Why I Oughta...

On a walk around the formal garden at the Morton Arboretum (the one behind the visitor center), we spotted this chartreuse shrub that was LITERALLY standing out.  It called to be looked-at.  And, that's what we did - wandering over and having a look.  I snapped this photo below - showing the bright shrub amongst some white Goatsbeard (or something similar):   I filed it away.  Interesting shrub. Then, on a recent trip to The Growing Place, I came across the very shrub - 3# containers for $50.  See below: This is something I could use in a few spots - in full sun.  Note to self:  See if they survive until the end-of-the-season sales.  

After battling a vast aphid invasion on our Cardoon plant (planted IB2DWs last Fall and came back this year), appears ready to burst with a couple of big, spike-y blooms.  I planted it on a whim late, late last year based on seeing this in the Fragrance Garden at the Morton Arboretum and didn't know what to expect.  At the time when I bought it, the sign at The Growing Place called it a "Biennial" - which I think means that it won't bloom the first year - so this is the bloom year.  This piece from the University of Wisconsin talks about how you don't normally see a bloom in cooler climates (like ours), so we might be in for a real treat.   See below for a look at our Cardoon buds/blooms as they grow up/out before they open: I went at the aphids pretty hard with both Neem Oil, our hose with a high-pressure setting (just to try to blow the aphids off) and then, ultimately with a insecticide dust.  I'm hoping the aphids didn't get these to a place where t

Earlier this Summer, I posted some photos and details of the plantings in the beds of the Fragrance Garden at the Morton Arboretum and documented some of the things that I struck me as interesting - including the use of a new (to me) plant:  Cardoon. So imagine my surprise when I came across this sign at The Growing Place.  Sure enough...Cardoon.  It is in the herbs and vegetables section.  It was cheap to begin with...and with 50% off, I figured I'd take a shot.   Is it cold hardy to Zone 5B?  I don't think so.  But, I planted it - this late in the season - anyway.  Only way to learn, right?  And, for two bucks, why not get a little joy out of this freakshow of a plant. I put it IB2DWs - where I would see it A LOT.  See below for location. Cardoon planted as a bedding plant I'm going to mulch it in pretty hard (pile biosolids on top of the crown) when the foliage dies back, but I'm pretty sure this won't come back - as it is usually listed to Zone 7 .  But, next y

I had to pick up one of the kids at the Morton Arboretum recently had had a little bit of time to get some steps in and decided to go see the Fragrance Garden up by the Thornhill Center on the West side of the Arboretum .  It is a spot where you can park pretty close and get to see some beds and containers on a quick little, easy walk.  A couple of years ago, I was in this same garden and posted some thoughts and photos here .  At that time, I was struck by the bedding plants and combinations they had in what felt like a very shady garden (which...is a lot like our own garden).    It was from that experience that I said (to myself) that I needed to think about using annuals beyond the container - as bedding plants - in the shade.  In fact....that was one of my 2023 to-do items and the push behind all of the annuals that I planted this year including some Lobelia, Begonias, Impatiens, Polka Dot Plants .  The beds at the Morton Arboretum have inspired me prior to that shade garden visit.

Earlier this year, in one of their ordinary monthly email broadcasts, the Morton Arboretum turned me on to something wild.  At least...wild to me.  Who am I?  A tree bud enthusiast.  Turns out, there are lots of us.  And some really special ones.   The newsletter referenced a former Arboretum employee with the title of 'naturalist' named May Theilgaard Watts .  And,  these incredible, illustrated vintage posters in the Arboretum collection that May T. Watts created.  First...a look at the posters below.   All of these are sourced from ACORN - Sterling Morton's Library that includes online images.   Some May T Watts archives in ACORN can be found here .   Fascinating stuff in there.  I've only scratched the VERY thin surface.  Have a look at these beauties.  Source ...again... from ACORN .  The ACORN listing here states these were created in the 1940's.   Hard to believe that I've never heard of Ms. Watts.  Can't be more interested in learning more about her

We wandered around for a bit in the China/Japan section of the Morton Arboretum this weekend and while much of the plant-life is in dormancy, one of the standouts was a couple of Larch trees that were in full bud-mode.  There were a few different Larch trees - Larix X - that are in a stand together.  This section is close to Route 53, so without foliage on the trees, you get a little bit of road noise, making this part of the Arboretum a little less 'remote-feeling'.  Here's a couple of not-so-good photos of the tree buds: North Dakota State has a .pdf up about the Siberian Larch here . They point out this tree is hardy down to Zone 2 - which...I think the name "Siberian" implies, right?  Zone 2 is negative fifty degrees.  The Morton Aboretum folks won't have to worry about this one not surviving one of our Winters.  That has some appeal. I've been thinking of Larch trees for a number of years and covered a few of them here including a Japanese columnar La

Once I knew the large Norway Maple needed to come down, I immediately switched into tree planting-planning mode.  I looked around-and-around and thought about what we wanted in a tree: 1.  Disease and pest resistant  2.   Fast-growing 3.  Unique 4.  Something 'stately' and (when mature) large I worked with a few people to sort options.  The temptation of the Fall-Colors of the various Maple trees was strong.  But, ultimately, the experts that I consulted said that Maples make up far too-much of our local, urban canopy and that I should plant something different.   Further research sent me towards this narrow list called "Chicagoland Grows".   What is Chicagoland Grows?  From their site: Established in 1986, Chicagoland Grows® Plant Introduction Program is a unique partnership among the Chicago Botanic Garden , The Morton Arboretum , and the Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois (OGA) , dedicated to developing, selecting, testing, and marketing a diversit

Yesterday, I posted a few photos of a pyramidal boxwood - Green Mountain - that I planted in a backyard bed and talked about how it was tucked in by the Belgian Fence and some ornamental grasses.  If you looked closely at one of the photos yesterday, you might have noticed a few other shrubs in their nursery containers in the background.  Today, I'm sharing the details in the [ garden diary ] of those other two shrubs hiding back by the fence. As part of our plan, the designer called for a series of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs in a few different spots around the yard.  Below, you can see two areas that call these particular shrubs out. Part of the area you see in the plan above was/is called out as " Priority Area #2 " in this year's list of Priority areas.  You can see that it calls for four Viburnum in this section.  But...when you're dealing with some end-of-season shrub sales, you don't always get the quantity that you want.  I couldn't f

A week ago, I finally had enough with a 'tough-to-grow-grass spot' in our front yard .  It a little section sandwiched on the ' in between two driveways ' island and right up against the sidewalk.  My thought was that part of the reason that the turf goes dormant here every Summer is because the heat radiates off the concrete on two sides and just dries the area out.  And, that's certainly part of it.  Not to mention that I don't water it enough.  But, last week, when I cut this new little bed in , I also discovered that there isn't much soil here.  Just a little bit of top soil - like an inch or two - followed by mostly gravel.   After I cut out the edge of this little bed and removed the turf, I ended up dumping a few bags of compost in the area to thicken up the area and provide a bit more organic material to allow for things to root in and (hopefully) grow.   I then looked around to see if I had any plant material on hand that I could transplant into thi

A couple of weeks ago, I posted some photos showing a couple of volunteer locust tree seedlings that had pop'd up in our yard .  At the time, I wasn't sure if these were honey or black locust trees.  With a little bit more growing time, it is now clear that these are Black Locust tree seedlings.  They have - as you can see below - thorns on their main stem.   You can see those thorns in the photo below: Alas, it seems like this is, indeed, no free gift from nature.  It is a tree that the Morton Arboretum calls 'not recommended' since it 'spreads too easily .  Hence...why I'm seeing these seedlings.  I'll get out my pruners and lop these off before they get any bigger.

Our backyard is mostly shade.  And, because of that, I'm a shade gardener and have been focused on adding shade plants to our yard over the past couple of years.  But, I haven't strayed too far from Hostas and Ferns.  I recently came this list of Shade plants that includes foliage and flowering sub-lists that I've been reading to get acquainted with some new ideas.   We also spent some time over the past few weeks at the Morton Arboretum walking the paths and looking at some of the gardens.  In particular, we spent an overcast morning puttering around the Fragrance Garden seeking inspiration based on seeing what they have planted in some of the shady spots.   Here's a few shots that include a mix of shade-tolerant perennials and annuals below.  This is where that list from Garden Design linked above comes in handy - for identification.  First up, a mix of some All Gold Hakonechloa macra grasses planted with (what I think are) Hypoestes (polka dot plant) and some bego

Back in the shady parts of our yard, along the fence, we have these plants that come up in various spots.  My assumption is that they're weeds of some sort and for the past few years, I've been pulling them.  But, this year, I learned about Mayapples from Erin the Impatient Gardener .   Looking at what she shows off as Mayapples , I wondered if this mult-lobe'd plant was, potentially Mayapple.   The Missouri Botanic Garden has a listing up about Mayapple - or Podophyllum peltatum  - where they talk about it being used in naturalized gardens and talks about how it disappears during the Summer : ...native Missouri wildflower that occurs in both moist and dry woodland areas throughout the State. From a single stem, each plant grows 12-18" tall and features one or two, deeply-divided, palmately-lobed, umbrella-like, pale green leaves (to 12" diameter). Excellent for naturalizing in woodland settings, wild or native plant gardens. Because plants naturalize freely but

 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