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Showing posts with the label Seslaria Autumnalis

Autumn Moor Grasses - Seed Head Flush - August 2024

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The hedge of Sesalaria Autumnalis - Autumn Moor Grass - is throwing off a fireworks show of seed heads in our front porch bed.  I planted these last year - in front of the existing boxwoods.   And...they've done a really great job of getting established and putting on some size.   A look back at late Fall last year (October 2023) and you can see that they're not quite touching each other and were spaced appropriately.  This year?  They've butting up against each other side-to-side.  Pretty nice.  See below for the current view from our front stoop looking south: I split this front bed between these Autumn Moor Grasses and Summer Beauty Alliums.   The post I put up a few weeks ago showing the full front porch view really shows the difference between the Alliums and these grasses .  The alliums are MUCH more showy.   I'm thinking about a garden edit up here - removing the Summer Beauty Alliums and replacing them with even more of these Seslaria Autumnalis.  They're re

Front Porch Bed - Mid-Summer View - July 2024

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The view from the curb of our front porch bed has changed SO MUCH in just a years time.  That photo above shows what you see as you view the front of our house and includes a few big changes that I'm seeing grow into their mature forms in a very short period of time.  The tree - a Triumph Elm tree that was planted in Fall 2022 is the biggest change; as it replaced a much-larger Norway Maple.  That large Norway Maple with A MASSIVE MAT of surface roots was out-competing just about everything up there.   That meant...boxwoods that were in the shade and being starved out.  Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas that were undersized and losing the battle.  And, a pretty inhospitable environment in terms of soil. I suppose that's the starting point - the soil.  In Fall of 2021, I documented the root mat and hydrophobic soil that supported no plantlife .   I tried to build a remedy over time - including adding nitrogen via Alfalfa cubes and planting annuals that I hoped would open up the soi

Divided Autumn Moor Grasses - First Spring - March 2024

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Last year, I planted a number of Seslaria Autumnalis (Autumn Moor Grasses) in our front porch beds that I picked up from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin.  They did REALLY well in their first year - so well, in fact - that I decided to roll-the-dice and divide a couple of them in their FIRST Fall in the garden.  I divided three of them and planted the three new divisions in the backyard - around the tree-swing Oak tree .    Some of my other Fall Divisions dealt with some 'heaving' and I'm not sure if they're going to make it.  But, these three Moor Grasses?  See below - they appear to be putting on green blades for their second growing season: These are inter-planted with some Summer Beauty Allium that are planted closer to the border.  And, what appears to be some to-be-determined Allium bulbs (based on the foliage) closer to the trunk of the tree.   My plan is to (likely) divide a few more of the Moor Grasses in front, but I'll keep an eye o

Three Seslaria Autumnalis Via Fall Dividing - November 2023

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Fall is the right time to divide Seslaria.  And, I'm going to attempt to divide and transplant first-year Seslaria Autumnalis.  Why?  Because I've been so happy with them up front this year.  I identified the three largest plants in front - like the one below - and dug up and split it in two. I wanted to improve the ring around the tree-swing tree with something more interesting - so I moved the new divisions to sit in between the Christmas Tree hostas that I moved here last year.  These are behind the Summer Beauty Allium divisions from last year, too.   Below is a look at some of the divisions and where they went in the backyard. I tucked the original plants back in, too.  Now they were just half-the-size. There's a photo above of a TINY division.  I'm not counting that, so, we're calling this a +3 free plants for Fall Dividing. I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.

Autumn Moor Grass - Peak Season - October 2023

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Back earlier this Summer, I bought and planted eight Autumn Moor Grasses - Sesleria Autumnalis - from Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin .  They went in a staggered planting in our front porch beds to provide two things:  something interesting in front of the boxwoods that wasn't too tall AND something that would come up after the large Allium foliage begins to die back and would hid the dying leaves.   One of the things at all gardeners chase is the notion of a four-season garden.  You want things to be interesting and in-bloom in Spring, Summer and Fall.  And, ideally have a little winter show during dormancy.  That notion - of bloom time coupled with their short height - is what sold me on these Autumn Moor Grasses .  They show strong in the Fall.  Here we are on October 1st and what do they look like in their first year?  Like real stars: They're just what I wanted - with low, mounding foliage and see-thru seed heads that rise up above.  The Dusty Miller volunteers sort-

Natural Edge Dug For Front Porch Bed - June 2023

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On Monday, I posted about adding a series of perennials to our front porch beds - including Autumn Moor Grasses and eight Summer Beauty Alliums that are in front of some small Green Velvet Boxwoods (that I planted last month).   As I was planting those, I realized that the edge of the bed has crept-in and I needed to cut the grass that had been growing in there - out.   I've been thinking about the extension of the curved portion of the bed (where the Norway Maple tree *was* and have been musing about how to use some dry-stacked stone there and/or how the bed can be extended down the property line to (eventually) connect with the small, circular bed around the Saucer Magnolia.   But, for now....I decided to just simply clean the bed edge up and extend it out - just a little bit.  Here, below, is the 'after' - a natural edge like this makes the bed look that much more polished.  That (above) is the after.  Here, below is the 'before'.  Quite a change, right?  The Fr

Sesleria Autumnalis and Summer Beauty Alliums Planted - Front Porch Beds - June 202

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The front porch bed continues to be a spot in our garden where I've focused some of my attention this season.  It was #3 on my 2023 to-do list - to plant out that bed after the Norway Maple tree was removed last Fall and a small Triumph Elm was planted.  In early May, I posted a 'plan' of sorts for the bed that included the planting of a short, compact grass along with some clumping Alliums in front, backed by some new Boxwoods, Disneyland Roses, grasses and some flowering shrubs.  How have I done so far this year? I worked the soil conditions - using biosolids in a vertical, deep-dug mulching exercise .  Then, I dug out and transplanted a Boxwood to the back . Once the slate was clean, I started to plant.  First, with three bareroot Disneyland roses .  Then, I planted five Green Velvet boxwoods (1 gallon small ones).   And most recently, I planted a new Fire Light Hydrangea shrub where I had previously had a Vanilla Strawberry variety.   Here's the list that I outl