Why I Oughta...

Four years ago - in September 2022, I did my first (ever) cutting of an existing Limelight Hydrangea and attempted to grow a new shrub in a nursery container. In mid-September 2022, I cut off a green tip, trimmed back the leaves and stuck it in some compost .   A couple weeks later, it grew some new leaves .   Back then, I was trying to grow a number of things from cuttings and seeds (like Oak trees) .  I would overwinter them by digging them into the ground and mulching them in.  Then, in Spring, I dug out the nursery pots and nurtured them along the season. A year later - in October 2023 - the Limelight cutting was growing upright.  It had two branches and was probably 12" tall .  It was also root-bound in the pint-sized nursery pot, so I up-potted it to a one-gallon nursery pot .   Two years in (October 2024), the cutting (now in that one-gallon nursery pot) flowered for the first time .  But, the plant was also probably not in e...

I added seven Montana Sedge plugs along the flagstone path in our backyard that connects the rear yard with the sideyard on the southside of our house.  There were already a handful of Montana Sedges there, so these seven were adding to the existing colony.  I posted a photo of them a month later (in August of 2026) and they all seemed to have handled their transplanting.   Now, 100 days later, in early October, they're doing their Montana Sedge thing:  Glossy green sprays of groundcover.  Here, below, are a couple of photos showing the old and new sedges.  The mature (larger) ones are from previous seasons, but the smaller ones are catching up quickly: You know what this makes me think? More along this very path.  But, also...just more in general?   The first place that comes to mind is the backyard stoops.  Under the Spring Grove Ginko trees.  Also, the island bed.  And, along the boardwalk.  

A few days ago, I posted an update on the 'compact' coleus (Wizard Sun Red Velvet Coleus) that I planted up front in the Island Bed in our front yard and talked about how my thinking on them has evolved as the Summer has gone on.  I initially was dissatisfied with their size, but after seeing them branch-out (a little bit), I've now come to the realization that their compact growing habit is a feature.  Not a bug.  Today is about celebrating another coleus that I've planted as a bedding plant:  Talavera Moondust Coleus that is planted in the corner bed by the patio.  I posted about this planting in early August when I declared they were doing: preeetay, preetay, preetay good .   Today, in early September, they're doing *even better*.  These have lived up to their billing as 'late flowering' and 'non-bolting' as I've only had to pinch off a few flower buds.   Last year, I declared the planting of some Inferno Coleus in this same spot a...

Back at the beginning of August, I posted about the front yard Island Bed annuals .  And, talked about how I should have planted more Vinca and was underwhelmed by the coleus.  At that time,  I wrote this : The coleus in this bed have (also) been a disappointment. But, that's for a separate post so I can learn from the experience. The coleus that I have up there is named Wizard Sun Velvet Red Coleus .  Here's the post when I bought them.  And, the description: Compact, mid-sized foliage plant with upright habit is ideal for mixed containers, planters, baskets and landscapes. Easy-care plants are late flowering, extending their landscape value. Emphasis, mine. Compact.  Compact!  That was the 'bug' back earlier this Summer.  Last year, the coleus that I grew were LARGER and fuller.  But, they also swallowed up everything behind them.  The Spring Grove Ginkgo.  The Greenlee Sesleria were nowhere to be seen .   Now....move a...

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 ....