The Good Old Days

For the past 15 years, I've researched what makes the midwest American garden so unique. I've collected old catalogs, books and photographs, many of which are more than 120 years old.  But some things, like this beautiful 1893 Vaughan's Seed Store catalog from Chicago, can only be found in the archives of The Morton Arboretum Library in Lisle, Illinois.  Check out www.mortonarb.org

I love the marketing that went on in Victorian-era seed catalogs.  Some things never change. The so-called simple flowers of old gardens were not that simple. Gardeners back then were bombarded with newer, bigger, better, more colorful annuals. There was an incredible influx of plants and seeds brought into the U.S. The canna lily flower on the cover is spectacular (and a trendy plant again for today's tropical-inspired gardens). But, it's the slogan, "Gardening is an employment for which no man is too high or too low" that hits home. In other words, send us 35 cents and we'll send you seeds for some of the newest annuals so that your tiny garden can look just like the big estate gardens. 

This particular catalog was issued the year of the 1893 Columbian Exposition--the World's Fair--in Chicago.  “Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair” is a special exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum, which will run through Sept. 7, 2014. Now, you can get a rare view inside The Field Museum’s vaults to see incredible artifacts that bring to life one of the most spectacular events in the Windy City’s history.

 The Field Museum is at1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago; 312-922-9410, fieldmuseum.org.

Monday Musing

Scarecrow.  Door County, Wisconsin.  I drove past this house and then decided to come back and have a better look.  A whimsical little vignette.

I'm in search of the perfect scarecrow, but have yet to find the right one.  This one was cute from the Evanston Garden Walk a few years ago.  I have weeping spruces.  This could work.

One year, my scarecrow wore this shirt with the slogan, "Enough is just a Little Bit More," a slogan I spotted on a bench in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  But what the heck does that mean?  Just when you think you have enough it's actually more than you need?  I still need a few more scarecrows.

Here's a potential scarecrow.  This is Mad Mom from the Frederik Meijer Sculpture Gardens in Michigan.  You have to see that place--great gardens, sculptures and live music of all sorts.  Wonderful.

This scarecrow watched over the basil patch, here going to seed one fall.  It's too bad this scarecrow can't scare off basil blight.

This is Debbie Rea's wonderful scarecrow in her lovely, organized vegetable garden.  Not a crow around but plenty of herbs and veggies.

My brother Greg makes an AWESOME scarecrow but he doesn't really want to be out there for more than 10 minutes.  Besides, he has his own pepper patch -- several hundred hot peppers from around the world -- that he nurtures.  And he even overwinters a few pepper plants indoors each year.

Another year in our garden.  Standing guard over the Brassicas for late fall harvest.  Cabbage butterflies  ignored it.  

Evanston Garden Walk school garden.  The kids at this elementary school did a great job designing the scarecrows.

How clever---a face made from a colander filled with ornamental fruit.

 

This would be the ultimate scarecrow.  A gigantic horse.  My Spouse is checking out its knee.  How did the Frederick Meijer Gardens ever get this on the property.   No horsing around.