Sara Tekula and Joe Imhoff, residents of Hawaii, started Plant a Wish with the planting of a native species of tree at their wedding, imbued with their guests well-wishes. Over time, they realized that this ‘Wish Tree’ continued to hold special meaning for them. They decided to embark on a journey to plant a native Wish Tree in the remaining 49 states with this wish:

The overall wish of the Plant A Wish project is for future generations to enjoy an abundance of biodiversity, native plants and trees, fresh air, and clean water.

They are also filming their journey, to be made into what I’m sure will be a moving documentary. I can’t wait to see how it comes out and what kinds of adventures they get themselves in to! They said every planting has had a different flavor, from small, single family plantings to huge affairs involving whole towns.

They selected the IMA, and 100 Acres in particular, because of the work that is being done in the Park already to fight invasive non-native plant species while planting local varieties, installing works of art, and educating our local communities. Our Horticulture Manager Chad Franer selected the appropriate native tree (an American Beech) and planting location (with enough distance from the beavers!)

We had a small ceremony for the planting, and the MAP Kids and some education staff joined us and contributed their wishes: some sentimental, some funny, some deeply moving. I also collected wishes from some of our fans on FaceBook and Twitter. They are all nourishing the roots of our American Beech as I type.

I thought for a while what I wanted to wish for…. what did I want to think of when I walked by this tree? The more I thought about it, I knew I could never untangle my memories of the thrill of my involvement in the opening the Park with the Wish Tree. So, my wish was simple: for Indianapolis to love 100 Acres as much as I have come to. Less than a month later and after a wildly successful opening, I would feel comfortable saying this has already come true.

Next, we placed our wishes under the tree, and rolled it in to place. We each helped to cover the root ball with some dirt. With Joe’s instruction, we also had to help ‘wake up’ the tree. Each of us took hold of the tree and we yelled together on the count of 3. Surprisingly, no one came running. This must be a horticulture secret and probably why I’ve killed all the plants I have ever interred. I’ll try it at home soon- I’m sure my neighbors will love it!

The Indiana Wish Tree is located here, along the path to Kendall Buster’s Stratum Pier, ready for your wishes as well. I hope that it will be big enough in a few years for having a picnic under. I want to thank Sara and Joe for their dedication to a thoughtful and important cause, and for selecting the IMA to be a part of it. If you would like to help them reach their goal of all 50 states, you can donate to their project or suggest a planting site.

Images courtesy of Sara Tekula. See more here.

At my house, there is no such plan. We plant randomly, but with fervor. There are few successes, and more than a few bare spots where things refuse to survive. I don’t take it personally, I just plant something else in its place. Garden books are voraciously read through the winter months, but when spring comes, all knowledge and carefully made plans are obliterated at the first sight of a perennial sale.

We are going to have a real garden in the new rental house, no matter what. Enlisting the frenetic planting skills of a seven-year old boy, we got started at the first sight of a seed sale. My son doesn’t think that the planting directions are really important. He just wants to put the seeds in the ground and see what happens next. The single soybean that came home from school in a tiny bit of dirt is proudly growing in a beautiful blue pot next to the front door. We just want to see what happens next.

Along with the ever-extending line of terracotta pots filled with tomato plants, basil, pepper plants and cantaloupes, is the row of egg cartons filled hopefully with watermelon seeds, more cantaloupes, chives, carrots and purple basil. Only my son knows which one is which. He just wants to see them grow. I hesitate to tell him that the carrots might not make it – they are all carefully clustered into a very small pot. Small seeds, small pot. He has it figured out. Each afternoon, he tours his domain and shouts at anything new that is sprouting. The line of morning glory seeds along the front of the house is a bit disheveled, but the pride he takes in knowing that he planted something that is growing, is outstanding.

My daughter approaches planting methodically. Plant only a few things, but make sure that they are in the right sunlight, the right amount of shade. She actually reads the directions on the seed packages to decide where to grow her crop. This year, we are determined to attract butterflies and ladybugs. The hand-painted ladybug house is now surrounded by sweet pea seedlings and a row of sunflowers. Plants are carefully selected, based on their butterfly appeal. Someone in the neighborhood might object to the fact that they are growing in the small space between the sidewalk and the street, but our theory is that it looks better now than it did before. My daughter’s planting program is all about making things look beautiful. The strawberry pots that hang from the front porch are hers too. As the berries ripen one at a time, the hope still exists that there will be a big enough crop to share for breakfast.

I love the fact that my children understand the importance of growing things – sometimes, just for the sake of growing them. It is a rare year that our garden’s bounty is ample enough to keep us sustained through the summer, but we keep trying. The kids understand that the Saturday morning trips to the farmer’s markets are more than just an opportunity to say hello to every single dog at the market. They are starting to notice that there are always different fruits and vegetables for sale. They are inclined to take a risk and try vegetables that they would have otherwise rejected, simply because the farmer took the time to explain their wares to two curious minds. Beets have been offered, prepared and consumed. The farmer told them that they were sweet and delicious and he knows FAR more than mom or dad does. We had a small setback when the sweet peppers must have gotten crossed with the spicy ones. That particular booth is now given a wide berth, but they will be trusted again, especially when strawberry season starts. One night at dinner, one of my beloved offspring announced that he only likes apples from the farm market, because they taste better than the ones from the grocery store. Outstanding. A small victory for local produce.

It is never easy to get my children to eat different vegetables, but I find that they need to have some input about what should be served. For St. Patrick’s Day, I took them to the store and offered to make a dinner that was completely green – whatever they wanted, but it had to be naturally green, no food coloring. Thirteen green vegetables and herbs were gathered for the feast. And the feast was prepared by the enthusiastic guests. And devoured. The best meal, ever.

image via Flickr

When asked about planting, and what it means to them, I was surprised and optimistic about the responses from the kids. It is fun to watch things grow. I feel as if I am doing something important for the environment. We love to compost all year round so that we can make great soil for the gardens. Knowing how to grow things will help farmers stay in business. We like to make the gardens look beautiful and love to eat what we have grown in the garden. We like to go outdoors and pick herbs to use for dinner. The food that we grow tastes better – how can we grow more? What else can we grow?

Local foods taste better. The opportunity to work with local growers, local producers and farmers at Nourish at the IMA has opened up a whole new world for me, personally and professionally. There are so many wonderful and unexpected ingredients that are being produced within a 150 mile radius. Our menus change often, so that we can offer the freshest and best ingredients at their absolute peak. I have been stalking the vendors at the weekend farmers’ markets to see which products we can showcase at Nourish. It has certainly been a learning experience, but one that I enjoy sharing with my children.

They are listening, and they are hearing what I am trying to explain to them, but more importantly, they are discovering it for themselves. And the lesson that they discover is more powerful than the one I try to enforce.

Let’s take a look at the vomitorium (I hear that is the term being used in meetings). That would be the exit. Or egress if you wanna get all fancy with your talk and use two-dollar words. We’ve balanced like mountain goats on the slopes of the entrance to Jaar’s piece, tucking our toes into the soil as we planted the grasses and sumac.

Heading down the entrance path.

In the tunnel (a little X Files feel here).

The 45 degree slopes. Covered in plastic to keep them dry prior to planting.

Katie clinging to the wall with one hand while removing the plastic.

Removing excess soil.

Planting Panicum virgatum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ (switch grass).

This is actually a different side from the next image so just pretend it’s the same. Work with me people. I don’t really have time for blogging this spring.

Panicum all along the top of the bank just behind the benches where you can relax (after they are built and the Park is ready – June 20).

Planting the Rhus aromatica ‘Grow-Lo’. This cultivar of fragrant sumac gets about 2-3 feet tall and roots along its stems. That along with the geo-webbing will help hold the steep banks. It has very fragrant foliage when bruised – the foliage not you. And good fall color tending toward the reds and oranges.

A mostly finished bank.

We have just a little more planting to do in the vomitorium this week. Planting the interior of this piece is well underway. We have quite a bit planted on the exterior as well. Maybe I can get something to you about that real soon. Maybe not.

Lycoris chinensis

I am not alone in this desire to push the limits of hardiness. I know a lot of people with Zonal Denial. Virtually all my coworkers and many friends as well are afflicted. I’ve long said that if I was gardening in the tropics I’m sure I would be trying to grow maples and beeches. It must be the I-can’t –have-it-so-I-want-it-even-more syndrome. Before I can even tell you about some successes I must confess some failures (it’s the recovering Catholic in me).

Let’s go alphabetical – Acanthus mollis ‘Hollard’s Gold’, Agave parryi, Canna ‘Red Stripe’, Colocasia esculenta ‘Tea Cup’, Crocosmia ‘Eastern Star’ and ‘Walcroy’, Musa basjoo (two in one year and it is a zone 5 but I forgot to mulch), Salvia mexicana ‘Limelight’, some palm tree, and many more I’m sure. There. I feel better.

One of the first non-hardy plants I had success overwintering in the ground was Salvia guaranitica, anise sage. The incredible cobalt blue flowers of this salvia are unsurpassed.

And they bloom from July onward so it’s great color for a really long time. The first couple years I had it in the Southwest Border Garden I dug it in the fall and tried to overwinter it like a dahlia. Dead. They do develop tubers similar to dahlias but I had no luck. Then one year I decided to leave them in the ground and see what would happen. Success! The straight species and the light blue ‘Argentine Skies’ (or is that ‘Argentina Skies’?) have been in the garden ever since.

A few years later we added ‘Black and Blue’ which has proven just as hardy. ‘Black and Blue’ is my favorite because the calyx that holds the flower is black as is the upper part of the stem.

I have friends whose plants are increasing in size annually. An interesting aspect of this plant is it seems to get taller when it comes back from overwintered plants compared to newly planted specimens. So if you want a plant under 3 feet buy new. Also, with marginally hardy salvias it is best to leave the stems alone over winter. If you cut them off the water can run down the stem in to the plant crown. The water freezes and the crown blows apart.

In the Garden for Everyone a Lycoris chinensis (surprise lily, naked ladies) was blooming last week. There’re probably 3 or more plants really but only one blooming. The individual flowers are stunning in their deep yellow color and form sitting atop naked 2 feet tall stalks.

In some catalogues you can find it listed as a zone 6 with “maybe 5” added. Sometimes it is listed as zone 7 and warmer. Somebody suggested we try it so we bought 5 bulbs. Unlike the more familiar Lycoris squamigera, the leaves of L chinensis emerge in the fall. In Indiana that is not the best timing. Winter can be a little hard on foliage. But these plants get enough energy back to the bulb for at least some bloom. I definitely want some for home. The red flowered Lycoris radiata deserves more trialing too (I’ve only killed it once).

Now, back to the Southwest Border Garden where Impatiens omeiana has been flourishing since 2002. This perennial impatiens is listed as a maybe-6. I. omeiana is grown for the foliage, bronzey green with a creamy midrib and veining – absolutely gorgeous. Added interest is provided by the reddish stems and leaf petioles.

The pale yellow flowers come in fall and are interesting but not overly showy. This is a plant more gardeners need to experiment with. My photo from this week doesn’t do it justice. You see it May through July and it’s full-on lust. Check for better pictures on our Facebook page.

Sometimes (okay, more often than not) we discover a plant that is hardy by accident. Well, not accident so much as forgetfulness.

Calla lilies are not considered hardy in central Indiana. And often are not. But in the lower cutting garden is a cultivar called Mango. It has survived 5 winters in the ground and the clumps get a little bigger each year. It had been purchased for a container one year and the next I planted it in the ground. That fall I forgot all about it. In late Spring a leaf started to unfurl from the soil, deep green with white spots. It was ‘Mango’. The white callas I had bought to use for cutflowers weren’t doing so great so I thought, “Why not leave them in the ground too? At least I would get a few blooms”. They died the first winter. Like I said, it’s a gamble. This year I have 3 Eucomis bicolor (pineapple lily) up that were missed in the fall dig. This is the second time we’ve experienced that. My friend Terry had Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ self-sowing in her garden a one point.

I’ve had Agapanthus come back once – one out of about 10 plants. At home I had a Phygelius (Cape fuchsia) survive several years. Never would have thought that could happen. And all those plants I listed as failures? Don’t think for a moment I won’t try again. I can keep making believe I’m gardening in zone 7 a long time.

On October 6 it will become a dedicated space known as Nonie’s Garden in honor of Nonie (Eleanor) Krauss, the late wife of John Krauss, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors for the IMA. Nonie was a life member of the Nature Conservancy, an advisory board member of the Central Indiana Land Trust, and Secretary of the Indianapolis Garden Club. Those of us who have been with IMA a few years also remember her work on The Heartland Garden, a gardening show broadcast on public television in Indiana.  It frequently showcased the horticulture and Horticulturists of the IMA. Nonie’s Garden will be a fitting tribute to a woman who loved nature and gardens.

The generous gift from John along with his and Nonie’s friends and family will allow us to keep a space that used to be mulch half the year fully planted year round.

The plants currently in the garden are for the winter display. Each is chosen for its contribution to brightening the space during our dreary winter period. Not unlike the way Nonie brightened up the lives of those who spent time with her. Some well placed fall annuals will add extra color. 400 Tulips will enhance the spring display. Come May and the warmth of late spring we will remove the winter planting and install the summer display. The summer display will be exuberant, colorful and lush – a planting truly expressing the joy of life that Nonie represented. After frost we will again install a winter garden. Each year major elements of the garden will change, both in winter and summer.

For this winter, in the center is a grouping of Betula populifolia ‘Whitespire’ with palest gray bark that can capture and reflect even the dim sunlight of January. Surrounding it are several blue weeping Alaska cedars (Xanthocyparis/Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Glauca Pendula’). They are also known as Nootka cypress. These graceful evergreens will look especially lovely with snow on them. Also included are several yews for more green in winter. For bright color we included 2 deciduous shrubs. Deciduous hollies (Ilex verticillata ‘Cacapon’ and ‘Red Sprite’) will provide bright red berries that will contrast with the gray bark of the birches and the dark color of the evergreens in early winter. For color all the way to spring we planted a red twig dogwood called ‘Cardinal’ (Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’). Another very appropriate plant as Nonie was an avid birder with a lifelong list of over 600 birds. The dogwood stems will gradually become deep red as temperatures cool and hold the color until late spring.

Thanks to help from my hardworking colleagues and our volunteers we were able to complete the change-out in four days. It could have been even faster but we had to remove 18 plus inches of horrible wet clay soil. Replacing this soil with a good-draining more friendly mix will insure a beautiful garden. Here’s Chad digging out the bad.

This is how awful it looked after a rather small amount of rain.

In this shot he’s mixing the new soil, blending a purchased general garden mix with a super draining structured soil mix.

We placed the birches before adding all the soil back in.

When I said I had help I meant it. There are almost as many people as plants.

And here is the final planting.

I think you will find that as the weather gets uglier it will get more beautiful. Hope you like it too Nonie.