Why I Oughta...

At one of our stops on a recent trip to Ireland, we stayed near a mixed perennial garden that felt A LOT like our Zone 5b (or 6a) and included plant material that I've come across in some of the garden centers, big box stores and display gardens around the Chicago Suburbs.   In that garden, they used an upright, lime-green foliage shrub in a repetition across a long, linear bed that backs up to a hardscape patio.  The bed was more than one-hundred-feet-long and the gardener planted a series of upright Japanese-Maple-like bright green shrubs about ten-feet-apart.  Mixed in amongst the upright shrubs were hydrangeas and other perennials.  Below are a couple of photos showing these upright, lime-green shrubs in the garden bed: Here, below, is a closer-look at one of them: What are they?  Pretty sure, we're looking at Golden Tower Elderberry. From Wilson Brothers : A striking addition to the landscape, the Golden Tower Elderberry forms a tall, lush column of so...

Back three weeks ago, I posted a photo and wondered if the Sun King Aralias that I planted last year were "back" for their second growing season .  I was concerned because I didn't baby these last year - and neglected them a little bit when it came to watering/irrigation and weeding.  I was so focused on the pizza oven that I fell-down a little bit in terms of garden maintenance.   I posted six (not five like I said in April) Golden Japanese Spikenard 'Sun Kings' in the back yard as part of a [garden edit].  I was seeing *some* growth by the stalks of last year's growth in late April, but today....I'm seeing foliage across all six plants. Here, below, is a photo from this week showing the six chartreuse-colored perennials that are putting on foliage and growing in early May: My plan this year is to pay close attention to these this season - in terms of watering and weeding.  I had them mulched in (professionally), so I'm hoping that will help ease the...

Pops of chartreuse have been showing up in our backyard shade garden in various ways over the years.  One of the most successful was born out of a whim:  this Lemony Lace Elderberry shrub that I planted in the Fall of 2022 as part of a [Fall Planting] sprint .   The Lemony Lace Elderberry provides late Winter/Early Spring interest with wild-looking purple buds and some deep-red foliage .   This week, it started to bloom.  Below are a couple photos showing how it has filled out this Spring: I have a pair of Eiffel Tower Elderberries on the other side of the backyard that are a little behind this one.  

Last Fall, I found a few Green Gem Boxwoods - in late October - that were discounted at the orange Big Box nursery.  I brought them home and planted them in the backyard in the bed on the south fenceline .  They were right in front of a colony of Summer Beauty Ornamental Alliums and are set back from the border by just a little bit.  They were in 1# nursery containers, so they were VERY SMALL.   Having planted them so late, I wasn't sure how they'd handle the Winter.  Fortunately, they survived and were still green come Spring. I included a photo in early Spring that showed these .   How are they doing today?  They've put on a bunch of new, lime-green growth.  See below for a photo showing these doing well in this spot.  You can also see (below) some of the Allium and the 'cracked' Ginko tree on the far right . These boxwoods weren't (technically) in the plan, but I was thinking I could use some evergreen structure to the garden - n...