Why I Oughta...

I've written about my list of 'favorite plants'.  I started as a shade gardener on our current property which meant foliage gardening.  I've evolved in my tastes over the years and have come to appreciate a list of plants that work in our garden.   My list (right now) looks something like this:  Ferns (Autumn, Ghost, Japanese Painted, Godzilla, etc), Flowering Perennials (Nepeta Cat's Pajamas and Chartreuse on the Loose), Foliage Perennials  ( Alchemilla Lady's Mantle , Shredded Umbrella Plant), Groundcover (Ajuga and Carex) and Grasses (Hakonechloa, Seslaria Autumnalis, Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses).   That last one - Karl Foerster Grasses - were some of my very first grasses planted here in Downers.  And, over the years, I've divided them and spread them around.   They put on a really lovely show and are in particularly fine form in mid/late June.  I've written about "peak form" on Karl Foerster Grasses in June 2022 her...

In Summer 2023, I planted a low-grafted small Waterfall Japanese Maple about half-way back in our yard on the southside.  It was (at that time) my first green-leaf Japanese Maple and I planted it close to the front of the bed since it was small and growing close to the ground.   A year later, a large tree limb fell from one of the mature trees in the yard, crushing this small ornament Japanese Maple .  Basically taking ALL of the limbs off this poor tree.  The canopy was cut off by 75% in an instant.  Not good. I did the only thing I could:  leave the tree alone.   By last Summer, the tree seemed to begin to recover and put on some new growth . Looking at it today, I'm again seeing some new foliage growth and canopy expansion for the season. Below are a couple of photos showing the current state of this small Japanese Maple (weeping) tucked in amongst some hostas and the stalks of a couple of Fall-planted Allium bulbs: It is going to take a ...

#19 on my 2026 annual to-do list in the garden is to "upgrade the stumpery" in the backyard .  Those 'upgrades' are both in terms of plantings, but also what I'll (loosely) call 'place-making'.   I first came across the idea of a stumpery in late 2023 when I discovered that King Charles has a world-class stumpery .  I started building my stumpery in the backyard by throwing a few stumps that I had on-hand in the area underneath the secondary Northern Red Oak tree in the backyard along the southside. Last year, I planted a pair of Autumn Ferns and three Godzilla Ferns in the Stumpery and called it a day back there.     This year, I have opted to upgrade the Stumpery via some plantings including (at first) seven Autumn Ferns (quart-sized) that I planted behind the All Gold grasses .  I also planted six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs to the front of that same bed .  And, just this past week I posted about eight more Autumn Ferns that I planted ...

This is a [garden diary] update on the kitchen curved bed - in particular the Anemone Lucky Charm that has been growing the past few years in between the peonies and the Astilbes/Matcha Ball Fern Leaf Spirea.   Back in May, I planted a dwarf Blue Spruce Globosa (On Standard) in the bed and I've REALLY LOVED how that has turned out.  It has added color, texture and some shape and really pops in the spot it was planted.  It is early in the season, but if I was declaring winners/losers for the year, this would be one of my biggest "Garden Wins" of 2026.   But, this post isn't about the conifer.  It is about the groundcover flowering perennial that was disturbed when I planted the tree/shrub.   Below are a couple of photos:  First is the current state of the Lucky Charm Anemone followed by the previously-posted 'at the time of planting' comparison collage.  The Anemone has grown in quite a bit, but is currently NOT growing inside the p...

I was surprised to come across a half-pallet of Climbing Hydrangeas at the Menards garden center earlier this Spring. Hydrangea anomala petiolaris .  I've planted a few of these over the years including one back by the firepit that didn't make it (I didn't water it) and another one last year on the dying River Birch tree .  I bought two of them.  Because...well...they were priced pretty good and they were good-sized plants that had a bamboo tripod supporting the growth:  After sitting on one of these climbing hydrangeas for more than a month, I finally decided to plant it IB2DWs.  I was, at first, planning on planting it along the driveway wall - a big blank wall - but reconsidered due to the possible siding damage from the aerial roots.  We have mature Mulberry Tree that lives IB2DWs, down by the sidewalk that sits *right* on the property line between us and our neighbor to the north.  It has a massive trunk.  Below is a photo showing the trunk....

I had plans to replace my Oakleaf Hydrangeas because the (dang) rabbits have been eating them down to nubs in the Winter.  So, imagine my surprise when I came across these hydrangea flowers emerging on the tips of the shrubs that have appeared over the top of some of our amsonia foliage in the [kitchen curved] bed.  See below for a couple of photos showing these flowers: I looked for some treeform Viburnum (Doublefile) earlier this Spring, but didn't see any, so I never replaced these Oakleaf Hydrangeas. #1 on my 2026 to-do list was to replace those very shrubs, so this is going to be a fail. Unless....I go about dealing with the rabbits in a different way: keeping them OUT of the garden with a fence. I've posted about these blooms coming-and-going over the years.  Here is a post in 2023 when I was surprised (like this year) when they arrived .  And, here is a post from 2021 when they bloomed and I fell in love with them .  They also turn a deep red in the F...