As you'll see from these Chicago parks in vintage postcards depicting Washington Park, Garfield Park, and Lincoln Park Conservatory.

The King of Horticulture and Social Media in Chicago

http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com

Earlier this week I was invited by Mike Nowak to be a guest on his Chicago gardening radio show. Being a regular listener of the show I was excited about the opportunity, but really scared. It is a weird feeling to be asked to come around from behind the computer and be "MrBrownThumb" in person. The first time that happened I had the benefit of going in with other garden bloggers and it feeling like someone had my back. Part of the reason I don't like to do it, besides people not asking regularly, is that I'm not sure the "MrBrownThumb" shtick translates outside of blogs and 140 character tweets. So, after being invited to be on the radio show I quickly had to improvise another security blanket to help me cope with the stress.

I asked Mike if I could bring my laptop in and perhaps incorporate Twitter into the segment. He agreed and this morning I headed down to the radio station extra early. I got there so early for my segment that I  had time sit down to read Waking Up in Eden and was a couple of chapters in when Mike's producer came running into the room I was waiting in and said I was up.

The next thing I remember I'm sitting in a studio with a microphone in my face and my fingers tapping at the keys of my laptop posting something on Twitter. Mike introduced me as something to the effect of the King of Twitter (honestly, I can't remember exactly what he said) to which I replied that I was the Court Jester and that Ron Wolford, having way more followers, deserved the title.

The rest of the half-hour segment is as much of a blur as how I got into the studio and into the seat but I was fortunate to once again have gardeners who had my back. Several garden bloggers and gardeners on Twitter were listening to the show and they became part of the live radio show. Here is a list of those that tweeted at me during the segment:

Xanboni
The Yarden 
Alexander_Roman
MySkinnyGarden
HoneyCoop
UrbanGarden (The King of Horticulture and Social Media)
FineDiving
Kiss My Aster
NSandlin 
JPirovano
TomNTMJ

Even some gardeners outside of Chicago were listening.

BG_Garden (Ohio)
SJones71 (Connecticut)
IndoorGarden-er (Washington DC)
Get In The Garden (Western NY State)

If you're looking for a fun bunch of people to follow on Twitter give these tweeple a follow. If you don't do Twitter visit their Twitter account any way and check out the profile links because many of them are gardeners and bloggers too. My favorite part of the segment was seeing some of them get a kick out of hearing their names said on the radio.

Garden Corporate Shill

The one part of the show that wasn't a blur was talking about how I like to blog about seed saving and seed starting. Right after that Mike asked me if I had started my seeds yet. I answered that I hadn't because I had yet to check out what the "big box" stores were carrying. I said this right as he was segueing into a commercial for a local garden center that, get this, had their seed supplies ready for customers.

Did I really go on "Chicago's Progressive Talk" on a gardening radio show with lots of local gardening sponsors and mention that I shop at "big box" stores? Yes, yes I did. After the show I had almost convinced myself that I hadn't committed such a fabulously idiotic faux pas. I had almost talked myself into believing it hadn't happened but then I checked my phone and saw a message from a gardener who noticed that I gave an unintended shout-out to the "big box" garden centers. At least @TheYarden benefited from hearing about Sid's Greenhouse and said she was going there to shop. Maybe that will balance out my karma.

Why I like Twitter 

I know Twitter isn't for everyone and not everyone will "get it" but I really like it, for now. Besides it being a place where I can get the validation my parents never gave me as a child, I think it is as great place to meet fellow gardeners. As I mentioned on the show; I like how I was able to connect the Cook County Master Gardeners with Renee's Garden and seeing the donation of 500 seed packets she made to them. Twitter made that possible.

I hope the interactions that Mike had during his radio show with gardeners on Twitter propel him to add social media into the programing. I know sometimes when I'm listening to him & Beth Botts I feel the urge to chime in but don't feel like picking up the phone. Being able to send a quick question or comment to the show would be great. Plus, there's the ability to tap into a national audience that could be listening online like those gardeners from outside Chicago were doing today. We may not all live in the same gardening Zone but we all speak plants.

I'm grateful to Mike and his crew for being so nice and for the opportunity to be on the show. It was scary but it was a lot of fun and now I wish I had a radio show all of my own. :0) You can listen to The Mike Nowak Show on WCPT 820 AM in Chicago on Sunday's from 8-10AM. It is always informative for gardeners and really funny. He has a regular column that runs in Chicagoland Gardening magazine that you should check out. Visit MikeNowak.Net and poke around his website to learn about his articles, lectures and performances. Podcasts of his show can be found here (the February 7th show is the one I'm in). Oh yeah, and support those local advertisers too.

Thanks for going on The Mike Nowak Show with me.

Chicago Garden

Welcome, to all the new followers of the MrBrownThumb garden blog. And "hello" to all the followers who have been reading for a while. If you live or garden in Chicago, or know someone who does, make sure to read the end of this post. Heck, even if you have no connection to Chicago make sure to read the end of this post.

Raise your hand if you've been watching the Life After People special on the History Channel. I love it! I could spend days watching this thing and never get tired of it. One of the things in particular that really interests me about the special is watching how plants will one day grow over everything that people have built. One of the episodes focuses heavily on Chicago and it has a few segments on how Wrigley Field will look once grounds keepers aren't around to maintain it.

Pictures I took of the television while watching the show.

Growing Elephant Ear Plants In Chicago

Elephant ear plants are herbaceous plants in zone 8 and above. In gardening zones that are colder they are treated as annuals and the corms lifted out of the ground and stored in a cool dry location like the basement of a home. Many gardeners grow these plants because the large foliage, that resemble the ears of an Elephant, help create a garden with a tropical feel.

The 2007 Great Perennial Divide

The Chicago Botanic Garden, Greencorps Chicago, The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, and Open Lands will be hosting the 2007 Great Perennial Divide on Saturday, September 29th. This is an event where groups and gardeners from across the city of Chicago can swap, donate and/or receive perennials, trees and shrubs.

Slugs In My Garden (Green Thumb Sunday)

Recently after some heavy rains I went out into my garden to collect nasturtium seeds. As I was lifting up some of the foliage, to look for fallen seeds on the ground, I noticed a few slugs. My first reaction was "Cool! A new bug to photograph" but then it dawned on my that having these garden pests in the garden wasn't such a good thing.

Creative Garden Gate

This weekend I came across a very creative garden gate made of twigs that I assume the homeowner/gardener made out of branches from their garden. On a city street in Chicago among a row of nice homes and well maintained green spaces this little garden gate stands out when driving past it. I rode by it twice before I finally stopped and snapped this photo of the gate and wanted to talk to the people tending the inviting garden behind it but lost my nerve.

Nicandra physaloides-Shoo-fly Plant

Nicandra physaloids is a weedy annual plant that was introduced from South America as an ornamental gardening plant. In Illinois it can be found growing wild in various counties except in the NW area of the state. This plant grows to a height of 2-5 feet tall, the foliage and stems are reported to be poisonous to mammals and untouched by deer. This member of the Nightshade Family grows well in moist soils in full or partial sun.

Solanum dulcamara: Bitter Nightshade

Solanum dulcamara is native to Europe and Asia but it has naturalized in many areas, North America being one of them where it is an invasive weed. Here in Chicago you can find it growing in roadsides and empty lots but it is also commonly found growing in gardens. The flowers and fruits in the photos above were growing in a neighbor's garden happily growing up the chain link fence. In gardens this plant can scramble over plants, trees and shrubs and be hard to control.

Abutilon theophrasti- Velvet Leaf

Abutilon theophrasti has many many common names- so many that I wouldn't be surprised if it had one common name for every star in the sky. Velvet Leaf, Indian Mallow, China Jute, Buttonweed and sometimes Elephant Ear are used to refer to this annual that is native to Southern Asia. It was introduced into North America in the 1700s where it made itself at home in roadsides, cultivated fields and gardens. Velvet Leaf is considered a noxious weed because it can considerably reduce crop yields as it steals water and nutrients from crops.

When I Collect Bells Of Ireland Seeds

Most of my Bells of Ireland have started to go to seed so I thought I'd post a picture of when I know to collect Bells of Ireland Seeds for those growing this plant for the first time or those that may want to grow it in their garden in the future.

The most obvious sign is when the bracts fade from green to the light brown color you see in the image above. If you look inside the bract you will see that there are (usually) four seeds that resemble a pie cut into four segments- occasionally only two seeds will form. I usually keep an eye on the seeds and collect them right after they've turned brown and a gap develops between each of the segments so I know they're ripe.

Last year when I first collected seeds from my plants I got a big surprise when I encountered the spines that develop below the bell-shaped bracts. When they're completely dry they hurt pretty bad so make sure to wear gloves when handling the spent blooms. There are also spines on the edges of the "bell" that you should look out for.

Previou entry: Bells of Ireland flowers

Small White-Pieris rapae

The Small White butterfly commonly called Small Cabbage White can be found in Europe, north Africa and Asia. It was accidentally introduced into Canada in 1860 from Europe and has since spread as far south as northwest Mexico.

Black Swallowtail-Papilio polyxenes

One day while photographing the Red Admiral Butterflies in my garden this Black Swallowtail stopped for a short visit. I'd never seen a Papilio polyxenes in my garden before so I rushed to get the camera to photograph it. Unfortunately it didn't stay still long enough to get a sharp picture of it but I was at least able to document its visit to my garden.

Daylilies In My Chicago Garden

Shortly after I joined and started participating on GardenWeb I came across a thread where experienced gardeners were adopting newbies to gardening like myself. I ended up getting adopted by an experienced gardener who shared some tulips, alliums and daylilies from her garden with me.

Lace Bugs

I decided to pull out some sunflowers in my garden that were starting to look particularly bad. The leaves were turning yellow or developing yellow spots and just generally not looking very good. While I was cutting them down and bagging the plants I noticed some small bugs on the leaves that I hadn't seen before. At first I thought they were crumbs or some kind of plant debris but then I started noticed them bouncing up and down sort of like a needle on a sewing machine.

Graphocephala coccinea: Candystriped Leafhopper

I found this striking bug in the garden a while back and was mesmerized by the colors but I couldn't get a good picture because it kept hopping away whenever I got close enough. I'd been waiting to see if I could get a better photo of it before uploading but I haven't seen them in the garden since I took this picture.

Introducing: Mr Black Thumb

Since today is Friday the 13th I thought I'd take this opportunity to post a photo of my cat. Two years ago this stray cat started visiting my garden and I began to feed him. As everyone knows once you feed a stray animal it basically becomes yours and you can expect it to stay around.

Lilium lancifolium-Tiger Lily

Lilium lancifolium is one of several lilies that go by the common name of Tiger Lily and considered one of the earliest lilies to be domesticated. It was introduced to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew by William Kerr who "discovered" several popular garden plants in Asia when he wasn't busy supposedly getting high on opium.

Brown Lacewing

As the sun was setting one day I went out into the garden looking to photograph bugs. And like is common for me I got down on the ground and close up to the foliage and waited to see what moved or landed. Moments later this rather boring looking bug landed on some foliage and I decided to snap a photograph of it.

Recently while clearing out my hard drive I came across the photo and was pleasantly surprised by the effect of the setting sun on it's wings. To me it looks like the sun streaming in through a stained glass window and aside from this "aint it cool" effect I didn't think much of this bug that I've seen a lot around Chicago.

That all changed today when I learned that this brown lacewing bug is actually very beneficial in the garden. I don't know if it helps with pollinating flowers but I've learned that in the larvae stage and even as adults they are voracious eaters of aphids and mites. Like ladybugs they are a biological control of pests that we should encourage instead of using insecticides.

One really cool (to me at least) factoid about this bug it is that it's also known as "trash bug" because Green Lacewing larvae cover themselves in debris and insect carcases as seen in this photo. I'm guessing this is a method of camouflage that helps the larvae avoid becoming a meal .

Chalybion californicum- Mud Dauber Wasp

I was photographing some butterflies in my garden when this metallic blue wasp landed near me and startled me. The blue green color of this bug is striking and I'd never seen one like it in Chicago before. After some Googling I've learned that it is a Chalybion californicum or commonly called a Mud Dauber Wasp.