Why I Oughta...

In terms of flowers, I'd like to say that this growing season has been a fantastic, rewarding one.  But...if I'm honest....I've seen a lot of new things with the dahlias.  But....This season has *really* been a mixed bag when I include our Disneyland Roses.   I had six Disneyland Roses at the end of 2023.  This year, I had just three - as the three bareroot ones that I planted in front didn't come back .  And the three that I DID have did NOT do well .  Between pests (sawfly larvae), fungus (rust) and drought, these things barely hung on in 2024.   The watering problem is something I attempted to fix later this season - as these kept dropping their leaves.  Starting in late August/Early September, when I was focused on the dahlias, I watered these three in every morning and they seemed to rebound just a little bit.  They still look sparse.   But....the good news - I'm seeing a couple of November blooms.  See below for one of them: I might have five-or-six blooms on

Back in 2020, I discovered Toad Lilies and set about trying to plant a few of them in my woodland garden in the far back .  Like a lot of other things, these were shared by Erin the Impatient Gardener, who shared them in her own garden.   Come Spring 2021, I planted a few small containers of them in a little drift in the southwest corner of our lot .  The variety that planted are called Gilt Edge Japanese Toad Lillies and they were IMMEDIATELY destroyed by the (dang!) rabbits .    That's when I installed some rings of Chicken Wire to protect them.  I've left those rings in place for three-plus years now and because of that (I think), well....we *still* have Toad Lillies.  Not a lot of them.  But, they're still here. I posted the VERY SAME photos last year - about a year ago.    Here, below, are a couple of photos showing the remaining Toad Lillies.  These get ZERO supplemental water, so they're just doing their thing on their own.   With a little water, maybe these wi

Back in May of 2019, I planted a number of very small, one-gallon Canadian Hemlock trees .  A few of them were destroyed by rabbits.  And a few died from drought.  But, two of them have managed to make it to today.  In terms of growing seasons, that: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and now...in the middle of their sixth growing season:  2024.   After the rabbits ate these things up, I began to protect them with chicken wire.  The past few seasons, I've just left the chicken wire rings in place.  And the trees have just kept-on-growing.   I heard from someone on the blog about the hemlocks and they wondered how they were doing.   Here's a couple of photos that show them - although...they're *hard to see*.   The first photo shows both of the trees - one on the left and the other on the right - split by that narrow tree trunk in the middle.  The second photo shows a close-up of the chicken wire ring. I'd say that these trees are five-feet-tall and growing.  They're not pu

I really do NOT like the dang rabbits that live in and around our yard and garden.  I've done my best to protect against their damage, but I didn't do enough this Winter.  With the snow melting, I took one VERY small walk through part of the garden to see how things have fared in the past month-or-so.  I don't want to walk on the wet ground and didn't walk in any of the beds to avoid compaction.   But...from the edge of the beds, I was able to see some serious rabbit damage on a number of my Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  Even on one that I wrapped in Chicken wire.  What the heck!?! Here's a few photos showing the rabbit pressure - and gnawing of the tips - on my SnowQueen and Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas.    The problem is that these flowering shrubs bloom on old wood.  That means...2024 will be a year of limited flowers.  Bummer.   Weather-permitting, I'll go out and grab more photos.  Coming up with a real plan on rabbits feels like a 2024 project.  This aggression will no

Planted in the Fall of 2021, our Mugo Pine is (now...almost two years later) still a small, evergreen shrub.    I last looked at it a little over a year ago (August 2022), when it was looking good - green and compact and full of needles .   Early this past Winter (November 2022), the dang rabbits went at this thing and gnawed off a bunch of the tips .  And...the little jerks just left them there.   Of course, that meant that a chicken wire ring needed to be put up to protect it from the pests.  Like the Toad Lilies, I've left this chicken wire ring up all Summer.   Here, below, is what the Mugo Pine looks like below.  First, a look from the top-down.  Then, from the side-on: It has put on some height this year and has opened-up a bit.  What was dense and compact last year is now a little more airy.  The tips are full of longer needles that are reaching up-and-out.  I don't have a ton of conifers, so looking at this one makes me think I should be adding some to my Fall 2023 to-d

A few years back, after getting to know them via Erin the Impatient Gardener, I planted three Gilt Edge Toad Lilies back by the firepit .  Three of them.  That first year, they did great .  They were about to bloom (I think), when the dang rabbits found them.  And gnawed them right off .  The second growing season (2022), the rabbits, once again, found them.  And ate 'em up .  That's when I put up some Chicken Wire rings.  I left them in place all-year-around. And today?  I have two Toad lilies.  Or...maybe this is just ONE plant that has two stems.  They're awfully close to be two different plants, right?  I'm not sure.  See below for a few photos showing these survivors in their chicken wire protection ring: I've said a few times that I should add more of these and I stand by that.  But, I think I need to see if these can get into a place where they're more rabbit-resistant.  Either by being more productive or less tender.  

We have a pair of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs that I planted in the Fall of 2021 .  These were part of the layout of of our original plan - in fact the plan called for even more of these, but I've opted to replace some of them with the Doublefile Viburnum that I found in treeform.   But, back to these.  They were feasted-on by the dang rabbits that first year.  And, they lost ALL of their size.  Last year, I used Chicken Wire rings to protect them.  And, these are the ONLY ones that I've left in the rings.    Without the rabbit pressure, these shrubs have put on some new growth and are looking good.  See below for a photo of their current state in early July 2023:

Last Summer, we had just ONE bloom on all of our Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas .  One bloom on like six shrubs.  Why?  Because of the dang rabbits .  They FEASTED on these young shrubs all Winter.  In 2021, the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas in our backyard put on quite a show - with blooms in July and some quite lovely red colors in the Fall .   Anyone who reads up on various hydrangeas will quickly learn that Oakleaf Hydrangeas bloom on 'old wood' - meaning...they put out their flowers on growth that happens the previous Summer/Fall.  That's the very same growth that the dang rabbits were eating.   As a result, last Fall, bought A LOT of chicken wire.   I learned from experience I had with the small Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangea that I bought at the Morton Arboretum last Spring:  they grew their entire life inside of a chicken wire ring .  And they bloomed.    So, I created rings of chicken wire and surrounded every one of my Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  And the work paid off.  Here (be

A few days ago, I yanked out the chicken-wire cages that held a heavy leaf blanket on top of our three Disneyland Roses.  Those leaves were there to help insulate the crown of the roses from the harsh Winter conditions.  With the warmer temperatures (and...shorter periods of sub-freezing temps) here, it was time to let the roses breath a bit.  I still have to clean up all the leaf litter (see below), but for now, these Disneyland Roses are on their course for 2023.   I removed the cages around mid-March last year , so I went about a week earlier this year.   I'll start feeding these in April and then hit them every month to keep them happy. 

One of the things in the garden that we didn't get this past season were ANY blooms on the stand of Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are planted near the patio.  Rabbits ate 'em all up last Winter by gnawing on the tips.  This year? I used chicken wire to protect them .  And...a quick peek at them outside shows that the tips are all hanging on - out of reach of the dang! rabbits.  See below for a couple of mid-Winter shots.  Leaves still hanging on, too. Way less than were on in mid-December .  But, as you can see...a bunch still there.  

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to create the chicken wire ring to help protect one of our Disneyland Rose bushes (They are a Floribunda Rose) on the southside of our house.  I picked - at that time - the middle one of the three to protect.  I've done this a number of years now and I'm NOT certain that it does anything really.  But...it doesn't take much effort and I'd hate to lose these flowers, so I decided to do all three this year.   That's what you see below:  all three Disneyland Rose bushes now protected by a ring of 2' tall, 1" chicken wire.  Then, filled with leaf litter to help create (hopefully) an insulation blanket for Winter.    I still have a tiny bit of leaf collection/pickup/mulching to do, but I'm hoping these 'settle' a bit so I can put more leaves in the bins. 

Ten days ago, I posted a couple of photos a new (to me) project of trying to grow hydrangeas from cuttings .  I tried two different culitvars (Limelight and Strawberry Vanilla) at the time and frankly...I wasn't sure if what I was doing was going to work and/or if it was going to be too late in the growing season to even attempt these. I still don't have the answer to the second question (is it too late?), but I do have a mixed-results answer to how they would do.  That answer?  The Limelight seems to have transitioned from cutting to (potentially) rooted.  The Vanilla Strawberry cutting?  Not so much. Here, below, is the limelight cutting.  The most critical thing to note?  The new, lighter color leaves at the center.  These new leaves are a sign that this cutting has managed to 'take hold': The larger leaves are cut.  And that's on purpose.  I trimmed them in half as a way to try to help the little cutting survive.  Some plantsmen call them 'solar panels'

We have a couple of clusters of Brunnera in our garden - a trio of Jack of Diamonds on the southside .  And a trio of Queen of Hearts on the northside .  Both of those sets have done well and are quite striking in their silver-tinged foliage.  They work well in shady spots and have seemingly established themselves over the past growing season (plus).  Last week, I showed a photo of one of the new perennials that the Bird bought up at Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin (White Wanda Speedwell - maybe White Wands Speedwell... ) and mentioned that she bought a few other things.   This post is about a pair of Brunnera Macrophylla - Hearth-leaved Brunnera - that she bought and planted in her little garden in the backyard.   Below is the sign from Roy Diblik's nursery in Wisconsin: And, here (below) shows the location of the pair of these Brunneras in her garden.  They're planted in front of the Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum (you can see one of them at the top of the photo.  Al

Back in 2019, I planted six tiny Candian Hemlock trees in a couple of spots of our yard.  When I say 'tiny', I mean 'tiny'.  These were less than a foot tall at the time.  Here's the first three - that went into the far back corner of our yard.  And here's the second three that went into the north side border - in the shade.  That (the shade part) is the point of these.  They are evergreens that *work* in shade.   Over time, we lost half of these.  The (dang) rabbits destroyed them during the winter .  I didn't notice until the following Spring, so after that, I've decided to protect them with chicken wire .   We have three remaining.  Two along the north border.  One in the far back.   It has been a while since I clock'd these into the garden diary/tree diary, so I thought I'd document their current state.  Are they big?  No.  But, the two on the north side are doing well.  These are the two that didn't get gnawed at by rabbits.   Here, be

I bought and planted a pair of Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale this Spring.    Here's the location and lay-of-the-bed where they went in . I've had trouble with Oakleaf Hydrangeas being eaten up by dang rabbits in the past, so I decided to ring these in chicken wire to protect their tender shoots this Summer - their initial growing season. By last month - the end of June - they both were showing the beginnings of tall, pointy blooms .  Three weeks later?  They're starting to earn their name by putting some color on those blooms.   See below for a look at the pink that is emerging in mid-July on these flowering shrubs: I don't want to jinx myself, but (*knock wood*) so far, so good when it comes to the chicken wire.  These have seemingly avoided being decimated by the dang rabbits and leads me to believe that I REALLY need to wrap all of these in wire this Fall ahead of Winter.  

Dang rabbits.  They've taken a pretty big toll on my row of Oakleaf Hydrangeas in our backyard.  In the photo at the top, you can see the freshly-shorn-off tips.  This has happened on all of them along our south fence line - including the pair of dwarf ones. I didn't protect these from pests with wire cages because they haven't been hit in previous Winters.  However...I *have* had one of our other Oakleaf Hydrangeas (planted on the northside bed) get hit by rabbits previously.  I've protected that one with a cage.  Just like I've done other shrubs like the recently planted Arrowwood Viburnum .   Our history with rabbits is well-established and we've had them around the yard since we moved in.  Last Summer, we had a little litter born right next to our patio .  They eat anything they can get their little teeth into including some of my tree seedlings , Hemlock trees , Toad Lillies and even young Hicks Yews . Below, you can see a few more photos of these small sh

As part of my Fall planting this season, I put in a pair of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs that were called for in our backyard plan .  I put these two near the fence on the north side of one of our beds and when I planted them, I noticed that when you read about Viburnum, it seems that rabbits like to eat them up.   Noted in the garden diary.  And solved for today. When I was beginning to overwinter our backyard, I made sure to grab a couple of cages from wire (chicken wire and grid wire) and make a little perimiter ring for each of these young Viburnum to keep the rabbits at bay.  I started making these wire rabbit-proof cages for tender plants last year and have had good luck with them .   Below you can see the two shrubs with different material cages around them - with the goal being to keep the pesky rabbits (who I continue to see hanging in our beds) away from these until they get established next season. 

Back in September, I showed off a partial flat of some viable Kentucky Coffee Tree Seedlings that I had collected and germinated from seed this Spring.   In that post, I talked about how to overwinter them and explored various methods.  With our climate (Zone 5b), it seemed that the best way was to dig them into the ground to provide insulation over the harsh Winter.  So...that's what I did.  I found a fairly sunny, but protected spot in one of our beds and dug a trench.  I put the flat in the ground, covered the seedlings up with dirt and then put a layer of mulch over the top.   Then I went in for the night.  What happened next?  The damn rabbits ate a bunch of them.  Now, these Kentucky Coffee Trees have - for a long time - a bare trunk and leaflets off of them, so I can't tell if the rabbits ate down the trunks or just the leaflets.   When I figured out what was going on, I grabbed some chicken wire and made a little perimeter fence.  Below, you can see the seedlings (or w

Documenting a bit of pest damage to our Toad Lilies in late Summer/early Fall here with what I think is a rabbit gnawing on these perennials.  See below, for a photo of one of the three Toad Lilies that I planted this year.  This is the one that is closest to the fence and has suffered the most damage.  It is down to a single stalk with one good-sized leaf.  I mentioned in August that we didn't see any flowers on these this year as they were chewed right off by rabbits (I'm guessing) while we were on vacation .  In that post, I talked about having to put up some pest fencing - and I thought that would be a "next year" task.  But, with one of these suffering and me seeing a lot of rabbits around our garden, the time is now to put that fencing up.   I grabbed a little bit of chicken wire and wrapped them in a ring - with the goal of keeping these alive during their last few weeks.  I put the two on the right in one ring.  And the most-damaged one (on the left) in a ring

The last time, I posted on our toad lilies that I planted this Spring was earlier this month when I shared some photos of the buds that were about to burst and show flowers for the first time in our yard.  Fast forward to today and when I was out in back, I noticed that ALL of the flowers were gone.  Cut right off below where the buds were located.  I say 'cut', but what I really think I mean is 'chewed' right off.  By whom?  I'm guessing rabbits.   I planted these in late Spring . See below for a photo showing how these toad lilies were clipped/chewed right off.   This means that we didn't get ANY flowers from these.  Or at least, I didn't SEE them.   Note to my future self:  protect the toad lilies with some pest-fencing next year.  Maybe with some poultry wire to ring these up?  Seems like the critters like the buds and not the leaves.