Why I Oughta...

A couple of my backyard 'garden edits' involved what I termed the "Hosta Replacement Project" - where I yanked out some hostas and replaced them with something else that persisted in the winter (grasses, astilbes, etc).   I moved a bunch of them out, but there are many more left in place.  Perhaps, another section of the great 'hosta replacement project' could be one of my potential "2026 priority projects"?  I'm not convinced.  But, like Paul Graham has said :  writing helps you understand what you actually think.  As he put it , "Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didn't know it as well as you thought." Below is a photo showing the northside bed that is about half-way back (behind the picnic table).  The thing you see standing tall and proud are those white stalks.  Those are hosta flower stalks that are hanging around after the foliage disappeared when the perennial went dormant.   ...

In the backyard on both sides, there are beds that are full of ordinary, run-of-the-mill hostas.  They are just green ones.  There are also, some more interesting ones.  Waterslide, Island Breeze, Forbidden Fruit and Guacamole - amongst others.  Below is a peek at a section where these "ordinary" hostas are eating up space.  They served a purpose - and filled in the bed.   But, there are others, like these two Forbidden Fruit ones with bright centers that are 'hidden'.   Something I'm putting on m Fall to-do list is to take-on a section of these hostas and replace them/move some of the more interesting ones up front.  

As of last September, our little cluster of All Gold Japanese Forest Grasses in our backyard consisted of eight grasses that were planted in one of the curved beds sort-of by the tree swing tree.  Here's how they looked last year - six in front, two in the back row .  These grasses are some of the STARS of our garden, but they're slow-growing and (for me) not thrivers.  They're not in decline, but they're NOT the massive clumps that I see in other folks gardens online.  They also are, unfortunately, now located in the shadow of the soon-to-be-built pizza oven.  Two of them are tucked 'behind' the foundation that will require moving.  For now, I moved *just one* of them because it was in the direct line of construction foot-traffic.  I tucked it further back into the backyard - on the other side - near where I planted two divided ones from IB2DWs .  That cluster is now (I hope) three grasses and (I also hope) a couple of Autumn Ferns that went in l...

I'm on a roll with dividing - ferns, seslaria, Astilbes.  Today, spotted Lungwort. Last Fall, I transplanted my three Twinkle Toes Lungwort from the back of a bed, closer to the front .  Those three have thrived in their new spot.  But, they also left behind a few little surprises.   In the spot where the three transplants were living previously sprouted up three whole Twinkle Toes Lungwort plants.   I, of course hedged.  I dug up two of them and left one in place.  The two that I dug up, I divided.  Creating four new Twinkle Toes Lungworts.  I put two on the front of the border next to the newly transplanted Fanal Astilbes on the north side.   I tucked one in next to the Ghost Fern on the Boardwalk: And the fourth went in at the stoop on the side gravel walkway: Below is an 'after' photo that shows the three big clumps in front and the one volunteer that I left in place.  Next year, I'll lift it out and divide again....