Why I Oughta...

One of the current-season 'gardening wins' that I'm going to take are the three Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs that I planted in mid-August down at the corner of the driveway and sidewalk .  These are in the 'island bed' and right against those hard surfaces. I watered them *a little bit*, but they mostly seemed to handle themselves.  I planted them mid-Summer, so I'm hoping they'll overwinter better than others have in the past - when I planted Ajuga as part of a "fall planting" cycle.   See below for the three little plugs and how much they've grown in 2.5 months: 

The star of our early Fall garden?  It is clearly the Lucky Charm Anemone in the 'kitchen curved' bed in the backyard.  I've posted about this same 'early Fall' or 'late Summer' flower show over the years including last year when I showed it in late August .  Or in 2023 when I posted (again) in Late August .   I posted a month ago when this first started blooming in late August of this year.   This photo below is posted on the very last day of September, so more than a month later than the past two years.  I'd describe this as being 'peak bloom' right now with the top of the long flower stems being FULL of pink petals with yellow centers.  I've been using cuts of this flower in arrangements for the past few months and as the petals drop, what is left behind is a sort-of chartreuse 'ball' on top of the thin, wire-y stem that I can also use in the final few Dahlia arrangements in the next few weeks.  This is another 'garden win'...

Back in May, I planted three small quart-sized containers of a new (to me) Nepeta named Chartreuse on the Loose .  I put them in near the timbers of the retaining wall for the pizza oven that is a part-sun spot.  It gets shade all morning, then full sun from late morning (as the sun comes over our house) until mid-afternoon (when the sun hides behind the canopy of the large trees in our backyard).   When they were planted, the three plants looked small.  And far apart from each other .   Now, four-plus-months later, here is what those same three small plug-like plants look like (below):  a colony of Nepeta. Back in the original post , I included this plant description from Walter's Garden on this variety of Nepeta: 'Chartreuse on the Loose' is a perennial with season long interest perfect for lining the front of the border. The foliage allows for a full three seasons of interest with bright chartreuse yellow leaves. Clusters of lavender blue flow...

Back in June, I p lanted ten (10) small plugs of White Polka Dot Plant Annuals in between the Green Velvet Boxwoods that are planted at the base of the Linden espalier.   I saw these same white ones in the Morton Arboretum Fragrance Garden (the shade part) in 2021 and loved them since back then.   They handle the shade and with their white dots on the foliage, can brighten up some of these darker spaces.  Being planted right under the trees, this area gets no direct sunlight.  It isn't SHADE, but it stays pretty dark and - when watered - damp.   All ten of the annuals have survived and are now putting on some size.  Below is a photo showing them in late July: I'm already thinking about these for cut flowers as accent pieces.  And, for next year - as annuals in the backyard.   One of my goals is to focus (more) on repetition.  These might be the annuals that I can tuck in around the back to help increase the 'legibility' ...