Why I Oughta...

Back in the Summer of 2021, I planted three Serendipity Allium - Ornamental Onions - in the IB2DWs bed along with some other blue/purple plants .   I'm pretty sure that I saw someone on YouTube talk about these as a close cousin to a plant that I love (and have planted in a lot of places) - Allium Summer Beauty.  The foliage of Serendipity is different than Summer Beauty - perhaps you'd describe it as more 'strap-y'.  But, the concept is *mostly* the same. As I mentioned in a recent post, I was away from my yard and garden for more than a week recently and when I came back, I felt like I was 'seeing' or 'discovering' some new (to me) things about growth and bloom-time.   That idea - bloom-time - is what this post is about and why I'm posting this in the garden diary.   Here, below, is a peek at the two (remaining) Serendipity Alliums IB2DWs - in full bloom this late in August.  Note...there are just two of these Alliums left, one has died. Compared

Late last year, I dug up, divided and transplanted a number of Summer Beauty Ornamental Onions (Allium) around the backyard - including four divisions around the tree-swing Northern Red Oak tree .   I also dug and and divided a large Christmas Tree hosta (that I really like) into three new divisions and planted them behind the allium, closer to the tree trunk . How have those divisions done?  In less than one year, they seem to have recovered quite well.  See below for a couple of photos showing the Summer Beauty Allium, spaced with some polka dot annual plants and the Christmas Tree hostas behind them: They are better than what was there before - a ring of hostas.  And, I've learned that I can pretty sharply divide Summer Beauty and move them around.  Note to self for Fall 2023 dividing.

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

Yesterday, I posted some details and photos about preparing the bed underneath the espaliered Linden trees to get ready for a boxwood hedge.  I transplanted some hostas (and then...transplanted *other* hostas) and planted them in the back.  In that post, I mentioned that I also had to move a few Alliums that were in the same bed.  As a reminder, below is a photo showing the 'before' state of the bed - featuring some allium to the right of the photo. There were two Allium Bulgaricum that I moved behind the row of Astilbes.  And three-or-four good-sized Summer Beauty Alliums.  I put one on the other side of the Weeping White Spruce - close to the fence.  That one is below: I also tucked in another one amongst the Oakleaf Hydrangeas in the kitchen window bed: I put the third one in amongst the other colony of the same Summer Beauty Alliums a bit further back in that south side bed.  See below of this one next to my kneeler.  It flop'd over after transplanting, so I'll wat

Back in Fall of 2021, I planted some new (to me) Allium bulbs around the beds including 15 Bulgaricum bulbs .   They were bought on a whim - I didn't know much about them - but their photos were quite dramatic.  So, in my online shopping cart they went.  (That's one of the fun things about Fall bulbs, I guess:  you order them in the Summer and then kind of forget about them until they ship in the Fall.) Last year was their first year to bloom and I don't remember them very much.  They might have bloomed, but I think it was limited.  This year, though....they're putting on a little show.  See below for the Allium Bulgaricum chandeliers of flowers (I'm calling them 'chandeliers'.)   I don't count 15 of these in the garden, but I do see a handful of them popping up in different spots.    Would I put them in the same spots today as they are located now?  I'm not sure.   White Flower Farm has a product listing up for these and include a mention that they

Listed at number 3 on my 2023 to-do list , figuring out the newly configured front porch bed is a pretty significant planting priority for me, but one that I've done the least posting about in the garden diary.  That lack of posting on a 'plan' for the bed, doesn't mean that I haven't been busy working the bed already by moving some things around, adding some things and thinking a lot about what we want up there. The season started with some vertical mulching of biosolids to try to improve the soil overall - that was after some topdressing of biosolids last Fall around the hydrangeas.   Then, just recently, I did three things:  first... I dug-up and transplanted the Green Velvet Boxwood that was left orphaned once we planted the Triumph Elm tree.   I moved around three Karl Foerster Grasses (see below for placement) and then just this past week, I planted three bareroot Disneyland Roses in the bed where the old Norway Maple tree was situated.    The other thing t

 You can't swing a dead cat and not hit someone on the Web saying :  "oh...no, no, no.  Don't worry....rabbits hate allium.  They won't eat them.  Go ahead...plant them." For those people:  I have news.  They eat allium.  Gnaw them right off the top.  Don't believe me?  Have a look below at some of our allium foliage that has emerged this Spring in our backyard.  Those tips weren't taken off with a tool.  Well...a tool that isn't a pair of rabbit teeth: I'm going to go on offense this Summer with the rabbits.  I've done the cages during Winter.   But, now is go-time to get them to find other places to visit.  

Last Fall, like the previous ones, I went about trying to dig up, divide and transplant some of the perennials that we have in the garden .  Why?  Well...because...they're 'free plants'.  Nothing better than that, in my mind.  One of the perennials that I went ham-on in the backyard were the multiple colonies of Summer Beauty Allium that are planted around the backyard.  I divided one clump of these Summer Beauties that were in the south beds and divided the clump into four smaller plants and planted them around the base of the Oak tree - the tree-swing tree.  Here's that post from mid-October showing the four plants .   This Spring brings good news - as all four Summer Beauty Allium have emerged in their spots.  See below for a photo from this week showing the tips that have emerged for their first growing season in this bed: These are WELL ahead of the hostas and grasses that are planted in this bed.  I'm looking forward to seeing these fill out this border and br

Last Fall, I didn't plant as many Fall bulbs as I have planted in previous seasons.  But, I did plant some:  12 Gladiator Allium bulbs were added to the front porch bed.  Right in front of the existing boxwoods in the front porch bed .  In terms of layers, this means that we're looking at (from back to front currently):  porch, hydrangea, boxwood, mid-size allium bulbs. These get anywhere from 36" to 60" tall (depending on the info source).   I planted all twelve of these in mid-October.  And, just like some of the other Allium bulbs - including these Christophii which are showing early foliage emergence this year - these Gladiators are starting to peek through for the first time.   Looking back at this post showing where I planted the Gladiators , it appears that I dug six holes and tucked two bulbs in per hole.   Here are a few photos showing the tips peeking through the mulch this week (below):  Right now, I don't count twelve plants, but I *am* seeing that p

I wrote about how I was seeing some Wild Onions appear and looked at the soil temperature tool to find out that the soil temp currently in my Zone 5b is higher than the historical averages.    I also showed how I was seeing the Daffodils emerge this past week, too.  Those seem normal.  Or close to their history in my garden diary. But, an Allium showing up this early? Last year (2022), I was documenting the tips of Allium bulbs emerging in early April .  This year?  See below for a look at some of them that sit on the side of the hosue at the feet of the SugarTyme Crabapple Trees: Now, these were planted in 2021, so last Spring (2022), was their first shot at growth.  Perhaps they were just delayed.   I'll have to get out and have a better look around to see if other Allium bulbs are emerging early, too. 

The Orange Big Box story has their Spring bulbs already in stock in their greenhouse.  That means, Peonies and Dahlias and Elephant Ears and Gladiolas are packed in sets and ready to go home.  Of course, I couldn't help to go over and see what they had on hand and came across this six-pack of orange Tiger Lily bulbs for $9.98. Tiger Lilies are both familiar and foreign to me.  I feel like I know them, but the reality is....I don't really.  I went online to find a few listings for bulbs and learned a bit - like... these are 'downward-facing' and good for cut-flowers .   But, one of the things that I wasn't sure of is how these are treated:  as annuals (like a Dahlia tuber that is left in the ground) or as a perennial (like an Allium bulb)?  Based on this listing from Longfield Gardens, it seems they're 'hardy down to Zone 4' , which leads me to believe they can be left in the ground and come back year-after-year like an Allium bulb?  The label claims: &qu

On Friday, I posted a look at my initial attempts to divide some of our existing Summer Beauty Allium clumps in our backyard to create more new, 'free' plants.  As of that post, I was up to 27 'free plants' created through division.  Pretty good.  But, I had time and knew I had a few more viable Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion plants that were large enough to divide.  I also knew that I had a spot around the front of the Tree Swing Oak tree that is currently planted with hostas, but gets more shade than hostas typically like.  So, I dug those out and relocated them back into the understory garden bed. And, I dug up some Summer Beauty Allium from the southside beds , divided them and relocated some smaller plants to around the Tree Swing Oak tree.  Here, below, is the 'before' look - before I started to divide these.  My shovel is right in front of one of the clumps I divided. I added some of these divisions right next to the existing colony.  See below for a pee

Last week, I posted about the two packs of Gladiator Allium bulbs that I picked up at Costco recently and mused about where I could plant them.  In front?  In back?  IB2DWs?  Front porch beds?  With the recent SIGNIFICANT moves in our front yard beds - more on this to come - I thought that I should find a way to put these mid-size bulbs in that bed.  They're what I would call medium-sized in height - so they can go in a lot of places in that front bed. I was - initially - thinking that I was going to plant them BEHIND the row of boxwoods and in front of the hydrangeas.  Why behind the boxwoods?  Because they're NOT (currently) that big.  Even after six growing seasons.  Why?  Because of the Norway Maple has been crowding them out.  Both in terms of the big, thick mat of roots.  But, also...(I believe) because of light.   But, if that Norway Maple isn't there any longer, won't that help the boxwoods grow up and out?  That's the bet I'm making.   I decided to dig

Third in the Fall dividing for "free plants" in our garden post series.  First was the roundup of 22 hostas .  Then, yesterday I showed three net new ferns .  Today, I'm sharing a look at my first attempt at dividing some Summer Beauty Allium.  I have a couple of colonies of Summer Beauty in our backyard beds.  First, the one closer to the house.  I dug up one of the Allium and divided the bulbs to make a second plant.  I tucked the original one back in the same hole.  See below for the 'after' - the division came out of the Allium in the middle of the photo: Here, below, is what the clump looked like: I decided to plant this one trial division in the sideyard, in between a couple of the Disneyland Roses: I repeated this trial exercise with another of the larger Summer Beauties in the further-back-section.  I took from the plant at the very top/middle of the photo below.  And dug it into the spot at the very bottom/middle of the photo below: That's +2 new plan

October is Fall bulb planting season.  Most years around here, that means tulips.  And last year, it meant planting some new (to me) Alliums like Christophii .  This year, I'm not doing tulips up front because we're doing some work with the large (but declining Norway Maple).   But, I did pick up two six-packs of Allium bulbs at Costco from Longfield Gardens. These are Gladiator Alliums.  And they're new (to me).   MichiganBulb has a product listing and provides some guidance on where to put these : Gladiator allium stand up to 60" tall in flower beds of all kinds, and are delightful when these ornamental garden onions are planted in the back of the border. Back of the border.  Got it.  There are more clues on the back of the packaging from Longfield Gardens.  They compare these Gladiator Allium to a few other ones - including some I have - like Christophii, Drumstick and Purple Sensation. When I bought these, I didn't have a plan for where to put them.  I found th

The colonies of Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion - Allium - are looking full and happy in the various spots of our garden.  All of them are showing a series of buds that are - right now - downward-facing - and ready to explode with Summer color.   Last year, these were further along with their white flowers extending upwards by mid-July.   So, these are a bit behind.   I should use these in a few more spots, so I'll put that on my 2023 to-do list (along with groundcover).

Last year, I planted a bunch of Drumstick Allium in different spots around the garden .  Some in front, some on the side, some in back.  Timing-wise, these are the *latest* blooming Allium that we have now.  All of other varieties have come and gone.  But these?  They're in bloom RIGHT NOW - mid-July.   I'm sure what I expected, but these are really lovely looking flowers.  Small.  MUCH smaller than a globemaster or Purple Sensation.  And, really tall.  Like, a lollipop.  I'm talking 30" super thin stems with a golf-ball-sized bloom on the tip.  That SUPER THIN stem plus the golf-ball-sized bloom means that these things are swooping.  They don't stand up straight.  They're swoopers.  I kinda like them that way and it is something that I can keep playing with planting-wise.  They're VERY informal, so not what I normally see when I see alliums popping up. Below, you can see a few of them 'swooping' across the All Gold Japanese Forest grasses - mixed i

The blooming of our floribunda roses (Disneyland Roses) has begun for the season with their first flush of pinkish-orangish blooms on all three plants that are in our sideyard.  These are in full sun, but have mostly been watered naturally (not irrigated) and have thrived in their current location. The last time I posted about these was when I applied a granular fertilizer in mid-May .  (note to self: it is time to apply again.) Below is a photo of the rear-most two Disneyland Roses with a pair of pre-espalier Sugar Tyme Crabapple trees planted between them.   And, here's the other one - located closer to the front porch - below.  I'm also including one of the divided Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that I put over here last Fall in the photo (on the right).  This one is the largest one side-to-side.  Here's what they looked like last June .   If history is any guide, these will have multiple flushes of blooms all the way through the growing season.  Here's the bloo