Why I Oughta...

One of the not-so-planned set of shrubs that went in last Fall in my Fall Planting spasm was a set of three Soft Touch Hollys that went into the backyard nook area.  They were a late-season sale purchase , but I thought it was wise to diversify away from yews and boxwoods in my evergreen shrub collection.   Have they put on size?  I think so.  See below for the current state of these three Japanese Soft Touch Holly in our backyard - Zone 6a/5b.  They're fronted by some Dark Side of the Moon Astilbes and Ajuga Chocolate Chip that I put here during one of my 'garden edits' this Spring.  

In the middle of May, I moved ahead with a garden edit in our backyard that involved removing/transplanting hostas (hosta replacement project) and adding a few things from the Morton Plant Sale.  Here's the post showing the original look and what this new mixed perennial shade bed looked like a month ago .  Now, four-or-so weeks later, the area has filled in a little bit.  Below is a photo showing the current state: The Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' at the front of the border has filled in, the Dark Side of the Moon Astilbes have put on some size, as have the Summer Beauty Alliums.  Mixed in there are three Soft Touch Japanese Hollies and three Autumn Moor Grasses that I've moved around a few times.   At the back of this little garden pocket - brightening up the space - are the Sun King Aralias.   This is working - for me.    As I think about finishing up a few other spots of edits in the backyard, I'll revisit this combination - in particular the Alliums and Aralias.  

Last month, I wrote about how 2024 might end up being the year of the great "Garden Edit" for our backyard .  I collected my thoughts about what I was drawn-to garden-wise and that boiled down to a few things:  planting in masses, focused on plants that work for our garden, have some appeal foliage-wise and have some four-season appeal (or at least 2 or 3 season).   I outlined a few places that I thought about editing including around the tree swing tree, the kitchen curved bed, IB2DWs and the 'hosta replacement project' on both sides of far backyard.   The first "Garden Edit" that I took on was the tree swing tree .  Where, I reorganized some things and pulled the Hakonechloa Macra (green ones) Grasses to the front and plan on carrying that drift further back.   The second "Garden Edit" was the southside Hosta Replacement Project/Stumpery .  I pulled out a number of hostas and transplanted the All Gold Hakonechloa Macra grasses from the Tree Swing

Dark foliage is something I've been chasing for a number of years.  I'm a foliage gardener.  And that mostly means greens.  Light greens.  Dark greens.  Glossy greens.  Dull greens.  But, starting last year, I was turned-on to the idea of being deliberate about dark foliage.  Guessing it was Erin the Impatient Gardener who talked about dark foliage.  I included it on my 2022 to-do list.   And have done a few things in recent years: purple heucheras , a Chocoholic Black Snakeroot , and t his silvery Coral Bell that I planted late last Fall and hasn't quite emerged just yet.   So, when I saw that sign (above) at the Morton Arboretum Plant sale, these were the FIRST things in my box.  I grabbed three of them.  Should have bought even more.   I stuck them into the southside bed -  behind the Twinkle Toes Pulmonaria (I moved these closer to the front of the border last Fall ), and sort of weaved in next to some Summer Beauty Allium.    Below is a photo showing their initial si