Why I Oughta...

Documenting a bit of pest damage to our Toad Lilies in late Summer/early Fall here with what I think is a rabbit gnawing on these perennials.  See below, for a photo of one of the three Toad Lilies that I planted this year.  This is the one that is closest to the fence and has suffered the most damage.  It is down to a single stalk with one good-sized leaf.  I mentioned in August that we didn't see any flowers on these this year as they were chewed right off by rabbits (I'm guessing) while we were on vacation .  In that post, I talked about having to put up some pest fencing - and I thought that would be a "next year" task.  But, with one of these suffering and me seeing a lot of rabbits around our garden, the time is now to put that fencing up.   I grabbed a little bit of chicken wire and wrapped them in a ring - with the goal of keeping these alive during their last few weeks.  I put the two on the right in one ring.  And the most-damaged one (on the left) in a ring

Last month, I posted about an interesting hosta that I came across at the Growing Place called Brother Stefan hosta.  In that post , I referenced a Rob Zimmer column in the Wisconsin Gardener that highlighted a few OTHER 'interesting' cultivars of hostas that mentioned a hosta that I've seen ALL OVER various big box garden centers and, without much thought, I simply dismissed.  I dismissed it because it seemed very popular.  But, Zimmer calls the Abiqua Drinking Gourd 'One of the true giants'.  Well...that has me interested.   Source via WisFarmer.com So, when I found myself at one of the Home Depots this past weekend, I picked up a trio of Miscanthus sinesis 'Adagio' Maiden Grasses .  I also found these Abiqua Drinking Gourd hostas in the 50% off section.   Well, they *had* to come home with me.  Below, you can see the label: And, here, below, are the trio of these hostas in their nursery containers: What is the description of these?  New Hampshire Host

Last year, I added a number of new perennials to our garden in late September due to a shopping trip to the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale.  That was, turns out, a one-time event due to COVID cancelling the annual Arbor Day sale.  It ended up working to my benefit because I brought home all sorts of new/interesting material including some new (to me) hostas , a slew of All Gold Japanese Forest Grasses , my first sedges and a Katsura tree .  With no Fall Sale, I'm left to my own devices in terms of shopping for some sales at the garden centers where I am finding some things that fit our plan AND are on sale.  Those are my two criteria for shopping this Fall:  50% off sale + something that fits in our plan or is something I've posted a 'dreaming' post about. I started a few days ago with the pair of Sugar Tyme Crabpple trees - which I'm planning on espalier'ing - in our sideyard .  Today, sharing a couple of photos of a new dwarf Maiden Grass that I bought in a

Putting this photo in the [ garden diary ] here to show what the trio of Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses look like in late September, 2021.  The formal name for this sport is: C alamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' , so I should start calling them that in these posts, right? Photo below shows all three of them putting on a lovely, golden show with their reeds standing tall and the grass blades turning a bit rusty, but still providing a lot of interest.  These grasses are sandwiched between our driveway, our front way, our front stoop and the front porch. I showed these same grasses in July of this year when they have a lightweight almost-purple look to them  and now have them planted in four spots (two in back, two in front).  Compare that photo above with the photo in this post (that I'll paste below) from early October 2019 - just about 2 years ago.  Source - Same Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses from early October 2019 . They look about the same, right?  Tha

A week ago, I finally had enough with a 'tough-to-grow-grass spot' in our front yard .  It a little section sandwiched on the ' in between two driveways ' island and right up against the sidewalk.  My thought was that part of the reason that the turf goes dormant here every Summer is because the heat radiates off the concrete on two sides and just dries the area out.  And, that's certainly part of it.  Not to mention that I don't water it enough.  But, last week, when I cut this new little bed in , I also discovered that there isn't much soil here.  Just a little bit of top soil - like an inch or two - followed by mostly gravel.   After I cut out the edge of this little bed and removed the turf, I ended up dumping a few bags of compost in the area to thicken up the area and provide a bit more organic material to allow for things to root in and (hopefully) grow.   I then looked around to see if I had any plant material on hand that I could transplant into thi

What an upgrade.  Or, at least it SEEMS like an upgrade vs my normal small spade.  This was a gift (birthday), but since COVID, the folks at Sneeboer were behind. I have just learned about their tools this season and have quickly become enamored with their garden tools.  Why?  Here's what Garden Tools Co has to say about Sneeboer : Sneeboer hand forged Dutch garden tools have been handcrafted in Holland since 1913 and are considered the finest quality garden tools available anywhere in the world. Sneeboer...the best garden tools you'll ever own! Where did I come across Sneeboer?  Consider me 'influenced' by the Impatient Gardener.  Erin, in this post, calls this shovel the "tool that changed everything about gardening for me."   Big boast, right?  You can go read her whole post to learn about how she noticed in British gardening shows use a tool that doesn't look like our traditional gardening spade that we have here in the US.   Here, below, is mine: The