Peter’s Wisconsin Garden – FineGardening

We are looking at Peter Duffek’s garden today.

My Zone 5B garden is on a ¾-acre lot outside the city of Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin. When my family moved here six years ago, the yard was lacking anything that resembled a garden. Only grass and some trees were present on the site. Over the past six years we have gradually planted a mix of native and ornamental plants along with numerous shrubs and trees. Each year, the gardens creep a little farther into the grass, and the plan is to one day have most of the yard covered in gardens. We feel it is very important to avoid the use of any chemical herbicides or pesticides in the yard, and the pollinators and predatory insects have clearly enjoyed it. We also added a small pond that was quickly occupied by frogs. As we have added shelter, water, and food sources to the property we have seen an increase in many types of insects, turtles, birds, and even bats in our bat house. This garden has been a wonderful way for our family to relax, connect, and learn all about the importance of our impact on nature along with our need for it.

This garden bed is overflowing with flowers much loved by pollinators, such as purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea Zones 3–8), and is ready to keep spreading out into the shrinking lawn.

Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ (Zones 4–8) has been around for over 150 years and is still one of the best! Beautiful purple flowers are produced in abundance on a vigorous plant.

A big cloud of purple coneflowers surround the dark foliage of a canna (Canna hybrid, Zones 7–10 or as a tender bulb).

The outdoor seating area is a beautiful spot to have dinner and enjoy the garden.

A hardy waterlily (Nymphaea hybrid, Zones 4–10) blooms in the water garden, which is a beautiful feature and provides a water source for insects and other wildlife.

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