Ideas & Inspiration Garden Tips

Japanese Beatles

Theyyyy’re Baaaack!  Japanese beetles took a break the last few years from most gardens after suffering great decline in numbers from the COLD 2013-2014 winter.…

Summer’s got you feeling hungry and thirsty…. if you’re a plant, that is.

  It’s time to check in on your container plants and newly planted perennials and shrubs. I feel bad when I see people/plant relationships go…

Mulch, what is it good for?

Mulching is a little garden task that has a lot of purpose.  Let’s face it, many of us mulch specifically for curb appeal. It really…

Square Foot Gardening=Maximum Yield

Nothing brings me as much joy as the process of growing food in my own yard. For the last handful of years, I have been…

Container Design

Classic geranium design with some bold accents. If you don’t love geraniums, you should.  Geraniums are big, bright, drought tolerant and easy to get to…

Glazed Pottery-Question of the Week

Can you leave ceramic pots, glazed or unglazed, out in the MN winter? Sunnyside Gardens recommends you not leave them out.  If you have to…

Invest in some rabbit-proofing

Hey Minnesota gardeners!  Anyone have this trouble after last winter?  Seems as the snow gets higher, the rabbits snack further up on trees and shrubs…

Water your evergreens

We are in the middle of a dry Fall, so I must advise everyone that you water your evergreens well this week! El niño-unseasonably warm…

Bringing in your outdoor plants.

Time to designate your favorite sunny window for plants a plenty.  Don’t be fooled by the sun and 80 degrees this weekend, the season that…

Family Gardening

You may enjoy some solitary, peaceful down time in the yard, but those moments when you can get everyone involved feels really great too.  The…

Nature

ˈnāCHər noun noun: nature; plural noun: natures the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of…

September Gardening

Quick garden report from last night: Yellow. Grey.  Brown.  Tried that.  Not so great any more.  Do I have any more Miracle Gro food? Can…

What’s Blooming in August

Russian Sage has it’s day in the sun. Has anyone seen the Russian Sage in color out in the landscape?  Russian Sage is the 3…

Tomato Kids

What’s wrong with your tomato? I’ve seen some sad looking tomatoes photos come through the store lately and I think it’s time we had a…

Cabin Plant Guide-Zone 3

The Garden That Keeps On Giving – Perennials

You know what’s awesome? Gardening (you had to see that coming). You know what’s awesome-r? When your garden gardens FOR you. Every gardener has a…

I Feel Good From My Head Tomatoes – Veggie Gardening

Veggie gardens are a great way to have affordable, healthy produce all summer long. From beginner to expert, these gardens can be very rewarding. Here…

3 Reasons You Need to Go Tropical This Summer

We love tropical plants. What’s not to love? The color, variety, and creative possibilities make these plants very attractive to both the experienced as well…

Herb Gardening

How do you grow your herbs?  Rosemary pots, french tarragon baskets, garden chive rows, hanging thyme, herb knots,  A few different methods come to mind…

Tree Planting

Oh happy trees that we plant today, What great good fortunes wait you! For you will grow in sun and snow Till fruit and flowers…

Which one are you going to take home?

Here’s just a quick list of “car stoppers” that I saw this morning on the way to work.  The blooms are loud and proud on…

Spring Turf

How do I give my lawn a fighting chance? Great lawns need food, water and the occasional reseeding and weed prevention.  Early Spring lawns need…

Why do we decorate?

We decorate for parties, for visitors, to express our joy for the season, to have a little fun with our homes and our spaces,  to…

Weekend Garden Warrior Plan

The time you get to spend with family and friends on the weekend, or whatever your days off end up being, go quickly. We don’t…

My favorite container of the season…so far

  I love all the elements of this foliage planter.  Kale is not only trendy, but gorgeous too.  We just decided to mix and match…

Sarah’s Summer Planter

Sarah shows us what goes into her favorite planter at Sunnyside this week. She began by choosing plants that, while common separately, together create a…

Patio Vegetable Gardens

Summer is here and patio season in Minnesota is officially on! Join Mike as he puts together vegetable planters for you to enjoy all season…

Succulents at Sunnyside!

Succulents are grown as ornamental plants because of their striking and unusual appearance. Also called “fat plants,” they store water in their fleshy leaves, giving…

Still Trending-Succulents & Patio Caladium-Feature for 2014

You can keep them alive with little or no effort.  Put your succulents in sun and keep em warm.  Water them from time to time…

Aromatic plants for your home.

  Rosemary clay washpot and topiary. Kitchen table worthy!  We’re excited to share these with you. Lavender in clay wash pot. (breathe in, relax)  …

Recipe For Fall

3 simple plants for a container design.  The same 3 simple plants repeated for a window box design. One 4 1/2″ or 6″ Garden Mum…

Fall is for planting Happy Plants

Fall is for Planting! With the heat of the summer past, now is the best time to do many gardening activities including weeding, mulching, pruning,…

Teaching Kids How to Garden

It starts with a joint effort to spend a little time at the garden center picking out plants to plant. Decide on a topic of…

Planting what’s right.

Choosing what perennials to plant and where to plant them are the questions that everyone is asking. And what do I need to do to…

Herb Care

Choosing herbs for your garden can be quite a pleasant chore. If you’re gardening with herbs to accentuate your cooking, you will want to select…

Succulent Gardening

Greening Up Indoors: Succulents! At Sunnyside Gardens, we take all kinds of gardening seriously. It’s no surprise that our first arrivals of any season are…

Backyard Birding

If you find yourself looking for a fun family project to pass the time this winter, think about feeding the birds.  Take a little time…

Fresh Cut

What does it mean to a Christmas tree to give it a fresh cut before putting it in water? Well, an evergreen tree is much…

Greening with Garland

The age old tradition of displaying greens in and around the home is one that continues today.  Each type of evergreen we offer has unique…

Garden Recipes: Italian Basil & Tomato Salad

This recipe makes me hungry just looking at the title! If you need a great recipe to help use up all that basil from your…

The DIY Landscaper, Part V

Welcome back! By now you have a good sense as to what kind of plants to look for at your next visit to Sunnyside Gardens.…

The DIY Landscaper, Part IV

This week let’s talk about Massing Plants! Massing plants provide color, texture and bloom in numbers! Massing plants could be shrubs or perennials. For shrubs,…

The DIY Landscaper, Part III

Let’s move on to our second group of plants: Companion Plants. Companion plants are usually planted together to give the gardener summer long color. For…

The DIY Landscaper, Part II

Now the fun part: Plant shopping! There are about four groupings of plants to consider: specimen, companion, massing and foliage. For today let’s talk a…

The DIY Landscaper, Part I

Late summer and fall are the best times to do your perennial planting. Not to mention, with cooler temperatures it makes getting that landscape project…

Fertilize to Keep ’em Pretty!

Sometimes dirt, water, sunshine and love aren’t enough to get flowers and veggies to reach their fullest potential. At this time of year, garden novices…

Japanese Beetles- Pest no more!

If you have had problems in the past with beetles, or you can already see them helping themselves to your plants, what are your options?…

Season long color- year after year!

A common question we’ve been getting is how perennials make the “Sunnyside best” list. The short answer is that these select perennials are tried and…

Mother’s Love Hanging Baskets

For the longest time I struggled finding the right gift for my mom on Mother’s Day – from earrings that wound up in a junk…

Prevent Japanese Beetles- here’s how!

Did you have a problem with Japanese Beetles last growing season?  NOW IS THE TIME OF YEAR TO GET RID OF THEM BEFORE THEY EMERGE! …