Yesterday, my neighbor came over to get a dozen eggs, and brought me a bunch of baby’s breath from her garden. It was beautiful and delicate, just right for filling out bouquets. But, now, I had to make a bouquet.

I decided to wander around the yard and see what was out there. I’ve been so busy with fruits and veggies lately, I hadn’t been paying much attention to the flowers.

Without even trying very hard, I found daisies and black-eyed susans blooming along the wild edge of my yard. I snipped a couple of coneflowers beginning to open. I took a couple of sprigs of …yarrow? It’s embarrassing that I don’t even know.

But I do know that, together, they made a delightful collection of the height of summer to take indoors and enjoy.

Do you have a cutting garden? Or an overgrown lot full of under-appreciated blooming beauties like I do? What do you like to gather to include in your bouquets? Do you go for color, smell or form?

Quick! What insect frustrates you most in the garden, cabbage moths or potato beetles?

Me? It’s cabbage moths, hands down.

At first, I was charmed by the little white moths flying around my community garden. Now I am frustrated at all the slimy green grubs getting a free meal off my brussels sprouts. Pulling one or two worms doesn’t make my stomach churn. But, after pulling one or two dozen, I start to get a little queasy.

I also start to feel guilty about all the death and destruction. If only I could turn my lazy cats into super garden pest assassins. (Note: House centipedes freak them out.)

So, what is a gardener to do with an infestation of cabbage moths? It’s too late for row covers. (Do they even make row covers big enough for brussels sprouts?) And, I don’t want to be a bad neighbor at the community garden and spray my plants with pesticides. Is hand picking my only option?

Ew.

Don’t miss the 2nd annual Hennepin County Master Gardener Learning Gardens Tour on July 11!

Visit ten beautiful gardens designed and maintained by Master Gardeners to discover amazing inspiration along with the latest gardening techniques; all clustered in a convenient 14-mile route.

Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer all gardening questions. On-site gardening demonstrations will provide an educational dimension, for both beginning and advanced gardeners, not found on other garden tours.

Learn how to maximize space with vertical gardening, use foliage and texture to create four-season interest, grow delicious fruits and vegetables at home, and build a rain garden to name just a few of the exciting themes on this year’s tour.

The 2009 Learning Gardens Tour has a garden to fascinate everyone with an emphasis on sustainability and productivity whether it is a woodland sanctuary, hilltop oasis or urban farm all nestled in the city.

For more information and to order your tickets by credit card visit www.hcmg.umn.edu.

I don’t like to weed. So I don’t.

There.

I’m not proud of it. I should have a smidge of shame when other people come over and try to look at my garden. I’m never quite sure what it is they are looking for, but I do know they can’t see past the weeds to “it”. They probably think I’m a public disgrace. Maybe I am.

I just don’t care anymore. I don’t live in the city, so if I want an eyesore for a garden, then, dangit, I’m gonna have one. Don’t like it? Report me to some government official — if you can find one who still has a job.

Yes, yes. I have good intentions. I put down straw. I carefully placed woolch. I used some high tech wonderful pore-something weed mat. I got a swell hoe thingie. Whatever.

The sprinkler goes on. The sun comes out. The weeds grow.

And when it’s hot, I’m not going out there to weed. And when it’s finally cool again, it’s just too daunting to know where to start.

So.

Do I lose my gardener-approved ID card? Anyone want to start a support group? Or, are you defiant like me?

For my birthday, my aunties got me a gift certificate to Linder’s. At first, I planned to buy something practical like a new pair of gardening gloves or some sturdy tomato cages. Instead, I walked out of the nursery with a beautiful “Arctic Queen” clematis.

It was love at first sight. I simply couldn’t help myself.

This is not my first clematis. I inherited a purple variety when I moved in with the BF. It was planted behind an arborvitae in dry shade. It barely bloomed. I replanted the poor vine in a more hospitable location hoping to bring it back from near death. This year, my chain link fence is covered in purple blossoms.

To be honest, I don’t know much about clematis — I just got lucky.

So what is the best way to baby these blooming beauties? Do they need a lot of TLC during the growing season? Do I need to prune or deadhead with any regularity? What about during the winter? Do they need a lot of protection from our cold climate?