Why I Oughta...

Three weeks ago, I noted that the Anemone 'Lucky Charm' flower show was just getting started with the emergence of those purple, sphere-shaped buds that stand at the top of thin, upright stems .  Today, that show is happening in full-force.  If history is any guide, these will bloom all Fall.  But right now, they're showing-off with a light-purple petal show in the 'kitchen curved' bed in our backyard.   See below of the current state of this little colony of Fall color.  Something to think about is using these in other spots in the garden.  They get 'part sun', but are really the ONLY blooms left to pop-off in our foliage-heavy garden.  I could use these elsewhere to provide some late-season action.  NOTE to future Jake:  Divide these in Fall. 

The small colony of Lucky Charm Japanese Anemone is now a, well....bigger colony.  They've filled in the space in all directions.  And, we're just at the start of the late Summer bloom season that seems to last all the way until Fall.  Here's a look at what the three plants looked like last August - one year ago .  Barely touching each other and lots of mulch showing around them.  Today - see below: They've formed a mass or drift instead of three individual plants.   And, you can see the first few blooms opening up.  

Last Spring, I took a shot on a couple of primroses at an early-in-the-season garden show.  I was pretty unfamiliar with them - hence this post titled: " Giving Primrose A Shot " from March 2023 where I figured I was lulled into a false belief that these early-blooming flowers would work in our Zone 5b (at that time, now Zone 6a) garden. We're suckers for blue blooms and the three Primula belarina 'Blue Champion' that I bought were pretty close to blue.  I seem to have ONLY posted about the blue ones, but if you look back at the photos in this post , you can clearly see that we brought home four Primulas that day;  three blue and one white one.   They went in and seemed to manage their first growing season without much drama.  By the very early days of 2024, I posted about seeing some of their foliage - despite the harsh Winter temps in the garden.   Today - about 90 days since then, they're in bloom.  And they're quite nice.  Below i...

At some point in (I think) 2022, I bought and planted a Japanese Anemone x Hybrid 'Pamina' from Northwind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin and planted it in a spot on the northside of our backyard.  Turns out, I'm pretty certain that it was the WRONG SPOT.  For this plant.  Too much shade.  You can see the sign at the top of this post that calls for "Part Sun".  It goes on to say:   Beautiful, easy to grow plants, flowering late in the season in a burst of bright pink.  Lovely in a partially shaded site.  Divide in Spring.  This plant does great with grasses and interplanted with Stachys 'Hummelo'. "Partially shaded" site is/was my problem, I think.   What do I have to look forward to - if it succeeds?  From Bluestone Pernnials comes these details - including that it is a "RHS Award of Garden Merit Winner : One of the most compact Anemone, the elegant bright rose-pink blossoms of broad overlapping petals surround whorls of b...

There are a few plants in our garden that are there because I was drawn to them.  There are a few that were simply impulse-bought.  There are others that I was influenced by others like Roy Diblik , Austin Eischeid or Erin the Impatient Gardener.   Then...there's this other set:  They are the ones that exist in our yard and garden because of Nat.     That list of Nat-influenced plants includes the Saucer Magnolia and any/all of our Allium.  Another one of those that Nat-influenced plantings are anemones.  I've likely written this story before, but the connection with Anemone flowers comes back to our wedding day.  We've had them (now) in both of our houses (not in Equation Boy/Man and Vic's house that we lived in for two years) since last year when I planted three from Northwind Perennial Farm. Here's a post from more than ten years ago (eeek!  ten years!) of the plant that Nat's Mom gifted us for our garden back in Elmhurst ....

One year ago tomorrow, I planted a trio of Anemone Lucky Charm that we brought home from Northwind Perennial Fam in Wisconsin, tucking them into our backyard .  That first year...they were temperamental.  They wilted at the slightest dry period.  I baby'd them all Summer and Fall - hand-watering them - to keep them happy.  They seemed to go dormant in normal fashion.   This year, they emerged again and seem to have established themselves quite a bit MORE.  They no longer require attention and are now putting on some size.  See below for the current state of these three: These have special meaning to me - and I'm really excited to see these put out some blooms that I can bring in to Nat this Summer - they bloom in September and October. 

There's a flowering perennial that I've been thinking about and chasing ever since we moved out of our house in Elmhurst.  Actually, there are a bunch of them.  But, one that I think about often:  Anemones.  Nat had them in her wedding day bouquet and her Mom bought us a plant back in 2010 and I just stuck it in the front yard garden.  It bloomed and grew .  And then we moved out. I've admired an Anemone in one of our neighborhood gardens and always thought that I needed to plant some in our backyard garden.  The moment finally arrived when I was looking at the nursery tables at North Wind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin recently.  That's when I came across the sign you see above.  For Anemone 'Lucky Charm'. The description reads - in part:  "Here's an anemone that welcomes the beginning of Spring with beautiful, dark purple foliage and ends the season with engaging dark pink flowers, touched with gold.  And, during the middle...

Tis' the season for the arrival of these beautiful anemone flowers down the block from our house.  Just about one year to the day, I shared a similar photo of these blooms that are in the front yard of a house a few doors down.  Those of you who have been with me for a while will know that we had an anemone perennial at our old house in Elmhurst .  And it came about because of a re-do of Nat's wedding bouquet .  Earlier this Summer, I shared a photo of the 'teardown haul' that I pulled out of Nat's Sister's yard before they started construction .  In that pile of stuff was a perennial that shared some of the characteristics of the anemone plants - with leaves the same shape.  I stuck that plant in the back of our yard and tended to it just a little bit.  After some shock, it appears to have rebounded.  And is growing foliage, but no blooms.  I suppose we won't know until next year if we do, indeed, have anemones or if I rescued some wee...

At our old place in Elmhurst, we had a big, beautiful, sprawling Anemone plant that was a gift from Nat's Mom.  Turns out, Natalie had Anemone in her wedding bouquet and they were attempting to recreate it some time after our wedding and that involved the purchase of Anemone plants to take some cuttings from.  Nat's Mom ended up with a couple of these plants and gave us one - which I stuck in the sideyard of our house - right to the south of our front porch.  And it thrived!  Like, really thrived.   After a couple of years that is.  It started small, came back in year two and I think gave us just a couple of blooms.  But in year three and four and beyond?  It was big and wonderful.  Take a look at it blooming in 2013 here .  Just like the peony that the kids gave Nat for Mother's Day this year, they also picked out a set of Anemone bulbs - these St. Brigid Blend.  Which, I believe aren't the same plant that we had before....