Marty’s Minnesota Garden

Today we’re visiting with Marty Whalen.

I live in the countryside of northern Minnesota on 8 acres of beautiful soil that was once cattle pasture. Not a rock in sight. I raise chickens, so I use a lot of composted bedding to keep the soil healthy. This garden was started in 1998.

Pink flowers of Primula denticulata (drumstick primrose, Zones 2–7) surround the soft yellow of Erythronium (Zones 4–9) in spring.

A gorgeous peony (Paeonia hybrid, Zones 3–8) is in full bloom in front of a pond. It looks like it might be the classic variety ‘Bowl of Beauty’.

This ruffled Siberian iris (Iris hybrid, Zones 3–8) is stunning. Siberian irises are durable, easy-to-grow plants, and newer hybrids have larger, more ruffled, and more diversely colored blooms than the old standards.

Native to dry spots over pretty much all of eastern North America, prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa, Zones 4–9) looks cool all year but really shows off when it blooms in early summer.

Asiatic lilies (Lilium hybrids, Zones 4–9) are a group of hybrids that have the widest color range of the genus and are generally easy to grow.

Jackman clematis (Clematis ‘Jackmanii’, Zones 4–8) is a classic old hybrid, first introduced in the mid-1800s, and it is easy to see why it remains popular today. Few plants can match that incredible flower display.

More Asiatic lilies, in every shade of red, are accented with some whites in the back. One lily is beautiful, but a mass of them like this is just incredible.

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and