Why I Oughta...

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...

Back in May, I planted seven quart-sized Autumn Ferns in the Stumpery , behind the row of All Gold Hakonechloa grasses on the southside of our garden.  Over the years, I've come to love Autumn Ferns and they're (maybe??) my favorite plant in the garden .   Two items on my 2026 to-do list are relevant to this post and I'll include them both below: 19. Upgrade the Stumpery. Better stumps. Better plants. Better wattle fence ?  Plus toss in continued Hosta replacement, too. The thing that I need to add here are even more Autumn Ferns. See #15. I have some Autumn Ferns and LOVE them. More is better. 15. Stay focused by using the concept of Repetition vs. new. I had this same one in my 2025 list . This is a reminder to future Jake who is staring at the tables at the nursery this Summer. Stop. Focus. More of what we have, not wandering diversity. See #1, #3, #8. That means: Sun Kings, Autumn Ferns, Ajuga, Sedums, Carex, Autumn Moor Grasses, Hakonecholas, Astilbes, Nepet...

#3 and #4 on my Summer to-do list for 2026 focused on adding plants to the Pizza Oven Bed that I created last year.  That meant finishing up a garden edit and adding some Hakonechloa Macra grasses to the front of the border.  And, adding some flowering perennials amongst the three existing Wichita Blue Spruce trees in the middle of the bed.  Here is the post showing the blue junipers without much planted around them (in Winter) .  And, here is a post showing the original inspiration for the blue juniper + stachys inspiration .   When I came across this sign for Stachys 'Summer Crush' at Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm, I thought these would work well in this spot: The description reads: 'Summer Crush' has a summer dispaly of wand-like inflorescenses with pink and white bi-color flowers that stand above dense, green foliage.   I ended up buying only three of these because I've been using up the space in front of the blue Junipers with dahlias...

I have a pair of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum flowering shrubs that I planted in Fall of 2021 along the north fenceline in the backyard.  These are in the understory of the Tree Swing Oak Tree and home (now) to a pretty large (and...expanding) naturalized drift of Ostrich Ferns.  The Arrowwood Viburnums were spec'd as part of our landscape plan that called for them to be repeated in a number of spots.  I only planted two of these, but looking back at the posts, I probably should try to find some more of these and plant them around the back of the property.   They were IMMEDIATELY attacked by the (dang) rabbits, so I started to protect them with some chicken wire cages .  Those cages remain today.   These have bloomed the past few Summers, but I seem to have only documented them last June in a roundup post .   Last month (May 2026), I noted that these shrubs had shot up and have (after five years) have some vertical-ness to them ....

Back in the Summer of 2023, I began to discover (and plant) sedges.  One of them that has performed pretty well in the shade of our fence and Linden espalier has been Montana Sedge.  I planted three of them at first .  In the Fall of 2024, I divided some of them to add even more small groundcover plants along the fence .  On a recent trip to Northwind Perennial Farm, I came home with seven more plugs of Carex Montana: I planned on putting them in/around the existing colony of Carex Montana in the backyard. I previously planted 36 groundcover plants - all Ajuga.  These seven Montana Sedges gets me to 43 groundcover plants - a new high-planting mark.  Here, below, is a look at the area showing the small White Polka Dot annuals on the right.  In the middle, you can see the three existing Carex Montana right up against the flagstone path. These are small (right now), but they'll spread out a bit.  I opted to put one on the left side of the flagstone p...