City Mouse Garden
LightNews LightNews
banner
citymousegarden.bsky.social
City Mouse Garden
@citymousegarden.bsky.social
3.7K followers 56 following 4.8K posts
#NativePlants & #Pollinators Lover. Master Gardener. Master Urban Farmer. Cookbook Editor/Chef. Tiny #Chicago Garden Zone 6A. All photos mine unless otherwise indicated. #UrbsInHorto #GardenDogs #KitchenGarden #FantasticFoliage
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
citymousegarden.bsky.social
City Mouse Garden @citymousegarden.bsky.social · 21d
Skeptics: A single #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #KillYourLawn #NativePlants oasis can’t make a meaningful difference in creating a more diverse #ecosystem!

Me: 🐞🐝🪰🐜🦗🐛💅

#gardening #bloomscrolling #BugSky #invertebrates #waps #beetles #hoverflies #pollinators 🌱
citymousegarden.bsky.social
This is going to end up becoming a #NativePlants Asters stan account at this rate.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
An arching Aster cluster over concrete marked with rain drops.
September 21, 2026 at 7:08 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
I was out #AlwaysBePlanting on Saturday to beat a weekend full of soaking rain with perfect temps for establishing new plants. I got these beautiful highly scented new roses on sale so #MagentaMonday #PinkMon will be an even better show next year.

#gardening #bloomscrolling 🌱
A screenshot showing my website pics of my six new sale roses (clockwise from top): Don Juan, Laguna, Heavenly Scented, Escapade, Ferdinand Pichard, & Polka.
September 21, 2026 at 4:00 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Buzz buzz go the busy #bees enjoying late season pollen from #MagentaMonday #PinkMon Japanese Anemone.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #ecosystem #BugSky #NoSpray #invertebrates #pollinators #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
September 21, 2026 at 3:20 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
As we transition to fall blooms, we even have Asters for #MagentaMonday #PinkMon.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Hundreds of bright deep pink asters opening everywhere.
September 21, 2026 at 2:42 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Toad Lilies are amazing because they look so delicate but they perform so well even in tough dry shade. This pure white version is newly added to the garden this year and I love it already!

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Pure white Toad Lily explodes into bloom over deep green foliage.
September 21, 2026 at 2:32 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Rosa ‘Sweet Spirit’ is dressed to the nines for #MagentaMonday #PinkMon.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
A beautiful magenta rose with curling silver-edged petals.
September 21, 2026 at 2:27 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
I love all the #NativePlants showing off in this incredible shade of blue this time of year and Salvia azurea is no exception.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Incredible blue native Salvia blooms.
September 20, 2026 at 3:35 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
I think this might be the boss level of Symphyotrichum (Asters) judging by the number of blooms on one plant but I can’t seem to match it up to any of the species I recorded planting in this bed.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
A gigantic arching mass of tiny pale blooms each with under 12 rays.
September 19, 2026 at 9:55 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
I just want to tickle its adorable little grasshopper belly. 🙃

#gardening #bloomscrolling #ecosystem #BugSky #NoSpray #invertebrates #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
A beautiful and unusual golden grasshopper (unlike the duller brown and gray friends also in the garden) hanging onto the silver-purple Salvia yangii clusters showing a clear view of its underside as it clings on.
September 19, 2026 at 9:22 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Raindrops keep fallin’ on my kale
But that doesn't mean my eyes
Will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain
By complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me 🎹🎼

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #KitchenGarden #GrowFood #NoSpray 🌱
Beautiful blue-green baby kale with giant raindrops sitting on top of their waxy surface.
September 19, 2026 at 9:10 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Forgot to share Monday’s #AlwaysBePlanting report (lots of #NativePlants, nativars & friends): 2x Asclepias purpurescens; 1x Deschampsia caespitosa;
2x Schizachryium scoparium ‘Ha Ha Tonka’; 1x Asarum canadense; 6x Sisyrinchium angustifolium; 9x Gaultheria procumbens ‘Cherry Berries’;

#gardening 🌱
Colored circles showing placement of some of the new plants along a mulch pathway, including Asclepias purpurescens, Thalictrum ‘Cotton Candy’ & ‘Cotton Ball’ and Deschampsia cespitosa.
September 19, 2026 at 5:29 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
New #NativePlants species alert! We recently added Penthorum sedoides (Ditch Stonecrop) to the Rain Garden and it is *loving* today’s downpours with its friends Lobelia siphilitica & cardinalis. So pretty!

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Beautiful fanned tubular blue Lobelia siphilitica, bright red tubular Lobelia cardinalis, with the bright apple green foliage of Penthorum sedoides with its spikes of buds.
September 19, 2026 at 5:10 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Bumble on Boltonia—brought to you by the letter B.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #ecosystem #BugSky #NoSpray #bees #pollinators #NativePlants #February2Frost #invertebrates #FlowersOnFriday #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
September 19, 2026 at 12:55 AM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Social media memories are a double-edged sword. Just sitting here enjoying the cool weather & suddenly reminded that all the white flowers are blooming in memory of a friend I said goodbye too young a year ago today.❤️‍🩹

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #FlowersOnFriday 🌱
Pure white Japanese anemone with golden crowns surrounding green centers.
September 18, 2026 at 9:25 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Absolutely loving Rosa ‘La Di Da’ putting on a beautiful show for a plant that just went into the ground in late June.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #FlowersOnFriday 🌱
A half dozen soft purple blooms and more buds with a bit more pink to them.
September 18, 2026 at 2:35 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
This baby seal pup keeps glaring at me because she hit her “walk” button multiple times and won’t accept “sorry, raining” as an answer.

#WeAreAllZoey #GardenDogs #DogsOfBluesky #DogSky
A small grey & brown Cattle Dog with her front legs splayed out like seal flippers stares deep into my soul trying to bend me to her will.
September 17, 2026 at 3:22 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
#NativePlants Elephantopus carolinianus on the shady side of the Parkway proves there are great choices to keep color & #pollinators food going through late season even in woodland gardens with dry soil.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Large basal leaves topped by branching clusters of pink-purple blooms surrounded by smaller leaves.
September 17, 2026 at 2:56 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Meaningful rain finally! My new plantings need it so bad. We’re getting close to an inch & it’s still coming down. Our soil was *so* dry. While we stay inside, here is the beautiful #NativePlants Ageratina altissima (White Snakeroot).

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Soft white #pollinators feeding station bringing some brightness to the shadier side of the Parkway.
September 17, 2026 at 2:47 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
The most beautiful #birds feeder for migration season is hands-down #NativePlants Aralia racemosa. Thrives in our difficult urban parkway conditions & adds so much color, habitat, life… joy.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #ecosystem #nature 🌱
Deep burgundy berries forming in huge clusters with some green still waiting to turn as the season flows on.
September 16, 2026 at 7:19 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
#NativePlants selection Solidago sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece’ is a great way to add #pollinators food in small spaces and makes a beautiful edger to soften straight lines in any bed. Introduced by Mt. Cuba Center.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #pollinators 🌱
Low growing solidago with long spikes of yellow that grow neatly adding texture to the bed edges
September 16, 2026 at 3:44 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Our Tithonia is still a busy fueling station for the larger migrating Monarch #butterflies. And you can see the electric orange from space. 😎🤪

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #pollinators 🌱
Bright orange rays with softer orange center.
September 16, 2026 at 3:35 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
#NativePlants Boltonia asteroides v. latisquama 'Nana' is a shorter selection that blooms forever and dances through my other mid bed blooms without any support needed.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Beautiful soft blue blooms by the hundreds.
September 16, 2026 at 3:31 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
My magic tie-dye Winter Squash are starting to color up. How beautiful!

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago #KitchenGarden #GrowFood #NoSpray 🌱
A soft cream and pale orange and green winter squash still filling out as the tendrils is very green.
September 16, 2026 at 3:28 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Cannot stop staring at this double-flowering Hibiscus from every angle.

#gardening #bloomscrolling #FlowerReport #UrbsInHorto #Chicago 🌱
Fluffy pompons of crepey white, soft pink, and dark pink layers.
September 16, 2026 at 3:27 PM
citymousegarden.bsky.social
Imagine my surprise when Helianthus ‘Carine’ I planted in August 2024 finally shot up & bloomed this year. Since it came from small 2-man operation, I looked through their other offerings—guessing it can only be mislabelled #NativePlants Helianthus microcephalus. Okay!

#gardening #bloomscrolling 🌱
Obviously much taller than Carine’s 4-5 feet range and with small rich yellow blooms instead of soft buttery yellow larger rays. A closeup of the long skinny foliage which also matches H. microcephalus rather than ‘Carine’.
September 15, 2026 at 6:31 PM