Why I Oughta...

One of the very best things I did in our garden this year was planting an Arctic Jade Korean Maple in our backyard .  It was/is our second Korean Maple with the first one being a Northern Glow Korean Maple that I planted out front in 2024 .  I posted photos of this small tree when the foliage was green .  And when the foliage was yellow .  And when the foliage was turning red .  Here, below, is a look at the tree when the foliage is, well...gone.  The tree is dormant and has dropped all of its leaves.  Last week, when I posted this peek at some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the snow , you could see the side-profile of this Arctic Jade.   With it being 'naked' during the Winter, it gives me a chance to observe the structure.  Now....one of my "Great Garden Rules" is #8:  Don't prune anything for a while.  That means there's no touching this tree for a couple of seasons.  But, I can already see something that I'd prune of...

While the (dang) rabbits were able to get to *some* of my Japanese Forest Grasses (when they were green), on-balance most of them are showing off a little bit of their 'winter interest'.  Are these the largest masses of grasses?  No.  But, they're SOMETHING - in terms of sizes.  I transplanted these over in 2024, so they have had two growing seasons on this border .  Here's a post showing them re-emerging for year two in April 2025 .   Here's the grasses right now, under a light blanket of snow: Here's hoping that they'll FILL OUT and get 'fat and sassy' in 2026.  

Earlier last week, I posted a close-up of the fall colors on the Arctic Jade Korean Maple and talked about how I'm (already) thinking about another Korean Maple tree from the Jack Frost collection.   I bought the Arctic Jade from The Growing Place and when I was there earlier this year, I saw another Korean Maple from the Jack Frost Collection:  North Wind Korean Maple.  Here, below, is a photo of the sign from The Growing Place.  Here's the description from Iseli Nursery's website : The North Wind® maple is our flagship of the hardy Jack Frost® maple collection. It has been unscathed in Midwest field testing, surviving temperatures of -30°F. The palmate leaves emerge red in spring and change to green by midsummer. Showy pink samaras standout against the green summer foliage. When other fall color has faded in northern landscapes, North Wind® continues the show with dramatic tones of orange and scarlet. Negative thirty degrees is great.  It emerges red and...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of the 'fall colors' that the dwarf Spring Grove Ginkgo tree (planted in our front yard island bed) and talked about how it was one-of-two anchors in that bed.  The other one being a Northern Glow Korean Maple tree.  The photo at the top of this post shows the current state of that Northern Glow hybrid Maple tree.  Like the Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree in our backyard, this deeply-cut Maple tree has darker centers on the Fall foliage.  This one is further 'behind' the Arctic Jade in terms of changing colors.   This Northern Glow Korean Maple went in the ground in Summer 2024, so this is the second Fall.  

Red centers with orange tips on the deeply cut leaves on our Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree continue to be the star of the "Fall Show" in our backyard.  I posted a photo of this tree showing its colors a few days ago and the tree continues to color-up.  Here, below, is a look at some of the colors on the leaves right now: Previously, I posted about this tree and included a description that compared the Arctic Jade Korean Maple to the Full Moon Autumn Maple - which is a Japanese Maple.  Acer shirasawnum.  One that I've long admired and a big part of why I bought the Arctic Jade.  Not to mention the fact that it is a Korean Maple that is a more cold tolerant than the Acer shirasawnum .   I planted this tree in the front of a curved bed in our backyard as a (sort-of) replacement for the Flowering Japanese Cherry Tree that died last year.  It went in the ground in June , so this is our first Fall with the tree.   Previously, I planted a sm...

Earlier this Summer, I planted our second Korean Maple tree - an Arctic Jade - in our backyard.  I wrote a little bit about this tree in June and talked about the fall colors.  In that post , I included this (partial) description: " In autumn, the foliage is an impressive canvas for the dazzling fusion of orange and red tones. "  So, with Autumn here, how is the tree shaping up?  Here, below is a photo showing the current state of this dwarf tree: I spy orange, red, yellow and greens.  Dazzling?  I'd say so.  Look at those red centers with orange edges on the foliage.  Also...a note about the Hakonechloa Forest Grasses on the right side of his photo above.  I'd say they look pretty, pretty, pretty good together, don't they?  

A couple weeks ago, I posted a "Getting to Know" post about the Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree .  I showed a couple of photos from the inventory at the Growing Place and talked about how this cultivar is part of the "Jack Frost" Collection from Iseli Nursery .  The Arctic Jade is a hybrid maple that is 'more hardy' than a traditional Japanese Maple, but has 'large green, deeply cut leaves reminiscent of A. japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’. There's a lot to love about this tree - and that's why I brought one home. They had two sizes and after hemming-and-hawing, I went with the larger container that had a larger, more-full tree.  Below is the Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree on our driveway:    Here's a closer look at the leaves: There are a couple of items on my 2025 to-do list that are relevant - #5 is to "Get back in the Japanese Maple game" and #13 is to "add some trees".  This Korean Maple checks both of those boxes.   I placed...

Last Summer, I posted a "getting to know" post about a new (to me) Korean Maple called Northern Glow .  After years of mixed results with Japanese Maples, discovering Korean Maple hybrids, introduced by Iseli Nursery in their "Jack Frost Collection" was an eye-opening moment.  We could get the same beauty of the Japanese Maple with a bit more cold tolerance via the Korean Maple hybrid.  What's not to love.    I ended up planting one in the Island Bed in the front yard .  Shaded it from the hot sun most of the Summer and it has come back really strongly this Spring.   The Arctic Jade is another tree from the Jack Frost collection.   Here is a photo from The Growing Place showing the Arctic Jade tree: From the description on the Iseli Nursery site : Acer x pseudosieboldianum Arctic Jade® is a member of our Jack Frost® collection of hybrid maples and is an excellent substitute for less hardy Japanese maples in harsh climate conditions. It ...

Fall is for planting.  At least, that's what I've figured out after eight seasons of gardening our property in (now) Zone 6a/5b.  The lure of the nursery in Spring is so strong, but things do better when they go in later in the season.  At least...that's been true the past few years.  Fall Planting 2023 was WILD.  This year, it is slower, but still happening.  There have been two conifer trees in the front yard - Oregon Green Austrian Pine and the Skylands Spruce. Today, I'm showing how I've added three Greenlee Moor Grasses to the island bed.  Two of them are new; bought at the end-of-the-season sale at The Growing Place.  One of them, I transplanted from last year's spot (by the Saratoga Ginkgo) .   Below is a look at the small quart-sized container of the two that I picked up this season: I mentioned this in the post from last Fall - when I dug in the first three - that Greenlee Moor Grasses are on (my guy!) Roy Diblik's "Appropriate...

Fall Planting 2024 continues with a second front-yard conifer tree: the Skylands Oriental Spruce. Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’.  This is the second, small conifer tree that I put in our front yard in the past week - with the first one being the Oregon Green Austrian Pine .   At the end of September, I wrote about the Skylands Spruce and detailed the golden needles - among other features .  I've been thinking about a Skylands Spruce in our yard for years and now...thanks to Nat's Mom...we have a small one.   I extended (back towards the house) the island bed that features the Northern Glow Korean Maple and the Spring Grove Ginkgo.  Now, there's a Skylands Spruce.   I had a lot of luck with Fall Planting (#FallPlanting) conifers last year, so *fingers crossed* that trend continues with these two new conifers this Fall. Below are a few photos showing the tree and the island bed: Below is a look at the island bed from the sidewalk - the Skylands ...

Back on July First, I posted the details of a new (to me) Northern Glow Korean Maple tree that I planted in our front yard in a newly created island bed.  I tucked it in next to our third Spring Grove dwarf Ginkgo tree.  Planting a new tree in the middle of the summer Summer is always a risk - with the heat and drought conditions that usually occur around here in Zone 6a/5b.   But, I learned last year that some shade cloth (50%) is a pretty good path towards helping young, dwarf trees get established during the heat of July and August.  So, that's what I did:  I put up a shade cloth covering both the Ginkgo and the Northern Glow Korean Maple .  With the cloth down at the end of August, I've begun to provide supplemental water to both of these small trees.  And, what I'm seeing on the Maple is a surprise (to me):  new, late-Summer foliage growth.  There are a handful of new buds that have emerged on some of the tips of the tree and some n...