Small Boots Gardening

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Small Boots Gardening Gardens designed and installed

10/18/2026

The beauty in the way the wind moves these wild grape leaves.

Happy fall!

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Craft stores hate this one simple trick: Use the bits and pieces from your own yard for fall decoration. No plastic need...
10/17/2026

Craft stores hate this one simple trick:
Use the bits and pieces from your own yard for fall decoration. No plastic needed, no orange bins to haul out and store everything. Voila!!

White snakeroot showed up unbidden in the not-yet-gardened area on the side of the house. It stopped me in my tracks and...
10/16/2026

White snakeroot showed up unbidden in the not-yet-gardened area on the side of the house. It stopped me in my tracks and I think I squealed a little.

You see when I first was interested in native plants, someone told me that my job was to remove invasive stuff (buckthorn, honeysuckle, garlic mustard) and native plants would just start to spring forth from the seed bank 😬

It’s year 4 now. This is the second volunteer that has sprung forth. without being deliberately planted by me. So I’m excited!!

Today I also stumbled upon a reel telling the unusual history of this plant in America - cows ate it and it caused concentration of toxin in the milk and people died from “milk sickness “ The plant itself won’t cause any harm by growing in my garden, and no cows grazing here so I’m still excited.

What about you? Do native plants spontaneously show up for you? Am I just not patient enough 😂

10/15/2026

When it rains watch where it drains!
The rainwater that is. A rainy day is always a good day to check drainage and absorption in your garden.
Look for pooling, squishy spots, and flow. Once the rain ends, watch to see how quickly the water goes back down.

Places where water stays can be good opportunities for a rain garden. Places that are barely wet want dry-tolerant plants.

In our climate (Chicagoland ) Especially check to make sure there’s no pooling by the foundation of your structures, as that can cause all kinds of problems. When I’m doing people’s gardens I often quietly fix minor drainage issues. Obviously anything major or in need of repair I tell people about!

What about you? When was your last rain drain audit?

So I argued with someone on the internet the other day. I know I know. It’s 2026. I should absolutely know better.This p...
10/15/2026

So I argued with someone on the internet the other day.
I know I know. It’s 2026. I should absolutely know better.

This person had posted something that super-interested me, a book she wrote about setting up your home to support you – for neurodivergent people.

I liked the ideas (it’s important that you know that) but the illustrations seemed … too sleek. My comment was “love this! Who is your illustrator?”

Another person posted “hope it’s not AI” in response. The original poster wrote back something like “it’s canva and AI” along with an explanation of how she needed money to feed her kids so she couldn’t hire an illustrator.

This is - I suppose - where a sane person would have stopped. Not me. I commented something like “use crayons! Even simple drawings are better than AI”

She responded quickly asking if I was offering to illustrate for her for free. After initial indignation, (pay artists !!!) I thought about it on the way to the bus.

I would in fact, be willing to do a drawing for this person. I liked the concept, I’ve done stupider things for smaller rewards.
I sent her a message.

Went back to check the initial post.

I bet you know what happened next

Her comment admitting AI use was gone. Making it look like I was having a weird convo with myself in the comments.

Then, a minute later, the whole profile was gone. And I felt stupid.
I had assumed I was talking to the poised, smiling, 30-something, Black woman in the profile . Someone with children to feed (like me) trying to do a thing on the internet.

Boooo. Was it a scammer ? A bot? could have been anything. I was like the dwarves in Mirkwood chasing lights that disappear as soon as you step into the circle, leaving you in the dark wondering um what just happened?

Feeling duped, a little embarrassed - had I imagined the whole thing? When she (he? It?) deleted the profile the whole post vanished, my comments, the replies- like it never happened.

Be careful out there friends.

#2026

Have you seen the purple asters this year? Brilliant!!! And so add to your fall colors of orange and red and brown and y...
10/15/2026

Have you seen the purple asters this year? Brilliant!!! And so add to your fall colors of orange and red and brown and yellow this bright PURPLE.

Virginia Creeper - a plant I’ve changed my mind about.I did NOT like this plant, maybe the similarities in appearance to...
10/14/2026

Virginia Creeper - a plant I’ve changed my mind about.

I did NOT like this plant, maybe the similarities in appearance to poison ivy, or its penchant for spreading and taking over.
I’ve changed my mind.

It’s native, it provides food (berries!) and shelter for birds. And I’ve read that it doesn’t harm the tree that it grows on. So I’ve come around.

I let it grow on banks where I want to prevent erosion, and places I haven’t gotten to planting more desirable plants, as a placeholder.

( note - some people react to this plant and get an itchy rash like poison ivy. If that’s you, it might not be the right vine for your landscape.)

One of the great joys has been watching this vine-laden oak turn from green to maroon to blazing red, from the top down.

Fellow gardeners, what about you? do you incorporate Virginia Creeper?

A presentation on growing Lavender from Nettle Creek Lavender Farm who grows and sells lavender here in Illinois. So coo...
10/13/2026

A presentation on growing Lavender from Nettle Creek Lavender Farm who grows and sells lavender here in Illinois. So cool!

She let us pass around different varieties and each had a unique fragrance. Interesting!!

So will I be growing lavender here at home? Sadly no, Maggie confirmed that it’s looking for full sun and sandy well draining soil. Which I do not have. So I’ll appreciate the little stems that she gave us all the more.

At Melo Coffee & Kitchen with my wonderful family and of course my WorksofHope mug for lattes 😊
10/03/2026

At Melo Coffee & Kitchen with my wonderful family and of course my WorksofHope mug for lattes 😊

My latest illustration on the cover of Wild Ones Journal - all about SOIL. It’s an honor and a privilege to spend my tim...
09/25/2026

My latest illustration on the cover of Wild Ones Journal - all about SOIL. It’s an honor and a privilege to spend my time working with this awesome organization Wild Ones!

Taking a deep dive into soil made me really happy, since it’s something I think about and talk about all the time when I’m looking at a garden. When you see a plant or tree you’re only seeing the top half - the rest is under the ground creating infrastructure, communicating with other plants and teaming up with mycorrhizal fungi to exchange nutrients. Soil is more like a city than a single substance. How cool is that!

if you treat your soil with reverence, leave it undisturbed, care for it by adding organic matter, and fill it with Native Plants and trees, it can become flood mitigation, stability for built structures, and a water holding reservoir for dry times Soil is magic.

Wild Ones Kimberley Haag

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39W579 Lori Lane
Elgin, IL
60124

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