Garden Siren Call

Three Linden trees line our driveway; they are very attractive until, almost every year, they are attacked by Japanese beetles. These trees were planted before the beetles arrived in Iowa. When we built our house in 1993 there was just one lonely pine tree near the site, and that was on land that belonged to our neighborhood association. As soon as possible, I added several birch trees, and other types of trees: Linden, weeping mulberry, to name two. I love trees and I think they add to one's property value. In fact, an Internet search shows mature trees on a nicely landscaped property might add 20 percent to the value of a home (hgtv.com). We have six birch trees, and they now are towering examples of a tree widely found in my native Minnesota; I have white birch, river birch, and a funny-looking red birch tree which grew up crookedly. The way other people think of trees varies widely: They are beautiful, but the upkeep! The need to rake leaves this time of year! One ...

The day lilies are yellow and orange in July and August, but in October, the flowers are gone and the stems are turning brown. This garden plot will be "winterized" by weeding it and and trimming back the plants. Looking out the window in October, it's clear that the day lilies are a mess: The mass of grass-like flower stems are rust-colored and bent in the rain. They will be trimmed and cleaned up before long. This week is when we start to winterize the Baker gardens in rural Scott County, Iowa. Average frost dates are Oct. 4-17 in this part of Iowa, according to experts at Iowa State University, Ames. These day lilies and other perennial flowers will be trimmed, with some exceptions. All the annual flowers will be pulled from the ground, 1-2 may be re-potted and brought indoors. The canna plant was purchased just this year; its bulbs will be preserved and planted it in a pot next year. Plants now on the porch will be cleaned up, deeply watered, and sprayed for...