Why I Oughta...

The last few Falls, I've divided a great number of Summer Beauty Alliums .  This year, I didn't get to all that many, but I *did* add a few 'free' plants.   There was a pair of them flanking the Baby Blue Spruce in back that were getting pretty big.  You can see them below - on the right in the first photo and more in the middle in the second: I dug them both up and divided each - then replaced them in their spots.  Those two new plants - via division - went in on that side of the garden.  One behind the fence - Hosta Replacement.  The other by the Disneyland Roses. Two 'free plants'.  That I KNOW perform.  That's like free money, right? With these two, I BELIEVE that I've wrapped up Fall Planting posts. What's the total from below?   Holy crap.  I planted 68 new things.  Created 26 new plants via division.  Adding 94 total things to the garden in a four-week sprint.  30 ground cover plants make up almost 1/3rd of the 94.  Wow. 94 things in the garde

Astilbes.  They're awesome.  Hard to keep and grow - normally.  But, I've had some luck with Fanal Astilbes in my shade garden. They were the VERY FIRST plant I put in - according to plan.   I've moved them a few times, but for the most part....just left them alone.   With four growing seasons under their belt ( planted in 2020 , so 2020, '21, '22 and now '23), I thought I could take a shot at Fall Dividing some of them. I decided to pick the largest four Fanal Astilbes to dig up and divide.  Two on one end, two on the other.  Below are a few 'before' photos: I made room for the four new Astilbes on the other side of the yard - and removed some hostas.  Each of the four plants was dug up, split in two.  Half went to the new spot.   The other half went back in the original hole.  Below are a few 'after' photos showing the ones that have been cut-down in size: I ended up with four new Fanal Astilbes on the north border: Like I've done in the pa

Fall is the right time to divide Seslaria.  And, I'm going to attempt to divide and transplant first-year Seslaria Autumnalis.  Why?  Because I've been so happy with them up front this year.  I identified the three largest plants in front - like the one below - and dug up and split it in two. I wanted to improve the ring around the tree-swing tree with something more interesting - so I moved the new divisions to sit in between the Christmas Tree hostas that I moved here last year.  These are behind the Summer Beauty Allium divisions from last year, too.   Below is a look at some of the divisions and where they went in the backyard. I tucked the original plants back in, too.  Now they were just half-the-size. There's a photo above of a TINY division.  I'm not counting that, so, we're calling this a +3 free plants for Fall Dividing. I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.

Last Fall, I tentatively stepped into the Ghost Ferns Dividing Business.  I had four original plants to start when I lifted one in the Fall of 2022 and created five Ghost Ferns.  I took a look at the five - the two divided segments returned this year - in Spring .  With that success under my belt, I took on dividing the rest of them. From five ferns, I now have eight ferns.   I left the two that resulted from 2022 divisions intact.  And divided up the remaining three - to create three new ferns.   Below is the 'after' showing seven Ghost Ferns in this section including one *behind* the Weeping Nootka Cypress tree.  Seven, you say?  Where's the last one?  I put it on the side of the house lining the new Boardwalk: Below are a few in-process Ghost Fern dividing photos: More Ghost Ferns is on my 2024 agenda.  Fern upgrade in process. I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.