Special Elements - Tool Display

Leave an area for gardening tools where everyone can see them.

Cottage residents didn't have garages.  Their rake and hoe were grouped neatly in a corner of the garden. 

Now, I'm not suggesting you park your rototiller and mulching mower in the midst of your garden glory.  Obviously the modern tools we've all come to rely on need protection.  But how simple to create a setting with an old painted table (sealed with matte polyurethane, if you must)!  Stack your oldest, crustiest, clay pots on top, and group a few old traditional tools at the side.  We've all inherited a rusty rake or hoe; even older garden tools sell for a song at auctions. 

My favorite hand tools are all 30 or more years old, and I don't even own a plastic watering can.  The old tin cans do leak, but isn't that the point?

Lavender

Lavender

In harsh Wisconsin winters, lavender needs a bit of protection.  It won't become the 3 foot tall shrub it can be in milder climates, but it's worth growing just the same.  Its soap-and-water-scented leaves and flowers were traditionally used to freshen linens. 

Half-hardy perennial.

Parsley

Parsley

When sowing the seeds for this annual, water them initially with boiling water!  It sounds a little crazy, but is will greatly hasten germination.  The tasty leaves are also a favorite of yellow swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.