Why I Oughta...

I found this dwarf blue spruce on a high graft - or 'on standard' a week back and I went back for it the next day and brought it home.  Named Picea pungens 'Glauca Globosa'.  You can see the bright spring growth on the tips of this thing in the first photo below.  Is this a tree?  I don't think so.  Let's call this an evergreen shrub, so it won't go on my [trees planted] list.  But, being up 'on standard' almost makes me call it a tree.   Here, below is the front/back of the plant tag showing the blue color. I have three other blue spruces - two in front IB2DWs and one in the back.  The two up front are doing good (one better than the other) , but the one in back is in severe decline.   Blue spruces add an interesting color and texture to the garden, so my brain made the connection between the 'blank spot' I had been staring at for a few weeks in the [kitchen curved] bed and this dwarf conifer.  When I brought it home, I plop'...

For Thanksgiving, I put together a pair of evergreen and eucalyptus arrangements for the two hosts (are we still saying "hostess"?) we were visiting that day.  These are arrangement three and four that I've posted on the blog.  Here is #2 .   One of these has Curly Willow while the other one has more Magnolia leaves.  But, they're *mostly* identical to the previous ones.  I found some Viburnum berries, but decided against including them in these.   These are (notably) in a quart mason jar (on the right) and a thrifted glass (on the left).  They are both smaller than some of the ones that I put together last year.  By design.    Here's one that was tall and wide from last year that I gave to my Mom .  And, here's two other larger ones (in thrifted vases) that I gave my sisters last year.  This year's version fit in the car cupholders, for ease of transport. We have a month-or-so until Christmas, so I'll probably see i...

Late last Fall, I put in three Baby Blue (dwarf) Spruce trees.  Two IB2DWs and one in the back by the Linden espalier.   This one has been getting a little bit of water from when I water this bed, but not a lot of attention.  How is it doing?  Seems to be ok.  Below is the current look - where it has put on new growth this season and held on to some of the blue needles: That part - the needles - and....lack of real needle-drop - is the most promising.  Fall Planting seems to be the ticket for conifers.  It appears to have given this dwarf conifer enough runway to get established and - as of now - survive the hot part of the Summer.  We're not out of the woods yet - still another month of hot, dry heat.  But, with a little bit of attention, I'm thinking this one has a good shot.