Why I Oughta...

Last Fall, I took the pair of Serendipity Alliums and divided them into five 'clumps' that I transplanted into two spots IB2DWs .  I started with three, but one didn't make it.  So, I put three back in the original location and put the other two further down IB2DWs (extended).  I've noted how I really LOVE Serendipity - it gives me everything I like in Summer Beauty - but more.  Longer bloom time.  Later bloom time.  Just all-around better performers.  So, why not divide them and get *more* of Serendipity.   I've had a lot of luck dividing Summer Beauty, but there's no sense in spending time dividing those right now when I'm looking to upgrade them with Serendipity.   As part of Fall Planting, I decided to divide one of them into three clumps (+2 free plants) to get our garden a few more of these.   Below is a look at the 'before' bed - with the Serendipity Allium that I was planning on dividing on the right - you can see it dug-up a little bit.   I

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

The larger, more-showy Alliums are long gone.  Bloomed, were show-offs, and now all that is left behind are husks of their former glory.  But, not Drumstick Alliums.  I planted 50 Drumstick Allium bulbs back in the Fall of 2021 .  And didn't think much about it.  In fact, I'm not sure they were planted in the right spots.  But today?  I'm finding them to add a nice little pop of color to our garden and think I should plant even more this Fall.   I have them IB2DWs, in back and on the side of our house.  They are blooming right now - mid/late June and they work well (for me) when they're interplanted amongst other things so the little purple flower head sort-of peeks out.   My Fall 2024 bulb planting should include more of these.  I could see a big MASS planting and/or interplanted in lots of places.  

2024 is shaping up to the year of garden edits.  A lot less additions in our backyard garden, but some edits to shift towards things meet some criteria:   1.  Work in our yard. 2.  Are appealing (to me). 3.  Have some four-season appeal. That means that changing out things that don't meet those critieria (hostas) and replace them with things that do - both plants that I have on-hand and ones that I need to bring home. My time in this garden is too short to spend time or effort on plants that I don't love.  The edits that I'm thinking about right now focus on mass plantings and repetition.   There's a garden in our neighborhood that I walk past and admire often.  It has a large property with simple, repetitive-planted beds that have hostas, groundcover and a couple of other perennials.  There's A LOT of beds, but they MOSTLY ALL planted in the same pattern - groundcover in front, hostas behind and a third perennial in the rear.  It is simple.  And repetitive.  And lo

Last year, I discovered that our Serendipity Alliums were out-performing our Summer Beauty Alliums in terms of bloom time and WHEN they bloomed ( Serendipity bloomed later ).   I've added a number of Summer Beauty via divisions over the years, but I had - until last Fall - not divided the pair of Serendipity Alliums that were IB2DWs.   I originally planted three of them the middle of the Summer 2021, but only two survived.  (Should have known planting a new perennial in the heat of Summer was unwise.) Last Fall, I took the two existing clumps and divided them up into five plants.  From two-to-five = net of three new plants .  This Spring, all five have come back - for now.  Below is a look at the three in the original IB2DWs bed - close to the driveway: And below is a look at the other two - in the new conifer garden - they can be seen on the left side of the photo.   I'm thinking that I'll see how these do and perhaps in next year, we'll have even more ready for dividi

A couple of seasons ago (Summer 2021), I planted three Allium Serendipity in the IB2DWs bed after being influenced by Erin the Impatient Gardener .  I've had Allium Summer Beauty in the garden since the beginning and Serendipity felt like a nice improvement - at the time.  I mostly just ignored them.  Until this Summer.   When I noticed that they were, indeed, an improvement over Summer Beauty. Why? They bloomed a little bit later.  And for MUCH LONGER .   Fall is the season for dividing perennials, so I picked up my shovel and got busy. Here's the before - two nice-sized clumps of Allium Serendipity: I took those two and made five total plants.  Why five?  A hedge, of course.  I split one in two - in the hopes that those two larger clumps had a better chance of survival.  If I killed the smaller clumps by dividing them too late, or not watering them in enough, or having them heave this Winter...at least I still had what I started with:  two clumps.   I put three of the Allium

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