Will be back soon

You may be wondering what happened to the blogger. He wrote a few times and disappeared. The best way to explain where I have been the last three months is I am going through a life transition. Haven't had the energy to write. Hopefully I will be writing soon. I will be a better person after I get over this bump in the path of life.

Trip to Clifty State Park

Last week I spent couple of days hiking the trails at Clifty State Park in Madison, Indiana. The weather was sunny with daytime temperature in the 50s. Saw no spring flowers but I did see woodpeckers, deer, cardinals, and wild turkeys. After paying $3.45/gallon for gas in Columbus, Indiana on Tuesday last week, gas was $3.09 at all stations in the next town, North Vernon. I should have waited for another ten minutes to save some bucks. When I drove through the town several days later, the price jumped to $3.39.

Spring is in the air

March is here!

Even though there is still snow on the ground, I could feel spring is in the air when waking up to a sunny morning today. It was warm enough to take a brisk walk without a jacket. The days are getting longer. Winter is almost behind us.

Rain garden

Do you have a rain garden? One of seminars at the Home & Garden Show this week is on rain gardens. The purpose of rain gardens is to help clean up rivers by reducing runoffs going into rivers. Runoffs from lawns and parking lots are carrying toxic wastes. By helping to soak up rain water, the gardens will reduce the amount of pollutants going into the rivers. Fort Wayne is receiving funding from the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency to promote rain gardens. Starting in April, the city will begin promoting a program to encourage citizens to plant rain gardens.

In my backyard I have several wet areas. During heavy rainstorms, there is a stream running across the yard. I get runoffs from the neighbors. The ground eventually soaks up the water. In those areas I planted plants that can tolerate wetness. Siberian irises, Joe Pye weed, birches, and willows are some of the perennials and shrubs in the wet areas. Now the city is encouraging us to have rain gardens, I may consider expanding my gardens. More flowers, less lawn to grow!

The plants in the picture are Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum). Height is six feet with clusters of bright pink flowers in late summer. They attract butterflies. On hot summer days, I'll be sipping on lemonade on the patio and watch the yellow swallowtail butterflies on the plants.

Home & Garden Show

The Fort Wayne Home & Garden Show is next week from Thursday to Sunday. Felder Rushing will speaking on Thursday and Friday. As always, the Master Gardeners will be offering seminars on all four days. Going to the show is annual event for me. Hope to see you there!

Frosty Saturday morning

Introduction

This is my first attempt to blog. I will be writing about gardening with the focus on northeastern Indiana. The best way to learn about gardening is to actually do it. Start on a small project and go for it. Experience is the best teacher. Even though I have taken many seminars and classes on horticulture, I actually learn more in the "school of hard knocks".

Thanks for checking out my blog. Happy gardening!