Why I Oughta...

For years, there's been a plant that I spot in other gardens that I always admire, but don't have planted in my own garden.  It is (dare I say?) common.   It has a lot of features that I'm drawn to:  fuzzy and (occasionally) white/grey foliage.   I'm talking about Lamb's Ear.   You see it everywhere, too. Everywhere, but my garden. However, I recently came across something new (to me):  A cultivar named "Little Lamb".  Here are the small containers of Little Lamb on the nursery table: Little Lamb Lamb's Ear - Stachys Byzantina - on the nursery table. Proven Winners describes it : Velvety-soft, greenish-silver leafy plant stays compact and is great for edging, border gardens and containers. "Stays compact".   That part, I like.  The small container lists it as a 'groundcover'.  See below: High Country Gardens says : "Fuzzy, silver leaves make a splendid groundcover and weed smother." But, they go on to brag on it even...

You've heard of Chocolate Chip.  And Burgundy Glow.  But...I came across something new (to me) at the big box store:  Princess Leia Ajuga.  It is green and white and has foliage that appears to be in-between sizing (in-between the smaller Chocolate Chip foliage and the broader Burgundy Glow foliage).  Below are the quart-sized plants for $7: Here's what Wayside Gardens says about Princess Leia : Ajuga Princess Leia is an evergreen perennial offering year-round interest. A highly popular plant, Princess Leia quickly creates a striking and colorful carpet of uniquely patterned, variegated green and white leaves that's blanketed in whorls of deep purple flowers in spring. Nectar-rich, the flower spikes are extremely attractive to bees. Star Wars in the garden?  What's not to like about that? I can think of two dozen spots for this groundcover in our garden.  

This is a [garden diary] update on the kitchen curved bed - in particular the Anemone Lucky Charm that has been growing the past few years in between the peonies and the Astilbes/Matcha Ball Fern Leaf Spirea.   Back in May, I planted a dwarf Blue Spruce Globosa (On Standard) in the bed and I've REALLY LOVED how that has turned out.  It has added color, texture and some shape and really pops in the spot it was planted.  It is early in the season, but if I was declaring winners/losers for the year, this would be one of my biggest "Garden Wins" of 2026.   But, this post isn't about the conifer.  It is about the groundcover flowering perennial that was disturbed when I planted the tree/shrub.   Below are a couple of photos:  First is the current state of the Lucky Charm Anemone followed by the previously-posted 'at the time of planting' comparison collage.  The Anemone has grown in quite a bit, but is currently NOT growing inside the p...

Back in the Summer of 2023, I began to discover (and plant) sedges.  One of them that has performed pretty well in the shade of our fence and Linden espalier has been Montana Sedge.  I planted three of them at first .  In the Fall of 2024, I divided some of them to add even more small groundcover plants along the fence .  On a recent trip to Northwind Perennial Farm, I came home with seven more plugs of Carex Montana: I planned on putting them in/around the existing colony of Carex Montana in the backyard. I previously planted 36 groundcover plants - all Ajuga.  These seven Montana Sedges gets me to 43 groundcover plants - a new high-planting mark.  Here, below, is a look at the area showing the small White Polka Dot annuals on the right.  In the middle, you can see the three existing Carex Montana right up against the flagstone path. These are small (right now), but they'll spread out a bit.  I opted to put one on the left side of the flagstone p...

Just yesterday, I posted details and photos of six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs that I planted along the sidewalk out front and talked about how those got my total up to 30 for the year.  My previous high-planting mark was from that epic Fall planting spring in 2023.  Today, I'm showing photos of six more Ajuga plugs going in - bringing my total this year to 36.  Matching my high. I previously put in six in front of some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the back. Today, I extended that row with six more.   Here, below is a photo showing the first six and then the empty space in front of the All Golds just beyond: Here, below is another look.  The previously planted six on the left.  The empty space calling out for groundcover to the right: This six pack of healthy plugs from the Good folks at Menards: They went in easy-peasy.  Below are two photos showing the results.  First is a look at the new six followed by a view of all twelve...

Over the past month, I've posted a number of posts about adding groundcover plugs to the garden.  The latest was a post about six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs that I put into the front yard Island Bed at the very edge of the sidewalk.  Those joined three existing ones from 2025.  They weren't the most healthy plugs, but they went in anyway.  That brought my groundcover planting total to 24 total planted for the year.  Today, I added six more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs to that same Island bed.  Five along the final edge in the front and one 'up the driveway'. This brings the total to thirty groundcover plants added (to date).  #20 on my to-do list is to "Keep Going on Groundcover" .  Thirty in the Spring is a good number.  My previous annual high-planting mark for Groundcover plants was that epic Fall 2023 season when I added 36 .  I'm right there and it is just Spring.   Adding this 'living mulch' down in the Island bed serv...

The little colony of Epimedium - which I have hoped would take off, but never have....is once again flowering with their little yellow "jester hat" flowers.  They are pretty neat.  They flowered like this in 2024 (and maybe last year?).   Below are a couple photos showing this groundcover in bloom in the shade.   I was hoping they'd fill-in some of this space, but they mostly just persist, in their existing footprint.  Maybe I haven't planted them close-enough together?  Nothing a little "stream" of sedges can't fix, right? 

Last week, I posted some photos of six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs in the kitchen curved bed in our backyard.  Those were #7-12 of groundcover plugs put in this year with the first six being Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' on the other side of the yard .  Today, I planted six more Chocolate Chip a little further back and right in front of some of the All Gold grasses.  Below are a few photos showing the process. In front of these grasses is a little bit more blank space than I'd prefer.  A perfect spot for a low, creeping living mulch. The pack of plugs is tidy and healthy in their little nursery carrying container: I've learned over the years that while Ajuga spreads out, it doesn't grow massive.  It is a 'good neighbor'.  That's why I planted the six pretty close together.   This puts me at 18 groundcover plugs planted for the year.  And, my second 'upgrade' to the Stumpery - with the first one being the addition of three All Golds ...

Yesterday, I posted a photo showing the six new Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' plugs that I stuck in the front of the border by the little colony of Hellebores in our backyard.  I talked about how I wanted to 'keep going' on groundcover this year mostly with a mix of Ajuga and Carex.  Why?  Because those are the two groundcovers that I've had the most success with over the years.  I also should list sedum because a few of those have worked, too.  #1 on my 2026 to-do list was to 'stop fighting nature' and #15 was focus on repetition vs net-new things and #20 was to 'keep going' on groundcover.  When you combine all three of those things what do you get?  The answer:  more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'.   There's plenty of reasons to shop at your local nursery over a big box store parking lot temporary nursery, but the prices on their groundcover plugs is NOT one of them.  Thanks to the folks at the Home Depot, you can buy a tray of six Ajuga plugs...

Amongst the excitement of the temperatures warming up and planting season arriving, I often need to return to my annual 'to-do' list to remind myself of the priorities.  #20 on my list was to 'keep going with groundcover' - something that I've been working on the past few seasons.  Well...groundcover AND conifers.  Because I was lacking BOTH.   My groundcover of choice has been Ajuga.  Mostly of the 'Chocolate Chip' variety.  But, I saw this tray of Burgundy Glow plugs on the bench at Menards and I figured I'd give these another run.  I say 'another run' because I've had Burgundy Glow before, but it didn't make it. I bought it for a Fairy Garden and transplanted it late in the season in the back .  It didn't survive Winter .  I also planted a single plant IB2DWs .  That one, too is gone.   This time, I'm planting six plugs.  And, planting them earlier in the year in hopes they can get established before the heat of Au...

The clumps of spreading (kind-of) groundcover named Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' are at their peak in early May this growing season.  After a period of foliage growth in April (that followed a seemingly mild Winter) on these, they're now in full bloom.  Purple/blue flowers standing tall.  In various pockets of the garden including these three clusters in the 'nook' garden bed along the front edge of that border. You can see them below.  These went in as part of a 'garden edit' in 2024 .   There were more back a few years, but I think that some of them were impacted by Winter 2024/2025.   #20 on my 2026 to-do list this year is to 'keep going with groundcover' .  Moments like this with Ajuga are a good reminder why that's a good idea.  

In the Fall of 2023, I (also) planted a pair of small Baby Blue Spruce trees in the (then) newly expanded IB2DWs bed.  They were both in five-gallon containers and were small trees that were 50%-off at the end-of-year sale.    $50 for the pair .  Looking back, that's pretty good.   When I planted these, I talked about how they are dwarf trees - hence the name 'Baby Blue'.  That means they are very slow-growing and add just a few inches per year.   This will be the third full growing season (Planted in Fall 2023, so 2024, 2025 and now 2026), but I'd certainly declare these as 'slow-to-grow'.   Below are a couple of photos showing the current state of these two trees.   First up, is the tree planted further West (closer to the house).  This one is less-perfectly-pyramidal in shape.  It almost looks like it is leaning over to the right.  And...that might be the case, because of the growing canopy of the growin...

The groundcover that caused me to 'fall' for groundcover was Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip'.  Over the years, I've planted small plugs in various spots all around our garden.  But, the very first place I planted it is the island bed that lies between our driveway and our front stoop.  I've added additional plugs in that bed in subsequent years including last year when I split a six-pack between this bed and the front (sidewalk) island bed.  Some Winters are tougher than others on this groundcover, but it seems that this year we have some good news:  I'm seeing new, curly growth on the Ajuga in the driveway island bed.  below are a couple of photos showing the current state of this bed: And, the other three (of the six-pack I mentioned above) are planted down along the sidewalk in *that* island bed.  These went in the ground in mid-August and that appears to have done the trick in terms of giving them enough time to establish themselves before dormancy. ...

See that bright patch in the photo below?  That's a patch of 'protected' Angelina Sedum that is in the same section of groundcover that I posted about yesterday .  I'm not sure where I picked up the tip, but I take some of our patio containers and tip them on their sides during winter.  In an attempt to keep them from cracking.  The container you can see peeking in the photo on the right side on the stair?  That's the one that I tipped into this bed all Winter.  That means that this bright green patch of groundcover was protected from the Winter temperatures (and snow and ice) all Winter.  Which kept the Summer-color of the Sedum all season long.    If you look at the front edge of this sedum, you'll see similar signs of rabbit damage like what I was seeing in the sedum up front last week . 

The sedum that is planted on either side of our back stoop takes on some oranges and browns during the winter months.  Here's a peek at it below.  Along with some Winter leaf litter.    This Sedum was a volunteer from one of our patio pots and I've transplanted pieces of it (now) on both sides of the stoop.  Here's a look at those beds cleaned up in April of 2025 .   I had some chipmunk problems in these beds over the years, but this Sedum covered up most of the access holes/entrances, so I've failed to solve it permanently.  

Yesterday, I posted a photo of some tulip foliage that has begun to peek thru the mulch layer in the IB2DWs bed (down by the sidewalk) and talked about how tulips are (despite the dwindling numbers) are a happy sign of Spring in our garden.  Today, posting a photo showing another sign of the coming Spring.  This also features some red-tinted color, but is not another tulip.   Back in Fall of 2023, I planted a few Sedum kamtschaticum 'Variegatum' around the garden including two small pint-sized containers down by the sidewalk IB2Dws.  I've long described the section of our garden closest to the sidewalk as "hard to grow" because of the poor soil conditions (lots of gravel from the driveway, as well as dry conditions with even more gravel due to one of the drywells dug out there).  And, I planted a few things that never took down there.  Until, I moved on to trying sedums.   They came back in their first Spring and I was pleasantly surprised...

I have a couple of small juniper groundcover plants in the backyard.  They were planted years ago as 'bonsai nursery stock' that I transitioned to just going into the ground in the same spots they were stored.  I'm pretty sure this is a Youngstown Juniper that went in back in 2019 .  It has since grown up and out, but this year appears to have suffered a bit of dieback.  I didn't see this earlier, so am guessing it might be winter-weather related.   The photo below shows the front third of the juniper has gone brown and appears to be dead: Before Spring comes, I'll get out there and prune off the dead limbs and hopefully stimulate a little bit more growth to fill in the (now) bare spots in this groundcover. 

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: 

About a month ago, I posted some details of the Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' that was rebounding in our front beds - in the little island bed in between our driveway and front steps and on the other side of the stairs and along the property line.  I've been trying to utilize more and more groundcover over the past few years - after neglecting it for the first five.  On a recent trip to the Home Depot, I found this six pack of Ajuga plugs in the nursery and brought them home.  It was in flower, so in the first photo below, you can see the pack of plugs and (at the bottom of the photo) the flower stems that I snip'd-off: I put three of the six in the little island bed between the driveway and front steps.  This bed already has some Chocolate Chip, so I was sort-of filling in some of the gaps.  Below are three photos:  first one shows all three new plugs mixed with the existing.  Second one shows two of them (left and right) and the third photo shows the one f...

About five weeks (or so) ago - in Mid-June - I planted 64 plugs of annual Vinca.  Or, some call it Madigascar Periwinkle .   These were in the newly (as of last Fall) expanded front bed that I call our 'front porch bed'.  I've grown various flowering annuals up there.  To varying degrees of success.  Marigolds have worked .  Dusty Millers went nuts (and came back partially a second season).  One year, I did begonias and sedum.  The sedum looked great, but wasn't hardy .  Petunias failed .  Sun Patients didn't work, either .   I'm NOT EXACTLY sure how I ended up with pink (light purple?) annual vinca, but in one of those garden-center-induced hazes, I found myself sitting in the driveway with a couple of flats of these annuals.  I planted them and hoped for the best.  At first, they were stinkers.  A number of them (maybe 10?) up-and-died.  The rest just sort of were blah.   But then...time wo...