Why I Oughta...

I've long proclaimed myself to be a foliage gardener.  That's partially because I'm a shade gardener and partially because flowering plants have always been a little bit outside of my comfort zone.  But, I'm starting to think that I'm also *another* kind of gardener:  a Fall Gardener.  Or at least a late Summer + Fall Gardener.   The September and October Dahlia blooms this year have taught me to love that part of the growing season.  And now....as things are going dormant in our yard and garden, I'm struck by some things that are happening in Fall.   What are those things?  Here's one - below.  The EYE-SEARING gold that is coming from our Butterscotch Amsonias in our backyard that are contrasted by the dark green foliage of some Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  This color is borderline shocking.  It is a little hard to see, but if you look closely, there are a couple of other things worth noting in this photo.  First....the small Emperor 1 Japanese Maple (Acer Pa

Last year, we had just ONE tiny, white bloom on ALL of our Oakleaf Hydrangeas .  It was a bloom on one of the dwarf Munchkin varieties.  The other ones?  All taken by the dang rabbits the previous Winter.   In Summer 2021, we had our first REAL set of blooms on these things (that were planted in Summer 2020).    That makes this our fourth growing season (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and the plants ( knock wood ) have rebounded from a tough battle with the dang rabbits.   Over those years, I've been able to 'get to know' these and the kind of care they need - at least when they're young.  As many people know, Oakleaf Hydrangeas bloom on 'old wood' - which means that THIS SEASON - after these blooms decline, the shrub will put up some new stem growth.  It is THOSE STEMS (from this year) that will lead to blooms NEXT YEAR.   How did I help keep those important stems in tact all year?  With Chicken Wire cages starting last Fall and through the Spring here in Zone 5b. 

Planted in 2021, all three of our Butterscotch Amsonia have made it through two growing seasons and are starting to fill in.  But, they're also doing what they're SUPPOSED TO DO:  put on a nice Fall show.   Below, you can see the trio of these that - to the naked eye - almost look ELECTRIC.  Like they're plugged in.  They've put on size and are showing way more fine, yellow foliage than last year .   These get big - and over time - they'll fill in even more, but I'm already thinking that I could plant more of these in other parts of the garden next year.   I should include these on a newly created Morton Plant Sale 2023 Wish list.  

Last Spring, I bought three Butterscotch Amsonia from the Morton Arboretum plant sale - after reading about how they're texture superstars in the garden.  I planted them as an intermediate layer - behind a row of Fanal Astilbes and in front of a series of Oakleaf Hydrangeas.   I spaced them out pretty far (based on the recommended spacing).  What do they look like today?  They've filled in and starting to put on size.  See below: They're all kind of leaning towards the east - where the sun is located - but are doing what they're supposed to do:  add a fine leaf texture to the garden.  Compare the size to what they looked like in October of last year (when they were yellowing for the first time) and you can see that they've put on both height and width.  

Two years ago (June 2020), I planted a dozen Fanal Astilbes in the (then) small bed along our south fence line in an area that was visible from both the patio and our kitchen windows.  They were in the plan and that was the *approximate* spot for them (at the time).  Why do I say 'at the time'?  Because when I planted these the bed was only about five feet from the fenceline.   That all changed in Spring/Summer of 2021 when I laid out and had a crew dig all new beds that reached far into the yard with a curvilinear shape.  Once the new edge of the border was created, I dug up all of these Fanal Astilbe plants and moved them out, closer to the border .  I planted twelve in 2020 and transplanted all twelve in 2021.  Today?  All twelve are still here.   I moved them to be a little bit of a serpentine row that you can see below.  (You'll also note that the three Butterscotch Amsonia that I planted last Spring are also back.) These could use a little bit of love in terms of &#

Depositing a photo here in the [ garden diary ] of the mid-bed-planted trio of Amsonia Butterscotch that I planted earlier this Spring after buying them from the Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale.  These three plants are planted in between a row of Fanal Astilbes and some Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  These are/were billed as being "garden stars" during the Fall , so I thought I'd share what they look like in early Fall.  You can see them below: They're just starting to turn from green to yellow, so we're getting to that 'show', but the fine-nature of the foliage is certainly striking.  I'm excited to see these continue to grow up and out.  I planted them widely spaced , hoping to see them each get about 24" tall and 2-3' wide.   Excited to tuck them in for the Winter after they put on their show and sure hope they come back in Spring for year two.

 This is the third post showing off a newly acquired plant from this Spring's Morton Arboretum Plant Sale - the first two were when I added three more All Gold Japanese Forest Grasses and two Amber Queen Barrenworts .  Both of those were additional plants that I bought last year and added more this year.  I also bought a couple of plants that are net new to me:  both the type and the particular cultivar.  I'll also admit that this particular plant is OFF plan, but I saw it on one of Erin the Impatient Gardener's Instagram posts and added it to my list.  She talked about how it puts on a really nice Fall show and while it flowers, she grows it mostly for the foliage.  Here's one of her posts showing this off below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by ERIN 🌿 The Impatient Gardener (@impatientgardener) So, when I saw a version of it at the Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Sale, I bought a couple.  With the newly expanded beds and the "moved