Why I Oughta...

I've mentioned that I failed/made a big gardening mistake when it comes to conifers.  The rule of: "Conifers Should Come First" is something that I wasn't aware of, until this Fall.  That's when I went about a dizzy'ing spring of planting my own conifer garden IB2DWs.  What's so great about conifers?  Texture and structure are a couple of big reasons to believe in conifers.  But, four-season gardening is (maybe?) the biggest for this Zone 5b (Now Zone 6a!!!) gardener.   Everything around here goes dormant.  Some perennials like hostas just totally disappear.  Grasses hang around all Winter.  Decidious trees go bare.  But, conifers?  They stand tall and proud during the Winter.   This past week, we had our first real snow fall of the year.  And, the dwarf conifer garden was a new highlight.  Below are a few photos showing some of the conifers covered in snow:

Ajugas.  More Ajugas.  They're awesome plants.  So, why not fill in some spots, right? I've already posted about a pair of Burgundy Glow Ajugas (one IB2Dws and other by Screened porch) and eight Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' - five in the Driveway Island bed and three on the south border of the front porch bed.  I bought another six-pack of Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' and while I'm pretty sure I planted all six, I can only (now) count five.  Here are a few photos showing those five.  First, three in the front IB2DWs section - filling in the space by the 2-year-old GreenVelvet boxwoods.  Then, two more in back - fronting the new Baby Blue Spruce tree by the Linden espalier. I've had some luck with Fall Planting Ajuga, so here's hoping these five take.  And..who knows...maybe I'll discover the sixth this Winter - once I pick up all the leaves. I'm posting this in November 2023, but I did this dividing and transplanting in mid-October 2023.

#10 on my 2023 to-do list was to do a 'fern upgrade' .  That means replacing the Ostrich Ferns (my first love) with ferns that do better and last longer.  I've written about this a few times before and even tried to implement this last Fall with planting a number of Autumn Ferns late.  But...not all of them made it.  Despite that, I decided to roll the dice (again) and plant Autumn Ferns late in the growing season.  This time, they're slightly bigger, though.  ( Last year, I planted 12 and only six small ones came back. ) Also..of note...I planted two Crested Wood Ferns earlier this year - as part of my #FernUpgrade project . One of the things that I'm evolving on in my garden are hostas.  I was a hosta guy.  But, the thing that I'm starting to notice - over time - is that Hostas totally disappear come dormancy.  That leaves BIG swaths of NOTHING in the garden all winter.  Are hostas going to stay in my garden?  Yes.  But, I'm done dividing any of them that

The #FallPlanting beat goes on with a new (to me) shrub that I planted in the front porch bed - sort-of tucked in between the new (this year) Disneyland Roses and the tiny Green Velvet Boxwoods .   Was this in the plan that I had in mind?  Nope. Then...why would it go here? The answer to that is, of course rooted in Fall nursery sales.  But, a good price wouldn't be enough to get me to make the leap.  Nope. What made this all come together is this specific shrub:  A Matcha Ball Ash Leaf Spirea.  Here, below, is the young shrub planted in its spot in my front porch bed: What's so special about this shrub?  Well...you can tell a lot by just looking at it.  Here's what First Editions says about it : Forming a perfect round ball fern-like leaves cover Matcha Ball® in a fresh shade of green, much like Matcha tea. When the leaves first emerge in very early spring, the leaves and petioles have hints of red and orange-peach that ultimately mature to green in the summer and yellow

Back earlier this Summer, I bought and planted eight Autumn Moor Grasses - Sesleria Autumnalis - from Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin .  They went in a staggered planting in our front porch beds to provide two things:  something interesting in front of the boxwoods that wasn't too tall AND something that would come up after the large Allium foliage begins to die back and would hid the dying leaves.   One of the things at all gardeners chase is the notion of a four-season garden.  You want things to be interesting and in-bloom in Spring, Summer and Fall.  And, ideally have a little winter show during dormancy.  That notion - of bloom time coupled with their short height - is what sold me on these Autumn Moor Grasses .  They show strong in the Fall.  Here we are on October 1st and what do they look like in their first year?  Like real stars: They're just what I wanted - with low, mounding foliage and see-thru seed heads that rise up above.  The Dusty Miller volunteers sort-

Last Fall, I bought and planted two (at that time) new (to me) Heucheras:  Dolce Silver Gumdrops.  They were at Lowe's end-of-the-season sale and I said that I was going to plant them in over by the Guacamole Hostas .  Today, there's just one of them.  And, I don't really see *where* I could have planted the other one as there isn't a ton of empty space around.  But that one?  It is showing up well right now - Late Summer/Early Fall with silver foliage and tiny pink blooms about to arrive.  See below for a photo of the current state of this Silver Gumdrop Coral Bells: I've had mixed results with Heucheras over the years.  Some that I've neglected have done great.  Others that I've baby'd have perished.  This one is small, but that's by design.  The listing talks about this Heuchera's size this way : Silver Gumdrop’ is a smaller scale Heuchera, the perfect size for a container. Growers and gardeners alike will be pleased that it is a vigorous gro

Back in the Summer of 2021, I planted three Serendipity Allium - Ornamental Onions - in the IB2DWs bed along with some other blue/purple plants .   I'm pretty sure that I saw someone on YouTube talk about these as a close cousin to a plant that I love (and have planted in a lot of places) - Allium Summer Beauty.  The foliage of Serendipity is different than Summer Beauty - perhaps you'd describe it as more 'strap-y'.  But, the concept is *mostly* the same. As I mentioned in a recent post, I was away from my yard and garden for more than a week recently and when I came back, I felt like I was 'seeing' or 'discovering' some new (to me) things about growth and bloom-time.   That idea - bloom-time - is what this post is about and why I'm posting this in the garden diary.   Here, below, is a peek at the two (remaining) Serendipity Alliums IB2DWs - in full bloom this late in August.  Note...there are just two of these Alliums left, one has died. Compared

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' tall. Features elongated, c

Here comes planting season. The first of the new perennials has just gone in:  the three primrose that we bought at Wannemaker's early season sale .  These are Primula belarina 'Blue Champion' and I interplanted them with the Twinkle Toes Lungwort that I transplanted late last growing season (I moved them closer to the front of the border in order to allow space for other things in the middle of the bed that are taller .) and they have reemerged this Spring.   This area is more Sunny this time of year, but becomes more shade as the trees take on their seasonal leaves.   My hope is they'll be watered in (enough) to get established this year and as the Lungwort grows up, it will protect these Primrose a little bit.  

One of the most unique evergreens (or mostly-evergreen) perennials that we have in the garden are the Hellebores - or Lenten Roses - that are planted in our backyard on the northside in the front of the border.  What started with just one, is now four.  We added three new Ivory Prince Hellebores at the Morton Arboretum sale this past season .  Here, below are the four Hellebores - one Sally's Shell, three Ivory Prince:  The three newly planted (in 2022) Ivory Prince Hellebores are planted in the triangle shape *around* the Sally's Shell.  Size-wise, it seems that at least one of the new ones has caught up to the Sally's Shell.   What's really striking about these is that the foliage persists well past the frosts.  What typically happens that by late Winter, this year's foliage will die back and one of the first things we'll see is the new plant emerge from the soil.  Here's a photo of the original Sally's Shell emerging from the mulch in early March of l

Planted in 2021, all three of our Butterscotch Amsonia have made it through two growing seasons and are starting to fill in.  But, they're also doing what they're SUPPOSED TO DO:  put on a nice Fall show.   Below, you can see the trio of these that - to the naked eye - almost look ELECTRIC.  Like they're plugged in.  They've put on size and are showing way more fine, yellow foliage than last year .   These get big - and over time - they'll fill in even more, but I'm already thinking that I could plant more of these in other parts of the garden next year.   I should include these on a newly created Morton Plant Sale 2023 Wish list.  

Yesterday, I posted about the Brown's Yew that I planted and talked about how I was closing the planting season the same way I started:  with shrubs.  Today is ANOTHER (and I think last) plant going in this season:  A Lemon Thread False Cypress.  Both of those shrubs that I planted this Fall are evergreens, so I feel like this checks a couple of boxes:  shrubs and evergreens for four-season interest.   As a reminder, #1 on my 2022 to-do list was to prioritize shrubs .  And #2 was to add four-season gardening plants .  One of the answers to both of those challenges are evergreen shrubs. Here - below - is the Lemon Thread Cypress - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'lemon thread' -  that we brought home from Lowe's: And, here (below) is the tag - with the 50% off sale, this was just $15. The tag shows the proper name:  Chamoecyparis pisifera 'Lemon Thread'.  This was a new (to me) shrub, so when I saw it on the nursery table, I went to the Web to figure out if we could mak

Over the weekend, we popped into Lowe's to find that their entire garden center (aside Fall things like mums and kale) has been marked down 50%.  Lowe's isn't super convenient for us, but one of the things that I've noticed over the past couple of seasons is that they do a nice job with their garden center and usually carry things that are not normally sold in the Orange Big Box store nursery.  Last year, I planted a couple of purple Heucheras that I bought at Lowes that were 50% off and they've done well in the garden .  Those Purple Palace Coral Bells/Heucheras have all managed to survive this growing season and have put on growth.  This post shows all three of them and talks about the decline of another variety - Dolce Apple Twist .   My experience with those two - the common Purple Palace doing well and the more exotic Apple Twist not so much - was front and center when I came across a couple of plants at Lowes 50% off sale.   As I was walking down the nursery

Yesterday, I posted some photos of a six new (but small) Autumn Ferns that I planted in our backyard as part of my Fall planting program .  In that post, I talked about how I've been really impressed with the first three Autumn Ferns that I planted in 2021 and knew I wanted to add even more.  I've long expressed my strong relationship with perennial ferns and how they're my favorite plant in the garden.  That love of ferns started with Ostrich Ferns, but of late, has shifted away from them as I've found new, better, more interesting shade garden partners.  And ones that don't deteriorate in August and September .   One of my 2022 to-do list items was to plant more four-season plants (#2) and Autumn Ferns were (at least last year) showing up strong deep into the Winter.  As of yesterday, I had nine Autumn Ferns planted - 3 in 2021 and now six in 2022.  But, I was back at the Orange Big Box store and I found even more of the 50% off Autumn Ferns - or Erythrosora fern

Back in 2019, I transplanted a dark read Coral Bell perennial that I had in our urn container into the bed on the side of the garage and didn't think much about it.  It survived that first Winter and grew to a nice size.  Last Spring, I decided to divide it up into three plants.  This is an area of deep shade, so after dividing them, I didn't water them too much.  But, by Fall all three of them had survived .  Fast forward to this Spring and all three are showing new, dark red (maroon) foliage in the long, linear bed along the garage.  You can see them below: This photo - while posted in early June - was actually take in early May before I mulched the beds.  One of my 2022 to-do items (#16) was to design with dark foliage .  These certainly count as dark foliage.  Another item (#12) continue to divide plants.  These are too small (right now) to think about dividing them, but I'm thinking they'll go on a two or three-year schedule.   2019: Planted in container. Transpl

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos showing the location of the Little Honey Oakleaf Hydrangeas that we bought at the Morton Arboretum and planted in the backyard (southside bed, understory of the secondary Northern Red Oak tree).   I also bought two MORE Oakleaf Hydrangeas from the sale - Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas - that are also planted (now) in our backyard.  This time, however, they are in the northside bed.  These Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangas  (Hydrangea Quercifolia) are MUCH darker green than the Little Honey variety, but like the Little Honey, these maintain a compact form of under five feet tall .   Last year, when I moved the Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas out from the fence, I moved ONE of them over to the south bed - in between the Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree and the Weeping Nootka Falsecypress tree .   The plan calls for three flowering shrubs planted in a cluster here and that's why I brought home two Ruby Slippers shrubs from the Morton Arboretum Sale.  

Day three of running through what I brought home from the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale last weekend.  Started with talking about how I prioritized shrubs and came home (first) with three Little Honey Oakleaf Hydrangeas and two Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas . #2 on my 2022 to-do list was to try to add perennials that had four-season appeal and I mentioned, specifically that I needed to buy more Hellebores .  Thanks to drafting a plan and bringing it to the sale, I'm really glad that I was able to prioritize both flowering shrubs and....able to fit in three Hellebores into the budget.   Our plan calls for twenty (20) Hellebores (Lenten Roses) in two different colonies .  Listen...I really LOVE Hellebores.  But, they're ALWAYS so expensive.  I'm talking $20+ for each one.  And, the big box nurseries never carry them.  But, I needed to - as I said - 'bite the bullet' and buy some.   We have just ONE Hellebores - Sally's Shell - that we bought in

In the flurry of late-season planting in the backyard, I managed to sneak in a trio of dwarf ornamental grasses - Miscanthus sinesis 'Adagio ' - in an area underneath the tree swing Northern Red Oak.  They're tucked in behind a colony of Japanese Forest Grasses and in front of the Belgian Fence Apple tree espalier.  One of the noteworthy characteristics of this cultivar is that the flower panicles grow up and out into these gently curving/arching feather heads that provide a lot of Winter interest.  This is the first season we've had these and I'm happy to see the initial view we're getting after these being in the ground for just a short period of time this year.  See below for a look at the feathers at the top: I can already imagine what these will look like in the coming years as they fill in and thicken-up.  I've historically left ALL of my grasses in place over winter and these seem to be no different.  If you're looking for an inexpensive, zone 5