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You should be touching dirt. Seriously. Studies have shown that contact with soil supports a healthy gut-brain axis. Plus, gardening can sustain our pollinators, feed our families, and create beautiful and relaxing spaces around us.
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find your space
Have a yard? Wonderful, your options are nearly limitless. But homeownership (or a lenient landlord) is not your only pathway to gardening. You can create beautiful and robust container gardens on apartment patios, balconies, or reserve an allotment in a community garden space, like Dowling, Union Park, or Summit Hill.
Most community allotments have a modest annual fee or a small requirement for volunteer hours (between two and four hours a year, usually). Minneapolis and Saint Paul also allow boulevard gardening with some restrictions.
For those who container garden, terracotta pots are inexpensive and available at most large home and garden centers. If you want your container garden to be perennial (come back year after year without any work), choose plants that are hardy down a full USDA growing zone. For most of us in the Twin Cities, that’s Zone 3.
Good container plants that are perennial in Zone 3 include chives, strawberries, day lilies, and hostas. Then, fill in the rest of your containers with beautiful annuals, like basil, cilantro, cosmos, and snapdragons.
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 lavender is usually not hardy in minnesota, but the cynthia johnson varietal was bred by minnesota growers to be tough.
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check growing zones
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zones determine what plants are perennial (return year after year) in different parts of our large and ecologically diverse nation.
Minnesota ranges from Zone 2b (in the far north of the state), to 5a (in the more southern areas). Minneapolis-St. Paul is somewhere between 4a and 5a, depending on your exact location.
You can plant perennials that are below your growing zone, but not above it. That means most Minneapolitans can grow perennials that are growing zone 5a or below, but those who want to play it safe should only purchase those that are listed as hardy to zone 4. If you purchase a zone 5 plant, be sure to give the plant extra protection before winter – a little mulch or pile of leaves on the roots placed at the end of fall usually does the trick.
So how do you check a plant’s growing zone? Any plant sold at a garden center will have the growing zone listed on the tag. You may also see “maximum” growing zones for plants that need a hard freeze, like apple trees – but that’s not usually an issue in Minnesota. Your other option is to simply google.
Remember that some plants have “hardy” varietals that have been bred specifically for cold climates. For example, lavender is usually not hardy in Minnesota, but the Cynthia Johnson varietal was bred by Minnesota growers to be tough. Same with the beautiful Blue Moon Wisteria.
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seek inspiration at garden stores and plant sales
The biggest plant sale in the state is the Friends School Plant Sale, a massive, cult-like fundraising event that happens on the State Fairgrounds every Mother’s day weekend. Doing the Friend’s School Sale can be a competitive sport — those who want rare items will line up at four in the morning on opening day to get an early entry wristband.
But it doesn’t have to be intense; the Saturday and Sunday crowds often stroll right in (all remaining plants are 30% off on Sunday). You may not get a rare Fernleaf Peony, but there will still be plenty of lovely things to grow.
Other popular plant sales are the one at the Landscape Arboretum, which features plants developed by UMN scientists (who are responsible for the Honeycrisp apple), the Hennepin County Master Gardner Sale, and the Anoka County Master Gardener Sale.
The Twin Cities are also home to many wonderful garden stores and centers, which carry natives, perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, vegetables, and herbs. We love Gertens, Bachman’s, Mother Earth, Highland Nursery, Tangletown Gardens, Wagners, Sunnyside, Tonkadale, and Agrarian.
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MORE SPRING & SUMMER ACTIVITIES
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from top to bottom: Butterfly on home garden flowers, photo by B Schneider | Butterflies on wildflowers, photo by Erica Wacker | Cart of plants from Friends School Plant Sale, photo by Devon Cox | Tulips, photo by Jackie Scherer | Backyard garden, photo by Devon Cox | Setting up a trellis in garden, photo by Devon Cox | Bob's Burgers gardening gif | Minnesota Landscape Arboretum plant sale, photo by Minnesota Landscape Arboretum |
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