FEATURED POSTS
Gardening with Herbs
Herbs in the garden are magical to me. They certainly give more than they take because they’re so very easy to grow. They attract pollinators, which increases the bounty in your veggie garden. Their…
Plentiful Pollinators
A few years ago I designed the Pollinator Garden Beds at our local community garden. The spot used to be a baseball field for a grade school. The soil was sand over compacted clay soil. In…
For Garden Inspiration, Think Big!!
Fall is a beautiful time of year. If you have a vegetable garden, you’re pretty much done with the harvest, unless you’re the one with the cold frame. If you’re a flower gardener, you’re also…
wildflowers from the field to your garden
You can have the same glorious color and sweet little visitors in your own gardens as our public gardens and Prairies. Wildflowers have made themselves at home in all sorts of gardens over the years, moving from the vacant lots of my youth, to carefully public gardens, and now our own yards. Our front yard growing up had big lumbering evergreen bushes. The backyard had roses, bridal wreath…Welcome
The solution is in the design! What you plant and where you plant it are the answer to why you are planting it. Too much shade? Too much water? There’s a design for that. The Charmed Garden shares my love of gardening and designing gardens. Nature is a part of all of us and having a garden of any size connects us to the green side of us, and to each other. I share designs I have created and how to do the same in your own patch of green. Here you can find techniques, tips, and inspiration to create the garden that is all you, whether it’s a front yard, back yard, veggie garden or container garden.
About Me
I am Laurine Byrne and I have been a garden geek from the first marigold and radish seeds I planted in our backyard as a kid. I became a certified Landscape Designer at Northwestern University and then a Master Gardener through the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener program.
I believe you don’t have to be born with a green thumb to have a beautiful garden. You can find joy in green spaces and colorful chaos in the largest public garden or the smallest container garden.
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Featured Recipe
Soup, There it is!
The official end of summer is here. I actually saw a lone tree that beat the crowd and changed its color already. It was a young tree, probably only planted a few years ago, and it was a beautiful rust color. Youth showing off. If you have a veggie garden, you’re probably still harvesting and now have more tomatoes than you know what to do with, and probably plenty of peppers and beans. If you’re like me, you’ve harvested them a little late. I seem to forget the beans once the tomatoes finally ripen, and forget the Eggplants, any stray Zucchini and definitely the Kale and, oh yeah the herbs too. What I do with the over ripe veggies and neglected herbs is put them all in the same soup…My Recipes
Roasted Orange Tomato and Thai Basil Soup
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.;;Cut the stems out of the tomatoes and slice them in half. Lay them cut side up on the cookie sheets. I used parchment paper to cover the bottom of the cookie sheets for…
The Big Beautiful Beet
Ruby Red Beets fresh from our Garden Beets add brilliant color to the garden. They’re all kinds of red from top to bottom. They hold their tall upright shape and color until you’re ready to pick…
Recipe for Apple, Carrot and Coconut Soup
The last of the last Farmers Market near us was a couple of weeks ago. It was cold and raining but it was the last one. Not Even nasty Chicago weather was going to keep us from the last Farmers…
Slow Cooker Applesauce from the Windy City
Mother Nature has taken her time, but the cold has finally settled in here in the Chicago area. Lucky for us the change in seasons has come slowly because the apple festivals and farmer’s markets…
Soup, There it is!
The official end of summer is here. I actually saw a lone tree that beat the crowd and changed its color already. It was a young tree, probably only planted a few years ago, and it was a beautiful…
