Why I Oughta...

Last Fall, I went around and divided some of the ferns that had been clump-growing in our backyard - including one of the Japanese Ghost Ferns.  I had four of them ( see this photo from last Summer ) and decided to divide just one of them (read: I was scared to divide all of them) and stick the new division in the ground adjacent to the other four.   How did that division go?  See below for (now) five Japanese Ghost Ferns: Pretty great to see this division take and has me thinking about dividing the other three this Fall.   However...there is another side to this fern-division story.  The Shaggy Shield Ferns that I similiarly divided last Fall?  Those divisions....didn't take.    I started with two Shaggy Shield Ferns that I split up into four ferns .  What do I have now?  Just two ferns.   Win some (Fall perennial divisions), lose some (Fall perennial divisions).

Last week, I shared the 14 plugs of Ajuga Chocolate Chip that I planted around the backyard as groundcover near the border of some of the beds.  In that post, I talked about how I had grown in my appreciation of Ajuga Chocolate Chip (and groundcover writ large).  I came across it first from Erin the Impatient Gardener and her talk with Roy Diblik.  I bought the first few containers last Fall .   I recently came across a second Ajuga variety:  Bronze Beauty.  Same deal from Home Depot:  Six-pack of them.  Of note, this Bronze Beauty has a purple handle - and says it is designed for SHADE.   I decided to give it a try in two different situations:  First...tucked in between (and at the feet) of some established hostas.  See below for those hostas and Ajuga Bronze Beauty together: And, I put the other three right along the fire pit metal border - you can see those below.   #17 on my to-do list was to 'keep going wit...

I recently took notice of this pair of hostas that are planted right in front of the hops vine in our backyard (photo below) and thought that they were a really nice shape and foliage structure.   Why?  Because, I didn't divide these last Fall.  Last August, I included these in a roundup of 'dividing candidates' , but it appears that I left these as-is.    What variety are they?  They had white and purple flowers last year .  And they turned 'green apple green' color, too.  So....know that and using the "What Hosta do I have?" tool, I'm *pretty sure* that these are Honeybells Hostas .  I have a bunch of what I'll call 'ratty' or real common Lancifolia Hostas in the borders that I'd like to replace over time - and these beauties (ahem...Honeybells Hostas) are (once again) 2023 candidates for dividing and popping into the location of the 'ratty' ones.  

In large April, I planted a small, columnar Scotch Pine tree along the south fence about 1/3rd of the way back.   It was a tree that appears to be field-grown and was sold in a burlap ball that I left in-place.  I used a pair of scissors and cut the burlap that was wrapped/tied around the trunk so the 'top' was sort-of open.  But, I left the burlap in place and planted it that way.  I know there's opinions on which way to go with burlap, but with these small trees, I've found that they come with a big clay clump around their roots and it is best to just leave it as-is to reduce transplant stress. The tree - just one month or so old (in our yard) is already doing some interesting growth/show.  It is putting out quite a few 'candles' on the tips .  Below are a few photos showing these orange and brown and green candles.   In the photo above, you can see the cones of the Scotch Pine forming at the base of the candle. According to this post from...

I've continued to make progress on my #3 priority on the 2023 to-do list:  the front porch bed .  Most recently, it was planting of five very small (1 gallon) Green Velvet Boxwoods that run from the new Triumph Elm to the property line and (will) create some structure in the bed.  Earlier this month, I laid out a bit of an overview of the plan up there - including what I wanted to plant.  In that post , I listed the plant material required. Here's where it stands after the Boxwoods: 3 Disneyland Roses  (planted) 4 Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses  (have them, just need to transplant) 1 Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea 10-12 Ajuga Chocolate Chip 8 (or so) Summer Beauty Allium 4-5 Green Velvet Boxwoods (going to buy small) 8-10 Moor Grassses Flat or two of French Marigolds (Annuals) The next item on my list is solving for that Hydrangea. I have three Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas up there that have been doing...umm...just fine. One of them died, but th...

2022 was the year of groundcover in my garden.  I added dozens of various carex and at the very end of the season, I found five small quart-sized Ajuga Chocolate Chip plants and stuck them in the ground .  The groundcover of my mother - vinca and pachysandra - are out.  And sedges and Ajugas are in.  At least...for me. I was surprised (not sure why?) to find these six packs of Ajuga Chocolate Chip at the orange Big Box store - see below for the nursery tray of the six plugs:  They carry this tag:  Bugleweed 'Chocolate Chip' - Ajuga Tenorii I opted to put six on one side of the backyard and six on the other. Below is a look at the curved border - kitchen window border - with the Fanal Astilbes being (now) fronted by six Ajuga Chocolate Chip. Behind these - around the Oakleaf Hydrangeas - we are fighting Vinca that has crept over from our neighbor's yard.  I planted two of these plugs in amongst some of the vinca.  Hoping that the Ajuga can outcompe...

During the Winter doldrums, I mused on here about how I wanted to add 'a couple of Japanese Maple trees' to the garden and mentioned a few places where I thought they might work.  At that time, I was happy with my Emperor 1 Japanese Maple back by the fire pit and realized that the weeping Tamukeyama Maple tree had died .   I've been happy with the Emperor 1 Japanese Maple - it has put on new growth and is a nice, upright tree with dark maroon foliage.   When I was at the Orange Big Box nursery, I noticed a series of small (2 gallon nursery pots) of Japanese Maples that were short, but full of leaves.  Turns out, they were Emperor 1's.  Below is a look at how they were showing in their containers: The price was right (for me) at $35 and when you factor in the 11% rebate, the price comes down to $31.50 or so.  Below is the container: These Emperor 1's are upright Japanese Maples, but they top-out at 12-to-15 feet.  They can go just about *any...

A couple of years back, I submitted some photos of a volunteer plant to the Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic and they came back and said that it was 'likely Wild Geranium'.  I left the plant to just 'be' and it has come back the past few seasons ever since.  This year, however, it is blooming pretty prolifically.  See below for the light-purple blooms that are standing up on tall stalks with green foliage: This small colony of Wild Geranium seems to be thriving along the fence.  The tree trunk in the middle of the photo is a tall/lanky Kentucky Coffee Tree .  And you can see some of the spreading Ostrich Ferns mixed-in there.  

A couple of weeks back,  I showed off some of the most significant annual bedding planting that I've done in our backyard that included a bunch of shade-loving annuals like impatiens and begonias among others.  Number 25 on my 2023 to-do list was to use annuals beyond the container and with the shade annuals, I was feeling pretty good.  But, I also have a more sun-filled border near the kitchen window that I decided to try some other bedding annuals.  I poked around to try to figure out the difference between traditional petunias, supertunias and wave petunias.  Turns out, Wave are 'spreading' and are the best for bedding.  I picked up four of these Easy Wave Lavender Blue Sky Wave Petunias and stuck them in close to the border in a staggered planting. These have a spread of more than a foot, so I'm hoping that these will fill in the spaces in between and put on a nice little blueish-purple show this Summer: In the photo above, you can see the three Lucky...

I've been trying to feed our Disneyland Roses every month over the past few growing seasons.  In mid-April, I applied the first granular fertilizer and this past weekend, I laid down the second feeding using this Vigoro Rose Food granules.  I fed both the existing Disneyland Roses (3 of them) on the side of the house and a very light sprinkle around the three newly planted bareroot ones in the front porch bed . The three more-mature Disneyland Roses are leaf'ing out and growing vigorously this Spring - see below for a look at the one closest to the front of the house:

Last week, I shared my Front Porch Bed plan that included a mix of evergreen shrubs, grasses, roses, bulbs and some perennials and talked about how I was hoping that the combination of soil improvement AND the removal of the Norway Maple will allow for some vigorous growth of the new (and existing) plant material.  This post is showing the area to the 'left' (or south) of the Triumph Elm.  I have five existing Green Velvet boxwoods on the other side of the tree.  So, I opted to carry on that planting with four Green Velvet boxwoods on the other side of the Elm to sort of 'match' the bed.  Below, you can see the small, one-gallon Boxwoods planted in the bed.  With the tulip foliage still around, the boxwoods are hard to see.  Below is an annotated version of the photo.  Green Velvet Boxwoods in the green circles below.  Disneyland Roses in the orange circles: From my planning post, I listed the plant material required. Here's where it stands aft...

Some of the plants that we brought home from the Morton Arboretum annual plant sale were things that *had* to go in a specific spot.  I KNEW IMMEDIATELY where the Spine Tingler Epimedium was going to go.  Same with the Merlin Hellebores.  But, there were other plants that we bought that I KNEW I wanted to go in our garden, but also knew that there were a handful of spots that were viable options for their location.  The Dark Side of the Moon Astilbes are an example.  I put them on the southside, but I could have put them in a like 5 different spots. Another one that is similar are three Peachberry Ice Coral Bells - or Heuchera Primo Peachberry Ice.  The sign from the sale is at the top of this post that details these beauties.  But...that last line is the one that is most compelling:  Tolerates Black Walnut.  Isn't that interesting?  We have a bunch of Black Walnut trees.  We've lost some Heucheras over the years - like these Dolche...

This is the first true Spring for the treeform Doublefile Viburnum shrubs that I planted early last Spring.  I say "first true" Spring because I planted these when they were *mostly* still dormant last year and they leaf'd out post-planting.  I planted four of these and three have made it through the first year.  The best of the bunch is along the northside and that's the one that has been the most prolific early bloomer.  Below are a couple of photos showing the blooms in mid-May.  They're really quite nice as they sit - sort-of - on 'top' of the shrub.   I didn't have treeform on my radar when I bought these, but I'm sure glad that I pulled the trigger and brought these home.  The treeform Viburnum provides two great benefits (for me...at least):  Instant height and maturity coupled with ability to underplant with perennials.  

Yesterday, I posted about the removal and transplant process for a pair of mature(ish) PJM Rhododendrons from the two small beds on either side of our back stoop to the far reaches of our yard.  Back in late April, I posted about this new (to me) Witches' Broom dwarf Ginkgo tree called Spring Grove Ginkgo .  Spring Grove is a small, upright that has those fan-shaped Ginkgo leaves that turn bright yellow before they fall in Autumn.   They something that I haven't seen before, so I thought they'd be a great fit for the back stoop beds - as Rhododendron replacements.  The new Ginkgo's are NOT evergreens, but the uniqueness of them feels like a good trade-off.   I bought a pair of Spring Grove Ginkgos that were in 10# nursery containers and planted one in each of the stoop beds.  Below is the north bed - a few things to note:  The Spring Grove Ginkgo is much smaller than the Rhododendron that was there.  Second, the Angelina Sedum has cont...