I was driving on 35 W just South of Minneapolis and saw a vine that literally covered a large number of trees, fences, and shrubs along the highway....even traveling at 60 mph the vine was clearly visible.  The vine was covered with small white flowers and I thought they looked quite pretty....but then thought to myself,  [...]

Monday as we were working at the Depot Garden we spied this little guy munching away on the Joe Pye Weed….Yes…he is a yellow woolly bear, Spilosoma virginica.  He was quite large….and absolutely adorable. Like it’s cousin, Pyrrharctia Isabella, (the familiar black and brown wooly bear), it becomes a moth at adulthood.  This charming fuzzy yellow [...]

Peonies….what great cut flowers. Their blooms are so large they make a big impact with only a few blossoms. What if you could make the  season last longer? Would you do it? Well, here is an idea that prolongs peonies  for later….much later…. bouquets….. Commercial cut flower operations pick their peony buds and can successfully store [...]

BIRD NEST MUSHROOMS: As with nearly all other organic matter, wood, cocoa bean shells and bark, all decompose over time.  The primary organisms involved with this decomposition are bacteria and fungus (plural: fungi)…..OK mushrooms sounds better than fungus….especially when these mushrooms are found at the depot garden. These odd and fascinating little mushrooms were found this [...]