Chicago Gardener

Chicago Gardener I garden on my rooftop deck in Chicago, zone 6A

Just a girl, her garden, and her pigeon friends šŸŒøšŸ¦
07/26/2026

Just a girl, her garden, and her pigeon friends šŸŒøšŸ¦

07/23/2026

This is one of the most challenging planting areas in my garden. Itā€™s clay soil filled with rocks in full shade and only 12ā€ wide.

I went with planting mostly impatiens as those have become my go to for getting color in full shade locations. I was planning to do all white but I couldnā€™t help myself from adding pink in there as well. These are the Soprano impatiens in the colors white and rose.

I wanted to add some whimsy, so I added a pretty rain gauge, clover mosaic bricks I found on Etsy, and metal cutouts of flowers and pollinators. I also found a turtle statue the previous owners left behind and thought this would be the perfect spot for him along with a red begonia.

To make this space even more complicated, itā€™s not my property šŸ˜† Itā€™s technically the neighbors even though itā€™s part of our usable space. So if anything needs to be removed at any time thereā€™s nothing I can do about it!

But that is a risk Iā€™m willing to take to make this long stretch of dirt a beautiful garden.

When the bed in the middle of my rooftop garden collapsed this spring, I was upset for a few minutes but then my mind sh...
07/22/2026

When the bed in the middle of my rooftop garden collapsed this spring, I was upset for a few minutes but then my mind shifted to how this could become an opportunity.

Iā€™ve wanted an arch on the rooftop for years, but wasnā€™t sure it would work. I figured now would be the perfect time to find out.

This arch is buried about 12ā€ deep in the two garden beds and that is the only support it has. It has made it through windstorms and downpours and is currently supporting the growth of thunbergia and cucumbers.

Iā€™m so glad what at first appeared to be a garden disaster has turned into something beautiful.

Thereā€™s a moment in the garden where everything seems perfect. For me, thatā€™s usually sometime in July. The plants have ...
07/15/2026

Thereā€™s a moment in the garden where everything seems perfect. For me, thatā€™s usually sometime in July.

The plants have filled in the beds but pests and disease havenā€™t killed anything yet. I feel like Iā€™m in that time right now šŸ’š

So I take as many pictures as I can to remember the garden at her best.

I absolutely love how my garage deck border turned out this year! This is the only partly shaded area of my rooftop gard...
07/08/2026

I absolutely love how my garage deck border turned out this year! This is the only partly shaded area of my rooftop garden, so I get to play around with flowers that wonā€™t work in the full sun.

Here is what is growing in this border:
~ North Pole Arborvitae
~ Rockapulco White Impatien
~ Snowstorm Giant Snowflake Bacopa
~ Soprano Violet Shades Impatien
~ Bobo Hydrangea
~ Rockapulco Tropical Shades Impatien
~ Hakuro Nishiki Dappled Willow

Also, I have not fertilized since planting with a granular fertilizer in May.

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Chicago, IL

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