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BOOKS:
- The Garden Book for Wisconsin
Melinda Myers
1999, Cool Springs Press
ISBN 1-888608-53-6
This was my favorite and most well-thumbed book in 2002. She's got a new book from Birds & Blooms magazine: Birds & Blooms Ultimate Gardening Guide. I looking forward to receiving my copy. You can order it on the Birds & Blooms website. By the way, it's a great little bi-monthly magazine, too!
- Botanica's Annuals & Perennials
James Young, ed.
1999, Laurel Glen Publishing
ISBN 1-57145-648-1
This is also a great resource for quick facts about a lot of plants.
- Home Landscaping: Midwest Region Including Southern Canada
Roger Holmes & Rita Buchanan, ed.
1999, Creative Homeowner
ISBN 1-58011-005-3
A great resource for garden planning; good short plant descriptions, too.
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WEB SITES:
- Milwaukee Rose Society
Website for the local affiliate of the American Rose Society. I joined after going to their Rose Show and Garden Tour held in conjunction with hosting the Fall meeting of the North Central District of the ARS (pictures of the Show & Tour available here).
- GardenWeb
Great forums; other good features, too. You have to join to get the best benefits, but it doesn't cost much, and it's well worth the nominal fee.
- Northern Gardening
An interesting and informative website by Minnesota Master Gardener Terry Yockey. Even though he's a bit farther north than I am, I still find his site a useful reference.
- Better Homes & Gardening: Gardening Home Page
A whole bunch of professionally produced content, some of it very good. I don't like all the pop-up advertising that keeps appearing even when you join the site as a member and already subscribe to the magazine (as I do), but it's usually well worth the effort. The Plan-A-Garden feature is good for many types of beds.
- GardenGuides
A gem of a collection of articles, ideas, how-to's, etc. I always like finding sites and articles that help me see new possibilities in design and plant choices -- things I wouldn't have thought of just looking at my lot or prowling the aisles of the greenhouses.
- Fine Gardening
Another professionally produced site from a wonderful gardening magazine. Lots of tips and suggestions.
- Susan's Garden Patch
This is the ultimate personalized site, put together by an individual to celebrate and share her own love of gardening. I like just browsing through her site periodically, even if I don't find out anything new that I want to use.
- Mimosa Gardening Blog
The blog site description says "cataloging my meanderings among my gardens and attempts to bring in some native habitats to the area. This is where I collect future ideas and resources." This is more a true blog than my weblog, whick is more of a personal house & garden journal. Mine has less emphasis on searchability and interconnectedness than a traditional blog like this one..
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PLANTS:
- Fred's Garden Center (6425 W Burleigh St, Milwaukee)
-- bought a few annuals both 2002 and 2003; they have a good selection in quantity, especially for a small greenhouse, and very good prices. They carry most of the common annuals and perennials, and some more unusual ones. This is our neighborhood nursery and flower shop. They have a second greenhouse on Appleton Ave., just south of Burleigh.
- The Flower Source Greenhouse & Garden (11124 N Pilgrim Rd, Germantown)
-- we bought a lot there in 2002; a LOT of roses, assorted perennials, ground covers. Great selection, good quantities, friendly & knowledegable staff.
- Hawks Nursery (12217 Watertown Plank Rd, Wauwatosa)
-- bought a lot of roses; they have a wide selection in quantity, but they are pricey. Also got some perennials & annuals. Sometimes VERY busy, but they have a lot of staff, so there's usually someone available to help you.
- Minor's Garden Center (7777 N 76th St, Milwaukee)
-- I bought all my new shrubs and most of the astilbe for the front of the house, some annuals & perennials, some roses, though the roses were sometimes a disappointment (blackspot). Superb selection of shrubs & trees; great tropicals, too. VERY BUSY, and it can be difficult to find help if you need it.
- Prospect Hill Garden Center (19305 W National Ave, New Berlin)
-- made some good buys in roses and perennials, but the variety available varies widely, and quantities are usually limited, so you have to shop early and often to get the best selection. We also bought the arched rose arbor/trellis at Prospect Hill.
- Bayside Garden Center (400 E Brown Deer Rd, Bayside)
-- good selection of roses, also bought several miniature roses here. They have a decent selection of annuals & perennials, but they are pricey. Very friendly & helpful staff, though.
- Stein Gardens & Gifts (all over Southeast Wisconsin)
-- yes, we actually shop Stein's; quality of roses is usually poor, unless you get them early, but a good assortment of annuals and perennials, and we bought most of the hanging baskets from them in 2002; I also like their planting mixes (I know it's cheaper to buy by the truck-load and mix my own, but I don't have a truck, so I buy by the bag). If you approach it with the right attitude, shopping at Stein's can become a day-long adventure - going from location to location searching for that perfect specimen.
- Shady Acres Perennial Nursery (5725 S Martin Rd, New Berlin)
-- "shopped" a couple of times here without buying much, though I did like the selection of ferns, hostas & other shade plants, but only bought a couple of astilbe there. Will be returning in 2003.
- These are the ones where we did most of our shopping. We hit a few others, but often the price, quality, or selection kept us from going back. For cheap filler annuals, we also did some shopping at the temporary parking lot setups at Menards and other stores. Sometimes they'd have something unusual I hadn't seen elsewhere and the prices were usually cheap, but quantities are severely limited, so as with antique shopping, if you see something you like you get it right away 'cause it probably won't be there the next time.
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