Why I Oughta...

Fall is - maybe - the most productive I'm in the garden all season.  The cool temperatures sure help.  But, so does the fact that you can get pretty great deals on plants at the nursery in October.  And...couple that with this being the best time to divide perennials means I'm out there making lots of additions to the beds. My 'NEW free plants' scorecard this fall reads like this:  2 hostas under the Oak , 2 Bressingham Blues by the Viburnums and 2 Lancifolia Hostas in the fern garden .   That's six new plants so far. But, the past weekend saw even more dividing and transplanting.  First up, the hostas that are sitting under the Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeams.  They've struggled from what I think is either sunburn or frost burn the past few years.  They are very likely getting TOO MUCH sun.  Below is a photo showing a larger hosta in the middle with my spade showing how I was going to divide this one.  And, to the right is a sma...

A few days ago, I posted a photo of our lone Christmas Tree hosta in our backyard and talked about how it appeared ready for division .  I thought that - like last year - I could do a roundup of some other potential hosta division candidates.  I've had the most success in dividing hostas (or...frankly...anything) when I do it in the Fall.  I'm talking late September/early October.   Last Summer (end of August), I compiled a list of eight-or-so candidates .  I'm actually NOT sure which of those I actually moved on, but just a quick glance tells me there were a few that were dug up, divided and transplanted. But, what about this year?  In addition to the Christmas Tree sport, here's a few ideas below. First, the Bressingham Blue hostas next to our screened porch.  Here (below) are two views of them.  They're big and crowding out a painted fern.  At least two of these can be divided.  Further down that same path is this hosta (below)....

Over the past two seasons, I planted a total of ten Guacamole Hostas in a colony in the northside bed of our backyard.  These are planted under a number of trees including a large Catalpa and a large Walnut.   I planted the first three in 2020.  Then last year, I tucked in seven more .  Below is a photo showing how these are looking today.  They've put on size and most of them are showing that two-toned foliage that Guacamole Hostas are known for in the garden. Here, below, is a photo showing this same spot 13 months ago : There are a few spots that I could tuck something else in amongst the hostas here, so that's now on my radar:  companion plants. Something with a contrasting foliage and/or height seems right.  I'll keep this on my list of things when I head to the nursery for Fall sales. 

The area that (earlier this Spring), I labeled " Priority Area #2 " has begun to be addressed this Spring ahead of the mulch being applied.  Last year, I planted three Guacamole Hostas in this area that calls for nine total Guacamole Hostas and after I increased the bed size, it was time to add even more to get this area filled out.  Of the three that I planted last year, one of them has been having some trouble (with the cold weather + drought), so I decided to plant seven new ones - to bring the total to ten.  Nine + one troubled one.  Here (below) is the layout of these new Guacamole hostas in their nursery containers.  Four one gallon pots and three quart pots with smaller ones. And, here below, is an annotated version of that same photo.   Red circle = 2020 planted hostas. Green circle = new 2021 Guacamole hostas.  The four larger ones came from Hinsdale Nursery.  The smaller ones from Johannsen Farms in Bolingbrook. Purple circle = one...

Last year, I added five Guacamole hostas to our backyard - three larger ones, two smaller ones.  In two different spots .  The plan that we're working from calls for Guacamole hostas in a couple of different spots including in what I've called "Priority Area #2" for 2021 - this woodland garden section .  Here's a look at part of that section that highlights the hostas.  Green = what I planted last year.  Yellow = what is remaining. In terms of cultivar, Guacamole Hostas have a lovely color that resembles...you guessed it...guacamole. It has margins on it and is a two-toned green.   And, 'tis the season for impulse buys, right?  Well, Nat was at Costco recently where they're selling packages of perennials like hostas and other-what-have-yous and, well, I couldn't help myself.  She sent some photos and I ended up pulling the trigger on a different variety that I think will complement the trio of Guacamole hostas.   Say hello to France...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of a multi-trunk (3-trunk) River Birch tree that continues to grow up in our backyard and mentioned in that post that you could peek at a few of the Guacamole Hostas lined up alongside the bed the River Birch clump is located.  Today, are a couple of photos showing the rest of these large (and one small) Guacamole Hosta. We had six of them purchased for us at Hinsdale Nursery earlier this Summer - five really large ones and one smaller one.  I toyed with the idea of planting a few of them out front under the large Maple tree , but after seeing them there, I decided to plant them in the backyard.  And back in July, when I planted the contorted Harry Lauder Walkingstick tree, I took one of the larger ones and planted it in the bed next to the tree .  As for the other five, this post shows their current state and location.  At the top of the post, you can see three more - two large ones and the one small one - planted in a smal...

The last time that I posted a photo of this three-trunked tree was back in the month of May of 2018 when I included it (for the first time) in the tree inventory of our backyard.  It was Springtime, so the tree looked sparse at the time .  I'm sharing this photo in the [ tree inventory ] tag here on the blog to show how the limbs have leaf'd out and is providing some new lower-hanging screening and some branching that is starting to extend out over the lawn. The other thing to note is the big change the area around the tree has experienced over the past two seasons - back in 2018, this tree was surrounded by turf.   Today, it is tucked into a mulch bed with a series of Ostrich Ferns at the tree's feet. This is one of two multi-trunked trees in our yard - the other one being up in the front yard with our Saucer Magnolia . I'm going to grab the calipers of these three trunks this Fall when I do the balance of the trees in our backyard. The other things to note...

When we moved in, we had three Hadspen hostas planted in our front landscape bed in front of the large Maple tree as part of our initial installation.  I've subsequently added some tulip bulbs to complement the boxwoods and hostas and have been laying down cocoa bean hull mulch over the years .   As part of buying some of the nursery stock for my Priority Area #2 , we acquired six Guacamole Hostas.  Three of them you can see in the photo at the top.  Obviously, this isn't in the backyard and isn't in Priority Area #2, but Nat has been commenting on our front yard and our need to add some additional plants.  I've placed these three Guacamole Hostas (they're big - and came from Hinsdale Nursery) alternating between the smaller Hadspen Blue hostas that are there already. Here's a wider view of the front bed including these three new Guacamole hostas placed. Three of the six are going to go in that front bed and that means that other three are desti...