Hi Everyone!

We have had a great spring and are very thankful to see so many of you at Murphy’s Gardens!  
The gardens are blooming like crazy.  We feel like things are 2-3 weeks ahead of normal bloom time this year which can most likely be contributed to the really warm April and all this rain in June.  Come enjoy our gardens sometime soon!   Our gardens are open for self-guided tours anytime we are open and we are always here to answer questions when you find something you want to know more about.  I love any excuse to wander my gardens with visitors.

Galena Garden Walk tickets are on sale here for the 8 gardens that will be on tour July 10th & 11th.  Master Gardeners and artists will be in the gardens as well.  Looks like a great tour!   Tickets are $10 for these gardens on Garden Walk, but our garden will be open for free as a bonus– so make sure to stop by!   We also have a few other special events of our own planned for July 10th.  Our Youth Group from church will be here with a bake sale table and hot dog stand from 9-2 that day.  Also our fabulous concrete artist, Donita (from Donita inc.) will be here to customize any concrete piece – benches, garden stones or other decorative item.    

If you are like me, you can find God in your garden in every bloom.  We are hosting a special church service here on August 22nd at 9:00 a.m.  We are calling it “Grace in the Garden”.  Our pastor, Rev. Dennis Hill from Lord of Love Lutheran Church will be here with another one of his inspiring sermons.  We will have music , but I’m sure the songbirds will help us too. We are still in the planning stages, but please calendars to join us.   ALL are welcome welcome (gardeners or not)  :-)   You can contact us in early August for more info!  

We are still very well stocked with perennials and shrubs.  Some of our favorites and many of our new offerings are sold out for the season, but we have an excellent selection of 100’s of mature,  healthy plants that can be planted all summer long.  Our shade plants are especially noteworthy – many different Heucheras, Hostas, Polemoniums, Astilbe and many more unusual plants that you just don’t find many places.   The butterflies are in heaven with all the blooms.  We can point out some of their favorites.  We also have a great selection of reliably blooming Hydrangeas that are spectacular.

If you haven’t been here lately, we  have some awesome, one-of-a-kind metal garden sculptures made by artists from Wisconsin.   Each one is more interesting than the next.  They re-use and recycle the most interesting things into works of art.  And you don’t have to water them -just place them in your garden for a touch of whimsy and year-round interest.     

We are also stocked with  a unique selection of garden decor – pottery, birdhouses, garden stakes and concrete benches.  On the more practical side, we stock natural fertilizers, pest control, compost, potting mix, corn gluten, gloves, hand tools, natural body care products...

Our 2+ acre vegetable gardens have been planted and are looking great.   We usually have produce beginning in late July, but August and September are the times to visit us for a ton of chemical free, homegrown, tasty veggies – tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, beets, potatoes...  We bring in some So. IL and Michigan peaches and have apples and pears  in late August and September as well.  September brings pumpkins, gourds, squash, Mums, Asters and more so keep us in mind the rest of the summer!   Become a fan on facebook to keep up with daily updates on produce & other activities.

Our FREE gardening classes went great this spring & early summer!  If you’ve never been to one of our classes, you should!     Weather permitting, we put chairs in our “living classroom” gardens in the shade.  If it rains, we find room in a greenhouse or our shop...so come on out  next time to take advantage of this free education!   We are planning a few more classes for late summer & fall  If you have a request for a certain class, please let us know.  We will update our website as soon as we have those scheduled.

Our hours change in July for the balance of the season.  Starting in July,we will be closed on Monday and Tuesday and  OPEN Wednesday - Sunday.    Tentative hours are  9-4 except on Saturday when we will stay open until 5 p.m.   Please give us a call if you want to check.  815-777-4273 or check our hours page on the website.  

Hope to see you soon and thanks again for your continued support.  We are blessed.