Why I Oughta...

2024 continues to be (for me) the Summer of the Dahlia.  Specifically....the Milena Fleur Decorative Dahlia.  Last Fall/Winter, I ordered six Milena Fleur Dahlia tubers - my first mail order dahlia tubers.  I also bought a couple Cornell Bronze Dahlia tubers at the same time , but based on what I was seeing/reading from Erin the Impatient Gardener on her Instagram, I bought MORE Milena Fleur dahlias than anything else.   There was A LOT to like about these:  they're 'compact' - meaning they stay short and don't require staking.  As a beginning Dahlia grower, that was important.  But, also...the color.   These are billed by White Flower Farm as "blossoms that blend tropical shades of coral pink, papaya, and gold." My journey started earlier this Spring when I potted up the six Melina Fleurs in one-gallon nursery pots - indoors .   At the very beginning of May this year.   After they sprouted, I started to bring them up and outside for hardening off - a little

Back in 2020, I discovered Toad Lilies and set about trying to plant a few of them in my woodland garden in the far back .  Like a lot of other things, these were shared by Erin the Impatient Gardener, who shared them in her own garden.   Come Spring 2021, I planted a few small containers of them in a little drift in the southwest corner of our lot .  The variety that planted are called Gilt Edge Japanese Toad Lillies and they were IMMEDIATELY destroyed by the (dang!) rabbits .    That's when I installed some rings of Chicken Wire to protect them.  I've left those rings in place for three-plus years now and because of that (I think), well....we *still* have Toad Lillies.  Not a lot of them.  But, they're still here. I posted the VERY SAME photos last year - about a year ago.    Here, below, are a couple of photos showing the remaining Toad Lillies.  These get ZERO supplemental water, so they're just doing their thing on their own.   With a little water, maybe these wi

Yesterday, I posted a look at my first ever (small) Wattle Fence that I put up in my new (as of this Fall) stumpery garden in the back .  In that post, I talked about the idea of "Garden Vignettes" and how they draw the visitor in towards certain spots in the garden and allow the gardener to show a bit of their personality.    The stumpery allows for a little personality.  The Wattle Fence, too.   So do berms and boulders.   In this recent post about using boulders in the garden , I said this: "One of the things that I'm putting on my 2024 to-do list is to add a little 'personality' to my garden with objects. Boulders fit that category, so I'm getting a little bit of a headstart this Fall/Winter." What other ways can you see a little personality in the garden?  With signs.  Earlier this Fall, I saw this  post on Insta from Erin the Impatient Garder that shows a few Garden Vignettes from Northview Garden .  This is a screenshot of the post below - b

100-or-so days after planting a 5-gallon Climbing Hydrangea ( Hydrangea anomala petiolaris ) back by the firepit, we're seeing some real upwards leader growth.  Or...what I plantsmen call "aerial rootlets".   We have this climbing, flowering vine going up a Hackberry tree and the R O U G H bark sure seems to be helpful in giving those aerial roots something to grab on-to. See below for the current mid-Summer form of our Climbing Hydrangea:  There are a few, sparse blooms on it this year, too.  So, that's kinda nice, right?   I'm hoping that this will wrap around (and not injure) the tree, so that it can be viewed from all angles. This also has me wondering:  where else could I plant one?  I've long talked about espalier'd trees along the garage, but maybe this is a better answer there, too?  Or...what about both? Last year, I saw one of these at 50% off the end-of-year sale at the Growing Place .  I'll have to pop back over there again this year. 

Last week, I shared the 14 plugs of Ajuga Chocolate Chip that I planted around the backyard as groundcover near the border of some of the beds.  In that post, I talked about how I had grown in my appreciation of Ajuga Chocolate Chip (and groundcover writ large).  I came across it first from Erin the Impatient Gardener and her talk with Roy Diblik.  I bought the first few containers last Fall .   I recently came across a second Ajuga variety:  Bronze Beauty.  Same deal from Home Depot:  Six-pack of them.  Of note, this Bronze Beauty has a purple handle - and says it is designed for SHADE.   I decided to give it a try in two different situations:  First...tucked in between (and at the feet) of some established hostas.  See below for those hostas and Ajuga Bronze Beauty together: And, I put the other three right along the fire pit metal border - you can see those below.   #17 on my to-do list was to 'keep going with groundcover' - and I now have put in 20 Ajuga plants.  Pretty go

Dark foliage is something I've been chasing for a number of years.  I'm a foliage gardener.  And that mostly means greens.  Light greens.  Dark greens.  Glossy greens.  Dull greens.  But, starting last year, I was turned-on to the idea of being deliberate about dark foliage.  Guessing it was Erin the Impatient Gardener who talked about dark foliage.  I included it on my 2022 to-do list.   And have done a few things in recent years: purple heucheras , a Chocoholic Black Snakeroot , and t his silvery Coral Bell that I planted late last Fall and hasn't quite emerged just yet.   So, when I saw that sign (above) at the Morton Arboretum Plant sale, these were the FIRST things in my box.  I grabbed three of them.  Should have bought even more.   I stuck them into the southside bed -  behind the Twinkle Toes Pulmonaria (I moved these closer to the front of the border last Fall ), and sort of weaved in next to some Summer Beauty Allium.    Below is a photo showing their initial si

Last year, I started to think about a climbing hydrangea in our garden.   I came across one in two of the places I turn to when I want to get educated:  Hinsdale Nursery and Erin the Impatient Gardener .  I was sketching out what I wanted to do with the firepit area and included (in my thinking) one that could climb up a Hackberry tree back there.   Last fall, I found one at The Growing Place - the tag read: Hydrangea anomala petiolaris .  I've had vines like these on my mind for a few years, but haven't pulled the trigger.  Until this Spring.  Nat's Mom - who has gifted us a bunch of plants including all of our Disneyland Roses - gifted us a climbing hydrangea.   I knew it would go back by the firepit.   #15 on 2023 to-do list was to 'upgrade the firepit area' - so this goes towards helping there.  Here are a few photos showing the vine below. When it arrived, it was just starting to come out of dormancy.   I planted it and it *immediately* took off and leaf'

What's that you see?  It is a native, ephemeral named Virginia Bluebells.  Two clumps of them to be specific.  Where did they come from?  Our generous neighbor who has them in her garden.  I was talking with her over the fence - admiring them - and she said:  why don't you take some??  How nice, right?    I've posted about these a few times over the years - first...with a post in Fall 2021 from Erin the Impatient Gardener who talks about how great these natives are in her garden.  And then...I spotted them showing up 'under the fence' from our neighbor's garden last Spring .   Our neighbor has these growing just beyond the fence in a bed that includes a groundcover of Vinca and a bunch of natives - including these Bluebells.  This piece from U of Wisconsin Extension Office of Horticulture is a good overview including a note that these are increasingly 'rare' and that they don't transplant well.   I decided to plant them close to where they have bee

One of the great joys of keeping a garden journal or garden diary is that it allows you to see how much you've changed over the years.  The changes happen with growth and die-back of the plants, but also in your tastes and preferences of plant materials.  That's certainly happened to me as I've gotten to know trees and plants and both what works and what doesn't.  But also, what is the *right* plant (natives, drought-tolerant) and what might be the *wrong* plant (invasive or short-lived).   Take for instance the flowering pear tree.  When I started, I was so excited and proud to plant a small, $5 Cleveland Pear tree in our old yard.  It thrived .  So much so, that I bought even more of them.  Little did I know (at the time) that they're both NOT great trees in terms of longevity, but also...if you get the wrong variety...they're invasive.   I even went so far as to plant a couple at our new house when we moved.  Would I plant those today?  I don't think so. 

Groundcover, groundcover, groundcover.  That's one of the things that I've tried to tell myself to focus on when I'm at the nursery.  Wisconsin Plantsman Roy Diblik (who I've posted about a bunch of times) along with my other Zone 5 garden inspiration Erin the Impatient Gardener have done a series of YouTube videos this past year that I keep revisiting for ideas.  In this one, they talk about a bunch of plants including how Roy has been 'experimenting' with Ajuga Chocolate Chip .  He's been planting it on the edge of a path as a groundcover and talks about how it outcompetes weeds.   I've looked at some small quart containers at his nursery up in Wisconsin, but haven't pulled the trigger.  So, imagine my delight when I saw these small nursery containers of Ajuga Chocolate Chip at Lowes during their 50% off sale.   At $2.25, I bought all that they had:  five small containers.  Here, below, is what they look like in their flat: I'm going to tuck th

I've had a few versions of allium around our garden in both of our houses. All the way back in 2011 (eek!  That's 11 years ago), we had a few Allium bulbs that I stuck in the ground in Elmhurst .  When we moved to Downers, one of the first things I did (in our first Fall) was to put down some Purple Sensation bulbs .  During our second Fall bulb planting season, I added even more .  Then, in 2020, I added a different kind of Allium - Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion Allium that grow in clumps .  These were called for in our plan in a couple of sections, but they were new to me.  Then...that same Summer (2020), I quickly added eight more to our backyard .   Last Summer, I added a different variety - Serendipity - to our front yard IB2DWs .  Three of them were planted, but just two have come back this year.   And, last Fall, things got a little nuts with Allium bulb planting.  I put in some Pinball Wizard bulbs .  I put in some Drumstick Allium bulbs  behind the Astilbes in back. 

Today marks the fourth in the running series of exploration posts around how I am thinking and planning for shrubs this season.  Getting going on shrubs - both deciduous and evergreen - is my #1 priority for this growing season and I've taken the past few posts to talk thru - on the blog - my thoughts. The three previous beds that I walked thru are: 1. A 20' area where I need to replace some lilacs with an evergreen layer and three Tardiva Hydrangeas . 2. An adjacent spot that calls for a similar (but different) evergreen layer fronted by three dwarf Little Lime Hydrangeas that are planted in a way to NOT foreclose a potential path. 3. The area that lays at the feet of the pair of Greenspire Linden trees along our fence line close to our patio that calls for some formal evergreens. Today I wanted to talk about the fence-side of our fire pit.  Here's what the area looks like currently below.  The annotated photo shows what is currently in place:  Red = existing matur

There I was....minding my own business scrolling through gardening instagram when I came across this post from....guess who?  Yep.  Erin the Impatient Gardener.  You know....the online gardener who gardens in Southern Wisconsin who I have posted about a bunch and continues to show me/teach me new things.  Here's her post below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by E R I N🌿The Impatient Gardener (@impatientgardener) Wait....What the what?  What's is this?  A Rill?!?!   I am going to admit something:  I have NEVER HEARD of a rill.  Like...this was that time when a girl in like 2nd grade mentioned something called a "Panda Bear".  I was blown away.  Never heard of a Panda Bear.  And...then..... *boom* Suddenly, this cute black and white bear was in my life.   That's how I feel about a garden rill.  This is NEW TO ME.    Sure, I've heard of water features.  Ponds, streams, waterfalls.  Even fountains .  But a rill?  I had to look aro

Last Winter, I posted a little backyard garden dream about a stock tank pond based on Erin the Impatient Gardener having set one up a few years back .  I thought it was a unique way to add a water feature to the garden - and one WITHOUT fish - but rather focused on aquatic plants.  At that time, the problem that I was facing was access to an affordable stock tank.  Between the supply chain issues and pandemic-induced staying-at-home, stock tanks were either not available or the shipping was a killer.  So, imagine my delight when I walked up to the local Big Box store this past week and I see these beauties out front: On the left are rings.  Not tanks.  Fire pits are the intended use, I think.   The most expensive ones ($129) are these online - 2' wide x 2' tall x 4' wide .  And, despite the HD listing not showing the capacity in gallons, I'm pretty sure it is 100 gallons ( based on this Tractor Supply listing ).   That seems like a good capacity to start on something li

Last year, I started a series of posts that I tagged as part of my 2022 garden planning something I've been calling my 2022 plant wish list.  I suppose that's not entirely an accurate way to describe things, as they're not wished-for plants as much as the beginnings of a plant buying prioritization process.  In this post showing the four-season interest of these Autumn Ferns , I mentioned that I should add more.  Same with this post showing a few Arrowwood Viburnum that I picked up late in the season - and mentioned that I needed to find more.  But, the way I'm thinking about what I want to add to the garden this year isn't about wishing as much as it is about going through some logical progression of identifiying needs and prioritizing.  So, I think a better way for me to start thinking about this is more akin to the notion of 'getting to know' some plants for 2022.  That's a clear 'tip of the cap' to Roy Diblik from Northwind Perennial Farm wh

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.

What an upgrade.  Or, at least it SEEMS like an upgrade vs my normal small spade.  This was a gift (birthday), but since COVID, the folks at Sneeboer were behind. I have just learned about their tools this season and have quickly become enamored with their garden tools.  Why?  Here's what Garden Tools Co has to say about Sneeboer : Sneeboer hand forged Dutch garden tools have been handcrafted in Holland since 1913 and are considered the finest quality garden tools available anywhere in the world. Sneeboer...the best garden tools you'll ever own! Where did I come across Sneeboer?  Consider me 'influenced' by the Impatient Gardener.  Erin, in this post, calls this shovel the "tool that changed everything about gardening for me."   Big boast, right?  You can go read her whole post to learn about how she noticed in British gardening shows use a tool that doesn't look like our traditional gardening spade that we have here in the US.   Here, below, is mine: The

Despite it being September, my brain is already thinking ahead to Spring.  That (for me), normally means bulbs.  And I'm working on that - as I type.  But, it also has me thinking about something else - that is new to me:  Spring ephemerals.   One of them that I'm most interested in - after seeing them LIVE in person at Northwind Perennial Farm - is Mertensia virginica - or Virginia Bluebells. View this post on Instagram A post shared by E R I N🌿The Impatient Gardener (@impatientgardener) That post, above, is from Erin the Impatient Gardener.  I've told you how much I like her garden - as she's in my zone.  I don't have many "Spring Ephemerals" that aren't Fall-planted bulbs and this one feels like a good add to my garden.  Here's a document from the Wisconsin Horticulture Department Extension office that talks all about them . A few things jump out to me - see for snippets below : Virginia bluebells can be used in borders or