Why I Oughta...

For years, there's been a plant that I spot in other gardens that I always admire, but don't have planted in my own garden.  It is (dare I say?) common.   It has a lot of features that I'm drawn to:  fuzzy and (occasionally) white/grey foliage.   I'm talking about Lamb's Ear.   You see it everywhere, too. Everywhere, but my garden. However, I recently came across something new (to me):  A cultivar named "Little Lamb".  Here are the small containers of Little Lamb on the nursery table: Little Lamb Lamb's Ear - Stachys Byzantina - on the nursery table. Proven Winners describes it : Velvety-soft, greenish-silver leafy plant stays compact and is great for edging, border gardens and containers. "Stays compact".   That part, I like.  The small container lists it as a 'groundcover'.  See below: High Country Gardens says : "Fuzzy, silver leaves make a splendid groundcover and weed smother." But, they go on to brag on it even...

Earlier this month, I posted the latest update on the progress of finishing our backyard wood-fired pizza oven where I showed the continued application of brick veneer to the exterior to clad the enclosure in a finished material.  At that time, I had most of the back and some parts of one side/the front complete.   Fast forward a little bit and now the brick veneer is fully-applied.  I ended up using two types of bricks (a cost-cutting choice) that I sort-of have come to regret.  But, that's only after I began to grout the bricks.  I used a more expensive brick on the front that came with L-Shaped 'corners' to help provide the illusion of full-dimensional bricks being used.  I'm glad I did that.  But, I also used a far-cheaper brick veneer product for the back and parts of the sides of the oven.   I thought that they would be hidden (in the case of the back and most of the sides), so it wouldn't matter if the 'cheaper' brick was back th...

Dahlia season started early in 2026.  With a single, pink bloom of a Wizard of Oz dahlia.  This post is going up two weeks after I snipped this bloom.  So, dahlia season started in June 2026. Last year, my earliest blooming dahlia was Wizard of Oz with a bloom exactly one-year-ago today .  It was productive all the way until (at least) mid-October.   This year, I planted two Wizard of Oz tubers.  #20 and #40 on my full list .  One of them - in the Pizza Oven West bed has bloomed .  Sort-of in the 'crotch' of some of the stems.   The blooms on Wizard of Oz Pompon dahlia are pale pink with yellow centers.  This is such a welcome site as we enter the heat of the Summer: Wizard of Oz Dahlia - pale pink bloom with yellow centers. When I say that this first bloom grew in the 'crotch' of a couple of stems, the two photos below shows what I mean.  The first photo is from a couple of days before I put it.  While the second pho...

You've heard of Chocolate Chip.  And Burgundy Glow.  But...I came across something new (to me) at the big box store:  Princess Leia Ajuga.  It is green and white and has foliage that appears to be in-between sizing (in-between the smaller Chocolate Chip foliage and the broader Burgundy Glow foliage).  Below are the quart-sized plants for $7: Here's what Wayside Gardens says about Princess Leia : Ajuga Princess Leia is an evergreen perennial offering year-round interest. A highly popular plant, Princess Leia quickly creates a striking and colorful carpet of uniquely patterned, variegated green and white leaves that's blanketed in whorls of deep purple flowers in spring. Nectar-rich, the flower spikes are extremely attractive to bees. Star Wars in the garden?  What's not to like about that? I can think of two dozen spots for this groundcover in our garden.  

I planted a very small, native Pagoda Dogwood tree in our backyard in the Summer of 2021.  Five years ago .  It was from a municipal native tree sale and was just a foot tall. Over the five years, it has grown up and out.  But, where it is planted is a little bit out-of-the-way.  Well...it is out-of-the-way now because the Weeping Redbud (Lavender Twist) bounced back after what I thought was it dying out.  That weeping Redbud has come back as a multi-trunk tree and has put on a bunch of size.  That means that this Pagoda Dogwood tree is now tucked in *behind* the redbud's foliage.  That doesn't diminish the Pagoda Dogwood, though.  Just makes it a little bit harder to see. I most recently covered this tree this past Winter when I posted a photo of the structure .  Each of the last three growing seasons, I've pruned this tree after it was done flowering.  2023 pruning , 2024 pruning and last year, 2025 pruning .   In each case...

The Dark Side of the Moon Astilbes that are planted in a row in the 'nook' garden behind the Weeping Nootka Cypress tree are blooming.  Well...*some* of them are blooming.  These are sort of just THERE.  Not thriving, not declining.  They're dark foliage plants, so I'm sure rooting for them.   Below is a photo showing the main group of these (there are a couple others that are split by the contorted Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree that is planted in this bed) with one tall, pink bloom and the other bloom (to the left) about to open up: This post is going up in mid-July, but this photo is from late June.  Just like last year, when I posted about these in July, but as a 'later-post' from June .   These were planted in 2023 from the Morton Arboretum annual Arbor Day Plant Sale .   This border needs some additional plant material in front of these.  There is some ajuga, but it sure seems like it could use more.