Why I Oughta...

Influenced?  Or inspired?  What do you call it when you come across something on Instagram (or YouTube) that shows you something new, isn't pushing a product but...does...indeed compel you to act - and purchase something.  I'm going to say that I was inspired.  Not influenced.   And that inspiration came from seeing a 'white garden' that was planted up with silver and white perennials and exposed me to something new (to me):  Artemisia.   There are a few varieties that you'll see out at the nursery, but the one that I think might be the biggest (not the best) in the trade is Silver Mound Artemisia.  It is a soft-texture white plant that Walters Garden describes as a 'cushion' .  Here's what they say: Aptly named, 'Silver Mound' has soft, feathery foliage and forms a compact, silky, cushion-like mound. It has many applications in the garden including: edging, rock gardens, pots, or a filler plant for hot, dry areas. It has long been ...

Last Fall, I bought and planted two (at that time) new (to me) Heucheras:  Dolce Silver Gumdrops.  They were at Lowe's end-of-the-season sale and I said that I was going to plant them in over by the Guacamole Hostas .  Today, there's just one of them.  And, I don't really see *where* I could have planted the other one as there isn't a ton of empty space around.  But that one?  It is showing up well right now - Late Summer/Early Fall with silver foliage and tiny pink blooms about to arrive.  See below for a photo of the current state of this Silver Gumdrop Coral Bells: I've had mixed results with Heucheras over the years.  Some that I've neglected have done great.  Others that I've baby'd have perished.  This one is small, but that's by design.  The listing talks about this Heuchera's size this way : Silver Gumdrop’ is a smaller scale Heuchera, the perfect size for a container. Growers and gardeners alike will be pleased that it is ...

Last Fall, I couldn't help but come home from Lowe's with these two white-centered hostas during their 50% off sale.  I mean...they are real standouts on the nursery bench and they basically sell themselves.   I planted them in October of 2022 amongst some other hostas - like Guacamole .   They're full of that crinkled hosta foliage this time of year.  And, the white centers really brighten up this part of the understory bed.   Below is what they look like after one growing season.  Are they ready to divide?  No.  Not yet.  Maybe next Fall they'll have put on enough size to warrant division.  For now, I'm just enjoying them and thinking about why anyone would want a plain-jane hosta when they can have something like this around?

I feel like I'm finishing the planting season of 2022 the same way that I started it:  focused on shrubs.  The number-one item on my 2022 to-do list was to prioritize shrubs by adding a series of them to our backyard .  I'm pretty happy with the results this year - as I added a series of shrubs including new Oakleaf Hydrangeas and Viburnums.  And moved a few others around.    But, I'm closing the shrub-planting season with a new (to me) shrub:  Brown's Yew.  I have a bunch of Yews in our backyard - but they're ALL one variety:  Hick's upright Yews.  I'm drawn to those because of their shape as well as the fact that they can tolerate shade - which we have plenty of around here. I came across this lone evergreen shrub - a Brown's Yew - that was on such a good sale that I couldn't pass it up.  You can see it in the photo above - sitting in a 5 gallon nursery stock container. This was the first time that I came across a Brown's Yew....

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 lis...

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 go...

Over the weekend, we popped into Lowe's to find that their entire garden center (aside Fall things like mums and kale) has been marked down 50%.  Lowe's isn't super convenient for us, but one of the things that I've noticed over the past couple of seasons is that they do a nice job with their garden center and usually carry things that are not normally sold in the Orange Big Box store nursery.  Last year, I planted a couple of purple Heucheras that I bought at Lowes that were 50% off and they've done well in the garden .  Those Purple Palace Coral Bells/Heucheras have all managed to survive this growing season and have put on growth.  This post shows all three of them and talks about the decline of another variety - Dolce Apple Twist .   My experience with those two - the common Purple Palace doing well and the more exotic Apple Twist not so much - was front and center when I came across a couple of plants at Lowes 50% off sale.   As I was walkin...

I've talked about this before, but mid-Summer 50% off perennial sales are my love language.  That kind of sale typically happens at the big box stores garden centers, but it seems random based on the department manager.  Even at Home Depot - which we have three that I shop from regularly and a fourth that I pop into when I'm going to my parents - I've noticed that some stores do sales differently.  I'm talking hand-written signs vs the normal printed signs that you normally see.   When I come across a hand-written sale sign, I glom on to the stuff.    But, I also was turned on to a whole new thing recently:  Lowes.  We don't have a Lowes close to us, but I took the kids to a batting cage in a town a few over on a recent weekend and discovered that the cages/mini golf place is right behind a huge Lowes.  So, I went in, of course.  And I was surprised.  A step up from Menards, for sure.  The plant material was (mostly) taken...