In My Garden:
Debra and Steven Koenig
Debra and Steven Koenig, River Hills, WI
Open Days Hosts and Milwaukee Open Days Regional Ambassadors
“We are blessed to have five acres of rolling land near the Milwaukee River,” says Debra. “Neither of us gardened growing up and we have no formal training, but we both love the outdoors and were influenced by people close to us who treasured their pansies, daffodils, and tomatoes. For us, gardening mixes the pleasures of physical exertion, intellectual stimulation, problem solving, creativity and beauty. We are constantly growing as gardeners, influenced by the many wonderful gardens we’ve seen, including at Open Days. No matter how big or small, wild or manicured, we never fail to find something that inspires or challenges us to try something new to improve our gardens."
Debra is helming the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club’s partnership with the Garden Conservancy for the Open Days on August 28 and 29, which feature four magnificent gardens north of Milwaukee, and their own garden was part of Open Days in 2019. Pictured above is "our daffodil hill, which is a harbinger of spring. We have many types of daffodils in an effort to extend the season, underplanted with scilla."
In My Garden, November 9, 2021
"Fall has finally arrived in southeastern Wisconsin, with our first frost expected tonight – 27 degrees!" reports Debra. "We’ve been enjoying the fall colors and the third rotation in our planters – lots of ornamental kale, gourds, pumpkins, winter squashes, and grasses. The purple flowers (top, left) are aconitum (monkshood) and the yellow leaves are hostas. The chipmunks burrowed into the Galeux d’Eysines winter squash (top, right) and made tunnels to harvest the flesh and seeds. The thicker Hubbard squash skin defeated their efforts, however!"
Above: "The dry summer and fall have made for bright autumn colors. The deep red calyces of the Heptacodium miconioides (Seven Son Flower) have replaced the September-blooming white flowers that are bee magnets (top, left). The orange leaves (top, right) are hazelnut, Corylus americana; the thicket provides excellent shelter for finches and other smaller birds, both in the summer and winter. The yellow/brown leaves (bottom, left) are on the hickory trees, which Steve planted as whips. It seems like it was a mast year for hickories; we’ve had hundreds of nuts. Finally, the Autumn Blaze maple, Acer x freemanii, (bottom, right) is a naturally occurring cross between a sugar and silver maple."
In My Garden, October 12, 2021
Fall brings the grape harvest for Debra and Steven, who with help over two Saturday mornings, picked more than three tons of grapes consisting of three different varieties (Marquette grapes are pictured above, left). Debra reports that the harvest brought "bright blue skies, nitrile gloves (to help protect against wasp stings), the zen of the harvest, and being part of the continuum of grape picking that goes back millennia."
"We’ve long wanted a water feature on our property, and now have a wildlife pond," Debra says. "We have been told: you build it, and they will come (insects, frogs, and birds). Ours has three different levels: a fish cave in the bottommost level, where fish (either introduced naturally when fish eggs hitch a ride on birds or frogs, or 39-cent goldfish purchased at the pet store) can hibernate or hide from herons, as well as areas designed to be attractive to birds who want a drink or a bath (e.g., the rock on the left that has natural niches for water). It’s a work in process, but we’re looking forward to learning more."
"The colors associated with autumn are usually yellows, golds, and reds," says Debra. "But early fall for us has meant pink. Pictured (above, left) are some of our dahlias, which have been strong performers in our late season cutting garden. Winter sunsets are usually the most dramatic, but the smoke in the atmosphere from the wildfires in the West has resulted in some truly memorable sunsets (above, right), with pink being the predominant color."
In My Garden, September 14, 2021
"Late summer has arrived with all its bounty—and the rush to gather it in," reports Debra. "The seeds we started in March and the dahlia tubers we planted in early June are giving us a riot of flowers (above, left). Steve harvested honey this week (above, right). At 92 pounds, the harvest is less than in recent years but still ample, along with wine made with last year's Marquette and Frontenac grapes, to share as a thank you to our friends who will pick grapes later this month."
"Today I was busy baking honey cakes and fig tarts for the harvest breakfast that starts "vendage," or the time of harvesting grapes. It seems as though the figs ripen out of the blue, just when we're giving up hope that they may ever mature! The green figs are Italian Honey and the purple are Chicago (above)."
"We just completed a very successful Open Days weekend on August 28 & 29 in Milwaukee County, where the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club (MAMGC), celebrating its 100th anniversary, partnered with the Garden Conservancy. More than 2,000 tickets were sold for four gardens and one Garden Masters Series event—a stunning number! Over 70 volunteers from MAMGC, wearing their yellow aprons or red traffic vests, made everything run smoothly," says Debra. Pictured above are vignettes from the rose garden (left) at the Chipstone Foundation, the venue for the Garden Masters program, and from the Gardens at Lake Hill House (center) and Rosebrock Gardens (right) from the Open Days weekend.
In My Garden, August 17, 2021
"Fruit is starting to ripen and a second planting of haricots verts is coming up," Debra tells us. "But with this comes the need to protect from marauding birds, chipmunks, and rabbits. The grapes (above) have reached veraison, which is the transition from berry growth to berry ripening. Once the grapes darken, they are no longer camouflaged from the birds, so all 24 rows, each 180 feet long, need to be netted and tacked down to protect the crop, but also to prevent the birds from getting under the nets and getting trapped."
"The first crop of Black Triana figs ripened (above, left) and needed to be protected from chipmunks with netting. Finally, the rabbits are becoming an issue in the vegetable garden. Steve built movable, slanted wood frames with screens that come off (above, right). He originally designed them for the strawberries to protect them from chipmunks and the screens were removable for easy picking. When the rabbits nibbled down a recent planting of haricots verts, he moved one to that row and re-planted. As the plants grow, the screens can come off, and the frame moved."
Above: "Our pollinator patch in the old foundation is in its glory and is humming with honey bees from our hives and different varieties of bumble bees. If you look closely on the Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant or false dragonhead) in the second picture, you can see a visiting bumble bee. We also have butterflies, mostly monarchs, but they weren’t as cooperative about having their pictures taken."
In My Garden, July 20, 2021
Debra reports that "the dry weather continues and the shade borders are stalwarts. The photo above features one of my favorite perennials, Digitalis lutea, which has the added bonus of being self-seeding. It’s surrounded by hostas and shaded by the new growth of the Norway spruce allée. When I realized that my favorite view of my giant hostas was looking down from a second story window, I got the idea of holding my iPhone facing down over the top of hostas to flatten the perspective." For an example, see the photo in this email's masthead.
"Another shady area is bordering the foundation of a greenhouse that was long gone by the time we bought our property 35 years ago. Steve has created a Japanese-themed garden area with this shade garden and two others that get more sun. The trees are native butternuts, also known as white walnuts, which had grown up through the three levels of concrete floors (since removed) inside the foundation wall and, remarkably, thrived. I have been trying to convert most of the planting inside the foundation and in the two sunny parts of abutting perennial borders to all native plants."
Above, left: "In the middle ground of the first picture is an area we are re-working after we removed more than 70 ash trees that succumbed to emerald ash borer three years ago. We planted two groves of native trees—river birches and burr, swamp, and chinkapin oaks—and are in the process of creating a meadow, which we’re filling with native plants. One of our recent purchases, which is native to this area, is in the second photo. It is rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), which has fabulous white balls that attract insects. It reminds me of button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), which we’ve also planted. Not only are we attracting insects and butterflies, but small mammals (and some not so small: a groundhog) like the cover that the meadow provides."
In My Garden, June 22, 2021
Pictured above, left, is a Chicago fig tree, one of Debra and Steven's five fig trees of different varieties. "We grow them in pots, pursuant to a potting and fertilization regimen developed by Joe Morlé, who was a well-known fig grower in Boston. We over-winter them in our insulated garage and they bear copious amount of figs in late summer. Also going gangbusters are our grape vines! We have 500 vines of three varieties of winter-hardy grapes developed at the University of Minnesota. Pictured above, right, are some of our Frontenac vines."
"Getting less than half of our average annual rainfall (which is considered to be 'severe drought' for the Milwaukee area) and high temperatures have made conditions difficult in our late spring gardens," Debra reports. "Perennial flowers are way ahead of schedule and burn up quickly in the heat, despite efforts at keeping them watered. What have done well are Mediterranean plants and shade gardens. These Siberian irises (above, left) unlike the ones in sunnier locations, have thrived this spring. They are surrounded by hostas, Alchemilla mollis (lady's mantle), and Aruncus dioicus (goat's beard)." Above, right, is another view of the shade border.
Pictured above is an oak that Debra and Steven grew from an acorn. "After listening to Doug Tallamy's transformational presentation, "The Nature of Oaks," we will never look at our garden in the same way," says Debra. "We were so glad to see some insect predation on the leaves. We're only sorry we didn't try to plant an oak grove!"
In My Garden, May 25, 2021 
"This picture was taken from our kitchen window during a rainstorm," says Debra. "I just love the neon green of the grass and the soft green of the new leaves at this time of year."
"This photo (above, left) was taken from our front door and shows part of our shade perennial border. The epimedium and wild native geranium are in their glory, shaded by an allée of Norway spruces. The thistle feeder (above, center) is part of our 'bird feeding industrial complex.' The female finches are ravenous this time of year, as are their brightly colored mates. We have grown annuals from seed for the first time this year," Debra says. "We got carried away with zinnias since the seed packets felt like chaff and we weren't sure they would germinate (above, right). We've turned our kitchen into a greenhouse and we have other varieties in our basement under lights."
In My Garden, May 11, 2021
"Last fall was the first time we planted bulbs in pots to overwinter in our garage," Debra tells us. "Some of them, like the dwarf Iris histriodes 'George' (above, left), flowered in late February and came into the house. Others got transplanted into pots outside like the Red Emperor tulips, mixed with 'Tete-a-Tete' daffodils and purple hyacinths from the garden center. The daffodils will be transplanted into the daffodil hill after they stop flowering."
