Why I Oughta...

The past two days, I've posted photos of plants that I picked up at the Lowes 50% off Fall sale starting with the Proven Winners Dolce Silver Heucheras .  And just yesterday I posted details of five small quart containers of Ajuga Chocolate Chip groundcover .  But, I also grabbed a few other things including a pair of these handsome hostas that have large white centers that sure made me pay attention to them mixed-in amongst other hostas.  Look at the photo below to see the why I had to buy them: The color was striking.  I pulled one of them off the rack and turned it around to figure out what the variety is named.  Below is the plant tag that shows off the Monrovia tag and the name:  Forbidden Fruit Plantain Lily.   I whipped out my phone and did a quick search to figure the story of the Forbidden Fruit hosta out and came across this listing from NH Hostas .  They called me out as one of those nursery suckers,  lol.  From their listing :  Fully tetraploid sport of 'Orange Marm

This is the third in a series of posts showing a few of the various hosta divisions that I've been doing lately in our backyard.  First was the two (new) hostas that I tucked in around the big Oak tree in our south border.   Then, the two (new) Bressingham Blue hostas that I transplanted over on the northside by the Doublefile Viburnum treeform .  Today's 'free plants' post shows off two (new) Lancifolia hostas that I took from a three-way division out by the original Autumn Ferns.   Below is a photo that shows the three Lancifolia Hostas amongst some other foliage.  The original location is in the front/center of the photo.  And the two new ones are both directly 'behind' and 'behind and to the left' of the original/mother hosta.   They look droop-y right now, but Lancifolia hostas are vigorous growers, so I'm not worried about them.  They'll show up strong come Spring. Below is the 'before' look at this area.  You can see the trio of

Yesterday, I posted a few photos of a hosta that I divided and transplanted around the large red oak tree in our backyard.  I tucked in the two new divisions into a part of the border that was bare.  I mentioned in that post that doing the seasonal gardening chore of dividing perennials was/is on my 2022 to-do list and I had planned to do a few more around the backyard.  Today, I'm showing a divided Bressingham Blue hosta that I dug up from around the side of the screened porch and split into three segments. The hosta in question was planted as a bareroot plant in 2018.  That means it has had five full growing seasons.  Here's what it looked like last Summer (2021), when I declared that this had finally reached maturity .  Today, I dug it up. First, below, you can see the current state of the hosta.  It has many stems and is a good division candidate. I split it into three segments and tucked the largest one back in the same spot.  Below, you can see the remaining Bressingham

The time has come to start dividing some perennials.  Why?  Because the temperature has dropped and I find myself with a little bit of time where I can putter in the backyard beds after work before it gets dark.  As a reminder, #12 on my 2022 to-do list was to add more 'free plants' through division - something that I've done the past few growing seasons.   My plan focuses on two different types of plants in our garden:  grasses and hostas.   Earlier this Summer, I went around and identified a few candidates to work on, but I started with a couple of hostas NOT on that list.  I was out by the large, Northern Red Oak tree in the south beds recently and noticed that a couple of hostas that are planted there have grown enough to be considered good candidates for division.  I dug up two - these are unknown cultivars - and split them.   I put one from each division in a hole kind of 'around' the oak tree trunk - in a spot of the border that is currently empty.  See belo

We have two Praying Hands hostas in our backyard shade garden.  They are both planted close to each other in the hosta bed underneath the large Northern Red Oak tree swing tree and tucked in amongst some other known varieties like Frances Williams and Christmas Tree as well as a bunch of other, unknown varieties - some variegated, some not.   I planted the first one of these in Fall of 2020 .  At some point, I acquired a second one.  I don't seem to have posted about this second planting, nor how I transplanted the first one, but those two things did, indeed happen.  I originally planted this back by the colony of Guacamole Hostas, but I moved it because there's a little path to a kids picnic table there and this was going to be trampled.   Here, below, is a look at both of them. First, the larger of the two.  I'm thinking this is the 2020 version below.  You can see ferns and other hostas in the photo.  As well as the tray of Kentucky Coffee tree seedlings that I have tuck

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).  This can be divided: Some of the

First planted as a tiny nursery hosta (from Menards) in 2018, we have a lone Christmas Tree Hosta in our backyard, under the Northern Red Oak tree swing tree .  That means this hosta is in its fifth growing season.  I posted a photo of it in August of 2020 - right about two years ago.  Check it out here .  Last August (2021), I included an inventory of some (potential) division candidates and included this hosta .   Finally... last Fall (2021), I included a photo of its yellow foliage right as it was heading towards dormancy .   So...what does it look like today?  See below for the current state: It has continued to put on more size and mass.  That means...it should go on my Fall 2022 division candidate list.   Earlier this Summer, I mentioned that some of the bare root Frances Williams hostas need to be relocated .  They're in the same bed as this one.    Add these all to the list along with the purple Astilbes that I posted about last week .   Here's the [ Fall 2022 ] task l

Last year, I planted a series of bareroot astilbes - Gloria purpurea - in our backyard around the base of one of the flowering pear trees.  I stuck them there without much thought and early enough in the growing season that not everything *around* them had grown in just yet.  At the time, it looks like I planted six bareroot plants .   I was out in the garden recently and had a look at these.  See below for a photo showing this little slice of the bed: By my count, I see THREE Astilbes that have made it.  As I think back, I'm *pretty sure* that I recall that some of the bareroot starts were small, so I tucked more than one in the hole.  Perhaps I doubled all of them up and ended up with just three? Whatever the case, I'm now seeing these crammed in amongst the tree trunk and a trio of hostas. Which, leads me to think I need to do something here:  transplant these astilbes to a different location. They need a bit of room to spread out. But, where?  The little slice of Japanese-

It was back at the end of May when I featured a look the little cluster of three Waterslide hostas in our backyard beds where I celebrated how all three had come back for their second full growing season.  See below, they've started to fill in the gaps and get up to their fully-mature size.  The ruffled foliage is a real star in the garden and is something I'll look-to when I bring on more hostas.   Also note - in the photo above - you can see that some of the Everillo sedges are growing at different rates.

I bought and planted a small cluster of three large-scale hostas last Fall in one of the borders around our firepit in the far back of our garden.  They are called Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas and were the 2014 Hosta of the Year.  I posted about them here  when I found them in the 50% sale at the orange Big Box nursery.  I planted them in September and they were small at that time .  For comparison's sake, head to this post and quickly look at the photo .  Then come back here.   These did fine in September and October.  And they lasted all the way until mid-November when they started to head into dormancy .   How are they doing today?  Well...all three are back and growing.  Two more than the third, but have a look at the photo below to see how they're all doing by mid-Summer: I spaced these out to allow for their full mature size, so I expect those gaps to fill-in.  I posted about how this spot could use some additional shrubs - including oakleaf and climbing hydrangeas here .

Over the years, I've dug-up, transplanted and even divided a series of hostas of various varieties along the foundation and around the corner of our kitchen windows from the back of the fence to the Karl Foerster Grasses that are planted right below the windows .  This post from June 2020 shows how a series of hostas that were from teardowns had grown and thrived in this spot.  I ended up digging a bunch of these up, moving some and dividing others.  Leaving us with a row of three Lancifolia Hostas from the fence gate to the corner of the house.   They seemed fine.  Until this year.  Have a look at the photo below.  These are, I'm pretty sure... sun burned hostas .  Or...as some people call it:  hosta scorch .   Could I be giving these hostas more water?  Sure.  But, I'm not sure that's really the problem.  This seems like a situation where these aren't a fit.  They'll need to be moved and replaced with something that can handle more sun.   This situation has

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. 

During the flurry of posts about the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale, I seem to have missed posting the details of this small, unique hosta that we bought and planted in our backyard.  Above, you can see the listing for the Hacksaw Pocket Hosta.  It is described as: "Vigorous, small green hosta with thin rippled leaves that have a serrated edge".  It stays small - just 6-9" tall, but when mature will get up to 2' across.   Below is the plant tag for the Hacksaw Hosta.  You can tell that this one was pretty small in the container.  We planted it in the backyard, near the Everillo sedges and Crested Surf ferns .  One month in, this hosta has put on some new growth.  I'll keep babying it for the season and then hope it will just go on autopilot like the rest of our more-mature hostas.  

Last month, I ran through the success rate of some Bressingham Blue bare root hostas from Longfield Gardens.  I planted 18 and now have ten that have come back for year two.  55% success rate .  In addition to those blue hostas, I also planted nine Frances Williams bare root hostas at the same time.  These were planted in late April 2021 and were clustered around the Northern Red Oak tree (tree swing tree) in our backyard.   Last Fall, these Frances Williams hostas had emerged and were small, but mighty .  We recently had our mulch done and it seems that what started as nine hostas is now six plants.  You can see them below: I'm going to leave these as-is for this growing season, but if they bulk up by Fall, I think I need to dig up and transplant a few of them - as they're planted too close together.  The one that "looks" the best is the three-leaved one tucked in right by the trunk of the tree (in the shade).  It has the nicest coloring/margins and the largest leav

I've planted bare root hostas the past few years and this season is no different.  In addition to the Aaron Caladium tubers that I recently planted, Nat also brought home this bag of six Longfield Gardens Sum and Substance bare root Hostas from Costco this Spring.  You can see the package showing the Sum & Substance variety below as well as a peek at the size of these Longfield Gardens bare root hosta: What are Sum & Substance Hostas? Monrovia calls them 'fast-growing' and 'Perhaps the largest and most popular of the hostas' as well as being Hosta of the Year, 2004 . What's that again?!?  These might be the 'largest' hosta out there?  I've been thinking a lot about giant or large-format hostas the past few seasons and added a set of three Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas last Fall back by the firepit that are billed as being a 'true giant' hosta.  Those seem to be back for the first full growing season, so they're NOT quite at matu

Last Spring, I planted a bunch of bare root hostas in a few spots around our backyard that Nat brought home from Costco.  I'll get to the Frances Williams Hostas in another post, but this one is about the Bressingham Blue bare root hostas from Longfield Gardens .   I planted eight in what - at that time - I called the 'focal curve' .  And six back by the Yew Hedge . Two by the downspout around the Screened Porch .   That's only 16, so I'm not sure if I planted 18 of them (sometimes...these bare root hostas are so tiny that I plant two in one spot).   I covered some of these last year showing their first year growth.  By June, I was seeing some of them emerge from the mulch .  And by August, it looked like seven of the eight in the focal curve had made it .  I don't seem to have documented in the [garden diary] the ones back by the Yews, nor the ones by the downspout.   So...one year after planting bare root hostas, how are we doing?  First, it seems the two by t

In late September, I brought home a trio of Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas and planted them near our new (this year) firepit area.  After seeing them on the racks for a couple of seasons, I finally 'got to know' them and learned that they're some of the largest hosta varieties .  Placing this photo below into the garden diary as way to show them right as they head into dormancy.  A note:  they're haven't been eaten one bit by the rabbits while other varieties have been mowed off at the ground.  These also are doing better after the first couple of frosts than other varieties.   I'm looking forward to these coming back next Spring and filling in the spaces in between each other during the growing season.  

Some of our hostas - that the rabbits haven't gotten to yet - are putting on a nice Fall show of yellows and oranges.  First...below...you can spy the Christmas Tree hosta that is planted by the large Northern Red Oak tree swing tree.   Interesting combination of orange, yellow and green that shows the perennial in a state of transition.  Really like how this one looks in late Fall. On the other side of the backyard, a different hosta is going from green to yellow underneath the Greenspire Linden trees that are espalier'd into a horizontal cordon. After reading this piece in the NYT from Margaret Roach entitled: Take A Walk In The Garden Before It's Too Late - I've done just that:  gotten out and walked around most mornings to simply observe the changing season.  One of my 2022 to-do's is to focus on a four-season garden with Fall being one of the seasons I *know* I need to focus on if I want to extend the garden past the hot Summer season.

Yesterday, I shared a look at one of the Moneywort plants that I transplanted from a container to our side yard.  It has thrived in deep shade. And....Last week, I posted (again) about dividing and transplanting some Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses in our front beds (under our Norway Maple) and talked about how one of my 2021 to-do list goals was to transplant some foster plants AND to divide up some of my existing perennials.  I've created 12 'free grasses' by dividing up what I have on hand and in *that* post, I mentioned that I also divided a purple Heuchera earlier this year - but failed to post about it. The last time I checked in on this particular plant was last August when it had survived a full year after being transplanted the previous Fall.  But, earlier this year - right around early Spring - I dug up and divided this plant into three separate plants and put them back into the same bed on the northside of the garage.   You can see that bed below with the

Last week, I picked up these three Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas that I resisted in buying for a number of years due to not being knowledgable about the attributes of this big, beautiful hosta.  I decided to stick them into the border bed near the firepit out back - right in between the bluestone chips gravel and the tiny Northern Red Oak tree that I planted last year.  You can see the three hostas below and the Red Oak tree on the far left, the fence near the top and the firepit edging on the right. I kept them off the fence a bit - thinking I will extend the Yew hedge around (at least part) of the firepit.  Will check on these come Spring and hope they emerge from Winter after I tuck them in with a little bit of new mulch.