Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I showed off the one-gallon Limelight Hydrangea that I've grown from a cutting and how it was throwing off its first blooms .  In that post, I talked about how I was going to prune some of the limbs back to get it to be a little less 'leggy'.  This morning, I did just that.  But, I also did something else:  drenched it.  Here, below, is the limelight hydrangea after pruning off the tips.  I kept 3 sets of leaves on all limbs, but clipped off everything above that third pair.  It was looking a little droopy, still: But, a few hours later - after the water had time to work its way through the plant's system, here (below) is what it looked like - a lot less stressed: I'll make sure this thing is happy for the rest of the month, then come September - when the temps begin to drop - I'm hoping it will continue to put on some new growth. 

Back in the late Summer of 2022, I tried to get a couple of flowering shrub cuttings to root.  One of them - a Limelight Hydrangea cutting managed to get established that first month and put on some growth .   Ever since, I've kept it in a container and somewhat protected - both during Summer (in the shade) and Winter (buried in the ground).  Last Fall - October 2023, I upgraded it from a quart nursery container to a one-gallon nursery pot .   This year, I put the small container shrub in the shade of the understory bed and mostly neglected it.  It put on foliage and then....recently....it put on its first-ever blooms.  Four of them.  Two opened up, two more on their way.   See below for a peek: How nice to find this little treat.  Something I've neglected has FOUND A WAY.  It does, however, appear to be a little 'leggy', so I'm thinking that I'm going to give it a haircut to bring it down in size and try to stimulate a li...

Our Limelight Hydrangeas have *always* been just a little bit better performers than the rest of our hydrangeas.  I'm talking panicle, oakleaf, mountain.  We have a bunch, but these two shrubs, planted on the side of our front porch have been PROLIFIC for a while.  They went in when we built the house - Summer 2017, so this is their EIGHT growing season.   Last Summer, they went ham and threw off a ton of blooms.  I've pruned them each late Winter to try to thin some of them out and avoid the flopping that comes with these giant pannicle heads.  This year - we're getting (I think) the biggest bloom.   Have a look at these shrubs as they're LOADED:

We have three Doublefile Viburnums that are grafted tree-form in shape in our backyard.  Two along the north fence line, one on the far west (far back) by the firepit.  I planted these in Spring of 2022 , making this their third growing season.  These have emerged earlier than last year (2023 - their first Spring) and I suspect the warmer, earlier Spring accounts for that earlier wake-up.  Last year, at the beginning of May, these were *just* leafing out .  This year, they're ALREADY blooming in that first full week of May.  This post is on May 12th, but I took these photos a few days ago when the shrubs were in full-boom.   They bud'ed out in March this year .  And now flowered in May.  They've put on some size - both height and width and are growing into their screening-purpose.    Last year, I posted photos of these blooms in mid-May .  So, these are about two-weeks ahead of 2023.   Below are some photos - fir...

A couple weeks ago, I posted some photos of the (very few) Lilac blooms that we were seeing on our flowering shrubs this year and mentioned that while I had two varieties, one of them - the Nocturne Lilacs - had never bloomed.   Even after being transplanted to a more full-sun location.  So, imagine my delight when I was out in the garden and noticed these dark purple tightly-would flower buds on the tips of some of the Nocturne Lilac tips: These are a couple weeks behind all the other Lilacs in our neighborhood.  But...a quick poke around the Web reveals that the two-week delay is EXACTLY by design .   The late blooming lilacs bloom about two weeks later than the common lilacs and include the Preston hybrids. They are fragrant, robust plants that can be more tree like and resistant to powdery mildew. ‘Nocturne’ is a profuse bloomer with deep violet buds opening to a lilac-pink lightly scented flower. Extending the Lilac season - love that.    "D...

I planted a lone Lemony Lace Elderberry (from Proven Winners) late in the season of Fall 2022.  It was bought at the end-of-season sale at the Growing Place and came back for the first time last Spring.  Here's a post showing the purple buds on the shrub in April 2023 .    Last year, I planted another pair of elderberry shrubs - this time they were dark-foliage Eiffel Tower varieties .   The Lemony Lace Elderberry has BRIGHT green foliage that resembles a finely dissected Japanese Maple.  It is also supposed to flower.  This one with big, white blooms that arrive before the foliage.  But, I didn't seen any blooms in the first growing season.  Maybe we will this year?   That's what happened with the treeform Doublefile Viburnum shrubs.  Planted in Spring of 222 and didn't flower that first year.  But, when they came back for their second growing season (2023), they put out a lovely set of large, white blooms . ...

Our front yard hydrangeas have never had a better year than this year.  Full stop.  They are covered with blooms.  And those blooms are big and full.  Leading to the WORST flopping that we've ever hard - even with the large Limelight Hydrangeas that have been the most productive over the years. First...the Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas.  They are starting to 'turn' with pink showing up on the flowers - you can see one of them below: I've tracked this 'turning' over the years - in 2017 it started in July , in 2018 it was in September,  same in 2019  and in 2022 (last year), I only documented them when they were in full color - October.   This year it is late August when they're starting to add pink to the big, white mophead blooms. As for the flopping, it appears that the removal of the Norway Maple has changed so much up there and that I'll have to deal with them this Summer (trying to string them up) and that my pruning technique will have to cha...

Just a few days ago, I posted photos of three (happy) Little Lime Hydranges in our backyard garden.  They are NOT the only dwarf varieties of hydrangeas that we have planted.  We also have three Oakleaf hydrangeas - Little Honey - that are from the Morton Arboretum plant sale.  I put them in the ground in May of 2022 .  These were gobbled up/gnawed-on by the dang rabbits, so I protected them all Winter. All three re-emerged this year with foliage.  But, suddenly...one of them has taken a turn.  See below for the current state of these three.  Clearly a 'good', 'middle' and 'bad', right? They all appear to be dealing with similar conditions:  light and water.  One of them is a TINY bit closer to a large Black Walnut tree, but I don't think that could be the issue.  Could it? I'll keep an eye on the troubled one, but my hunch is that it may NOT make it through this year.

Last Summer (June 2022), I bought three Little Lime Hydrangea (a dwarf cultivar of Limelight ) and planted them in front of the Belgian Fence of Apple trees.  They were small, but produced a handful of blooms in late July that first growing season . Fast-forward a year and these three flowering shrubs have changed quite a bit.  They're thicker, more full and...FULL of blooms this year.  See below for a photo of their current (mid-August) state: These are a really good solve for this spot - they're at the back of the bed, but with the Belgian Fence behind, I couldn't use a full-height shrub here as they'd obscure the espalier.  So, this dwarf version is perfect.   It also has me thinking about how I could re-use these in other spots that are mid-bed.  Further back on this same northside of the backyard, there are spots.  And, maybe even IB2DWS?

Before we left town in June, I planted a pair of new (to me) Oakleaf Hydrangeas - Snow Queen - along the fence in an attempt to extend/continue that run of Oakleaf Hydranges along that bed .  These are interplanted with some evergreens - Green Giant Thujas.  When I planted these, I followed Ralph Snodsmith's advice and gave these "Five Dollar Holes" along with a heavy dose of municipal biosolids to get them started.    I set up irrigation for the couple of weeks post-planting for these flowering shrubs and I'm very surprised at how much growth they appear to have put on in such a short time.  See below for a photo showing the pair of shrub as they stand now.  Flip back here .  Very different in a short period of time, right?  I'll plan on protecting these with chicken wire this Fall/Winter and hopefully...we'll see some blooms next year.  

Last Fall, I planted a Lemony Lace Elderberry that we bought at the end-of-year sale at The Growing Place basically on a whim .  I've come across Elderberry shrubs before, but I didn't have them in our plan.  But, a quick Google search of the Lemony Lace Elderberry had me intrigued, so I brought it home.    This Spring, the Lemony Lace Elderberry has become a star in the garden.  F rom the purple buds that first emerged to the BRIGHT foliage in a dark spot in our garden, it has really impressed me.   So, when I came across something called a dark-foliage Elderberry that was called Eiffel Tower Black Elderberry, I was intrigued.  Here's the tag for the Eiffel Tower Elderberry: Just like with the Lemony Lace Elderberry, I went off to looking on the Web for details.  The Missouri Botanic Garden has this to say about the Black Tower Elderberry : It is an upright columnar shrub with dark stems and large serrated leaves that emerge celery green an...

Yesterday, I posted details of how I had to move a small Tuff Stuff Red Mountain Hydrangea to make room for some new Oakleaf Hydrangeas.   I had been holding a few spots for some shade-tolerant Hydrangeas (per our plan) that extend the row of Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas from our kitchen window bed all the way back to the south Oak tree.   The plan calls for a mix of Oakleaf and Tardiva Hydrangeas - both shade-tolerant flowering shrubs - to fill in the remaining space.   I was on a trip to Menards and came across a pair of Oakleaf Hydrangeas that weren't on my radar:  Snowqueen Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  Here's the tag on the shrub: And, here below is the full tag: That idea of Winter protection for the first year is new (to me).  Maybe I can do leaf mulch with these, too? The Missouri Botanical Garden has this page up with this description that had me at the word 'upright': SNOW QUEEN has an upright broad, rounded habit and typically grows 4-6' tal...

Back along the fence, behind the large colony of Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion is one of my first flowering shrubs - that has NEVER flowered :  Tuff Stuff Red Hydrangea .  Part of our plan is extending the current row of Oakleaf Hydrangeas with another few flowering shrubs that sit in front of - and in between - the Green Giant Thujas .   In order to plant the new flowering shrubs (I ended up finding another Oakleaf Hydrangea variety), I needed to move the Tuff Stuff Hydrangea.  It never has grown much in size (nor...flowered), so I knew I could tuck it into some smaller spots.  I opted for moving it right next to the other non-blooming hydrangea - the Everlasting Revolution - closer to the border of that same bed.  See below for a photo showing the location of the newly transplanted (and slightly larger) Tuff Stuff Red Hydrangea: With that out of the way, I can move on to planting the pair of Snowqueen Oakleaf Hydrangeas. 

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 ev...

I've continued to make progress on my #3 priority on the 2023 to-do list:  the front porch bed .  Most recently, it was planting of five very small (1 gallon) Green Velvet Boxwoods that run from the new Triumph Elm to the property line and (will) create some structure in the bed.  Earlier this month, I laid out a bit of an overview of the plan up there - including what I wanted to plant.  In that post , I listed the plant material required. Here's where it stands after the Boxwoods: 3 Disneyland Roses  (planted) 4 Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses  (have them, just need to transplant) 1 Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea 10-12 Ajuga Chocolate Chip 8 (or so) Summer Beauty Allium 4-5 Green Velvet Boxwoods (going to buy small) 8-10 Moor Grassses Flat or two of French Marigolds (Annuals) The next item on my list is solving for that Hydrangea. I have three Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas up there that have been doing...umm...just fine. One of them died, but th...

This is the first true Spring for the treeform Doublefile Viburnum shrubs that I planted early last Spring.  I say "first true" Spring because I planted these when they were *mostly* still dormant last year and they leaf'd out post-planting.  I planted four of these and three have made it through the first year.  The best of the bunch is along the northside and that's the one that has been the most prolific early bloomer.  Below are a couple of photos showing the blooms in mid-May.  They're really quite nice as they sit - sort-of - on 'top' of the shrub.   I didn't have treeform on my radar when I bought these, but I'm sure glad that I pulled the trigger and brought these home.  The treeform Viburnum provides two great benefits (for me...at least):  Instant height and maturity coupled with ability to underplant with perennials.  

Last Spring, I dug out two pairs of Lilac flowering shrubs and moved them from a shady, understory spot along the south fence (under a Walnut tree, too) to the north side fenceline - in a a more open, and sunny location.   The two 'common' Lilac shrubs have responded and are flush with green leaves and new growth at the tips.  These were planted as small, 2 gallon shrubs in 2018 .  And they struggled.  Too much shade.  Too much Walnut (probably).   That's why I moved them out.  I planted them along with some Thujas.  Those...didn't work.  More on losing two of those soon .  But, the Lilacs?  The common ones, at least.  They're seemingly thriving.   They are thickening up and growing.  See below for first a photo of the pair of them and then the new growth on the tips. Would love to see these get over the top of the fence height this growing season.

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.  

Most everything has let go of their leaves for the season.  Our Hornbeams are holding some of their leaves and the Chanticlear Pear flowering trees have many of theirs, too.  But, there are a few shrubs that are playing the marcescence game, too.   The deciduous shrubs that I recently noticed are holding their leaves are a few varieties of Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  This is, I think, the latest they've head their leaves into Winter, but this is ALSO the first year that I've protected them with chicken wire cages from the dang rabbits.  So...is it just a unique situation where they're holding their leaves longer than normal?  Or, is the nibbling from the rabbits what has - in past years - caused the leaves to drop?  Either way, I'm happy to see these leaves stick around. First...the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are closer to the house.  These are holding deep purple leaves on all of them.  See below: Also, a little further down that same bed ...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of this strange feather grass that is still green and alive in a large container on my patio and mentioned that everything else has gone dormant and has suffered from the series of frost-filled overnights that we had last week.  Almost all of the various shrubs have dropped their leaves and most of the low-and-mid-height perennials have let their leaves and flowers shed.  But, there are a few things of note in the garden that I thought I'd document for the diary here. First, the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  They're still holding their leaves.  And those leaves are a dark, dark red/maroon.  A few green ones, too.  See below for a peek at one of these in our backyard: Also, below, you can see the three Twinkle Toes Pulmonaria that are wilting from the frost.