Spring Grove Ginkgos + Brookside Geraniums Planted - May 2023

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 continued to grow.  (Which...I finally have identified, btw...) and if you look closely, you'll see a small nursery container in the bed about to be planted.  (Also...the 2nd Spring Grove Ginkgo is in the photo, staged.)

Here, below, is a closer look at what that perennial in the nursery pot is:

That's my first Geranium.  I've had "seed Geraniums" in containers, but those are different than Zonal Geraniums.  I saw this one at the Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant sale - it is called Brookside Geranium.  You can see the sign below that details the plant:

Lavender blue flowers that has a "Fall Show" and spreads out a bit.  Blue flowers are always something that I'm drawn-to for our garden, so this was a natural one to try in our garden.  The only mistake is that I bought just two of these - one for each stoop bed.  

The combination of the new, upright (but compact) Spring Grove Ginkgo along with a Brookside Geranium and fronted on the border by Angelina Sedum presents quite a different look than the Rhododendrons.  Below is a photo showing one bed with that combo and the other with the existing PJM Rhododendron:

Below is another look at the bed with the Spring Grove Ginkgo tree planted.   Angelina Sedum on the border and the Brookside Geranium pre-planting.

Here, below, is the bed planted up.

I replicated this planting across the stoop by digging up three 'clumps' of the Angelina Sedum and transplanting it in the front of the bed.  See below for that post-transplanting state:

Above (in this post), I referenced the item on my to-do list about the stoop.  If I go back and re-read #13, the other piece (in addition to replacing the rhododendrons) was to divide the sedum.  These three plugs are a start, but I'm also going to pull a little more out and move it around to a few other places in the yard, too.  

Here's my 2023 Morton Arboretum Plant Sale Posts:

• A single Orange Queen Epimedium for the understory garden in back. 
• A single Island Breeze Hosta with red legs and bright yellow foliage planted in the understory garden in back.  
• A pair of HGC Merlin Hellebores planted amongst the existing Lenten Roses. 
• Three Spine Tingler Epimedium (Barrenwort) planted by Amber Queens. 
• Three Dark Side of the Moon Astilbes in the southside bed.  Dark foliage FTW.
• A pair of Brookside Geraniums with blue flower blooms.

2023 marks my seventh tree-planting season.

These two Ginkgos are #79 and #80 and the second and third trees of 2023.  Earlier this year, I marked four deaths, we (now) have 54 of 80 trees that we've planted.

80 trees planted/7 growing seasons = 11.42 trees on average planted each season
54 trees alive/7 growing seasons = 7.71 trees on average survive each season.

Here's the full accounting:

2017 (9 planted. 4 Dead. 5 of the original annual total alive now):
1. Flowering Pear in backyard on north side.
2. Flowering Pear in front yard by garage. (LOST and replaced)
3. Japanese flowering cherry
4 and 5: 2 Lindens that I espalier'd and placed by the south fence line near our kitchen windows.
6. A Dawn Redwood from Earth Day 2017 (LOST and replaced)
7. Nat's Saucer Magnolia in our front yard
8. A Corkscrew Willow all the way in the back (LOST)
9. A Crimson King Norway Maple near the trampoline

2018 (17 planted. 6 Dead):
10. Another flowering pear from Earth Day 2018
11. Red Maple Sun Valley tree from Earth Day 2018.
12. Weeping Cedar tree - our first evergreen.  (LOST)
13. The weeping flowering cherry tree that the Babe planted for Earth Day 2018.
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. These Frans Fontaine Hornbeams. 
22. A replacement Chanticleer Pear tree (3" caliper) out front by our garage
23. Our second evergreen - a short Fraser Fir Christmas Tree out by the trampoline. (LOST)
24. This Canadian Hemlock that is the first of nine that our landscape plan calls for in the backyard. (LOST)
25. Our replanted/replacement Dawn Redwood. Same spot as the first.
26. This teeny-tiny Bald Cypress that I planted in the front yard, in between our driveway and our neighbor to the north.

2019 (9 planted.  5 Dead):

27, 28, 29.  A set of three small Canadian Hemlock Trees in our far backyard. (Two Lost)

30, 31, 32.  This second set of three small Canadian Hemlocks along the north fence line. (One Lost)
33.  My new Weeping White Spruce that will only grow about 4' wide placed near the fence line alongside the espalier'd Lindens.
34.  A NEW Dwarf Alberta Spruce planted near the south fence line.  Our first "dwarf" tree.
35.  This new Hakuro Nishiki Willow (Dappled Willow) tree planted close to the flowering cherry on the southside.  LOST - October 2020.

2020 (17 planted and 6 Dead):

36.  A small Chanticleer flowering pear on Earth Day 2020 outside our screened porch.

37.  A very thin Lombardy Poplar tree - columnar form - in the way back wood chip area.  LOST - July 2020.
38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45.  These apple trees in a Belgian Fence espalier.
46.  A small Northern Red Oak tree - our first Oak tree planted.
47.  A 'decapitated' Lavender Twist Weeping Redbud that I planted on a whim.
48.  A replacement (from the nursery) Lavender Twist Redbud planted close to the brother.
49.  A tall(ish) London Plane tree that suffered some transplant and frost shock, but seemed to recover. 

50.  Our second contorted tree - this one inspired by Disneyland Paris: a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick tree.

51.  Our third contorted tree - but one that checks A LOT of boxes.  Deciduous conifer.  Weeping.  Contorted.  Japanese.  Planted behind the front Maple - the Horstmann's Recursive Weeping Contorted Larch.  LOST - Aug 2020.

52.  Via the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale - a columnar tree from Japan - the Red Fox Katsura Tree that I planted as an understory tree to the dying Chanticleer Pear Tree next to our driveway. 

2021 (16 planted and 13 alive):

53.  A tiny bareroot Shagbark Hickory from the Benet Academy Environmental Club planted in the backyard.   LOST - May 2023

54.  Our first Japanese Maple - a dwarf Tamukeyama Maple planted in the south backyard bed.  LOST - May 2023

55.  A large Weeping Nootka Falsecypress from Wannemaker's planted in the new bed on the northside. 

56.  A long-sought-after Emperor I Japanese Maple - our second Japanese Maple - that is now planted on the border near our new-to-be-created fire pit area in the backyard. 

57.  A Harvest Gold Hargozam Crabapple tree in our Belgian Fence (replacement)

58.  Another Harvest Gold Hargozam Crabpple tree in the middle of our Belgian Fence.

59.  A dwarf Japanese White Pine - Pinus Parviflora Nana (or perhaps something else).  LOST 2022.

60. and 61.  A pair of Malus 'Sutyzam' (Sugar Tyme) Crabapple trees on the southside of our house in pre-espalier form.

62.  A tiny, injured (cracked in half) Ginko tree that arrived via online nursery.  

63.  A short Chinquapin Oak tree from a fundraiser planted in our backyard. 

64.  A second, tiny Ginko tree - this was a replacement for #62 - planted 'ib2dw'.

65.  A small - and ALL Green - Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) planted in front of the back Yews.

66. 67. 68.  A trio of London Planetree 'Bloodgood' trees that are planted along the fence that I'm going to attempt to pleach.

2022 (9 planted and 7 alive):

69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. Six Green Giant Thujas trees planted as an upright evergreen layer in the backyard. Thuja standishii plicata. TWO LOST.  May 2023.

75. A small Saratoga Ginko tree planted in our front yard by the front walk.

76.  A London Planetree Exclamation planted in our parkway.  A bandit tree of sorts.

77.  The largest tree - 3.5" caliper - we've ever planted. A Triumph Elm - Ulmus 'Morton Glossy' as a replacement for the large Norway Maple tree in our front yard. 

2023 (3 planted and 3 alive):

78.  Small, Columnar Scotch Pine from Home Depot in early Spring 2023. 

79 and 80.  Dwarf "witches broom" Ginkgo trees - Spring Grove - planted on either side of our back stoop.