Why I Oughta...

In my Fall Planting sprint last year, I planted a pair of Agastche 'Blue Fortune' perennials in my mixed bed IB2DWs .  These were sort-of tucked in behind some Hakeonechloa All Gold Grasses and in front of a row of Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses.  Roy Diblik - up at Northwind - talked up Agastache, so when I saw it on close-out, I grabbed two.   They mostly just hung out in the background all Spring, but in the past week-or-so, they exploded with some blue/purple bottle-brush like blooms standing tall and proud.  Below is a photo showing the blooms and overall height of the plant: They're billed as being great for pollinators and true-to-the-description, when I was out there looking at these on a recent morning, they were being buzzed-around by some insects.  You can see them if you look closely: More of this, Jake.  Fall planting will be here soon enough. 

Last Fall, I planted a three-pack of Penstemon Midnight Masquerade in the conifer garden IB2DWs and talked about how I needed to keep going (out of my comfort zone) with flowers.  There was a lot to like about these perennials - they're drought tolerant, can handle heat and humidity, full of dark foliage and bloom purple and white flowers.  When I bought them, they were past bloom-time, so that flower part was taken on faith. This Spring, I marked their reemergence for their first Spring in early April when new foliage clumps came back from dormancy .   I topped this part of the bed with some big box mulch (not leaf mulch...) and mostly moved on in the gardening season.  Until this week.  When these things started to bloom.   Have a look at my three one-year-old Midnight Masquerade Penstemons ( or Beardtongue ) with their showy light purple and white clusters of flowers: This spot is full sun and is part of what I've always called the 'hard to gr...

Last May, I planted a pair of Brookside Geraniums in the square beds on either side of our backstoop along with a pair of Spring Grove Ginkgos .  These geraniums were from the Morton Sale and I tucked them into the back of the little beds.  A month-after-planting, I looked-back-in on the planting and they were doing well - and in bloom by the end of June .   That meant that this past Winter was their FIRST Winter - and I didn't have any data on their reemergence.  We can now add these to the [garden diary] showing the Brookside Geranium foliage comes up in a small, dark-green clump in mid-March.    You can see the current state of this Brookside Geranium below: Last year, these sort-of 'spilled' out one side of the bed and didn't spread very much.  Perhaps this will be the year that these will fill-out a little more.  

Another day, another award-winning perennial that takes me outside my foliage-gardening comfort zone.  This time, it is Agastache 'Blue Fortune'.  And I bought and planted a pair in the original IB2DWs bed in front of the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that make up the back border.  Just like with others...I know OF Agastache.  But, a quick spin online sold me on Blue Fortune.  From Bluestone : Oodles of soft lavender-blue flowers are held over large deep-green, minty licorice-scented foliage. Unique bottle-brush like flowers of Agastache are very attractive. Leaves feature silver undersides. Exceptional performance in the sun-drenched garden.  Low maintenance, tolerates heat and drought once established. Butterflies and hummingbirds love to sample the nectar rich blooms.  2004 Great Plant Picks award winner. Done and done.  I took the two they had.  And put them in the IB2DWs bed amongst the Creeping Jenny and All Gold Hakenchloa Forest ...

What's something that is pretty common in gardens around here that I've lacked?  Salvia.  I've picked-up-and-put-down dozens of Salvias over the years.  Why?  Because I wasn't sure.  Wasn't sure about anything Salvia-related.  Size?  Will they flop?  Are they too tall?  And more questions like that. But, when I found a couple of containers of May Night Salvia at the end-of-season sale at the orange store, I whipped out my phone. What did I find? From Monrovia : Tall spikes of indigo blue flowers top compact mounds of soft, green foliage. This showy perennial is excellent for mixed borders, flower beds and patio containers. From Walters Garden : This award winning salvia is a top performer in the landscape. Dense spikes of deep violet-purple flowers are produced in early summer and will continue longer if deadheaded. Bluestone Perennials says : 1997 PPA Plant of the YearOne of our favorite Salvia. Spikes of the deepest blue begin in late May...

Influenced?  Or inspired?  What do you call it when you come across something on Instagram (or YouTube) that shows you something new, isn't pushing a product but...does...indeed compel you to act - and purchase something.  I'm going to say that I was inspired.  Not influenced.   And that inspiration came from seeing a 'white garden' that was planted up with silver and white perennials and exposed me to something new (to me):  Artemisia.   There are a few varieties that you'll see out at the nursery, but the one that I think might be the biggest (not the best) in the trade is Silver Mound Artemisia.  It is a soft-texture white plant that Walters Garden describes as a 'cushion' .  Here's what they say: Aptly named, 'Silver Mound' has soft, feathery foliage and forms a compact, silky, cushion-like mound. It has many applications in the garden including: edging, rock gardens, pots, or a filler plant for hot, dry areas. It has long been ...

There are a few plants in our garden that are there because I was drawn to them.  There are a few that were simply impulse-bought.  There are others that I was influenced by others like Roy Diblik , Austin Eischeid or Erin the Impatient Gardener.   Then...there's this other set:  They are the ones that exist in our yard and garden because of Nat.     That list of Nat-influenced plants includes the Saucer Magnolia and any/all of our Allium.  Another one of those that Nat-influenced plantings are anemones.  I've likely written this story before, but the connection with Anemone flowers comes back to our wedding day.  We've had them (now) in both of our houses (not in Equation Boy/Man and Vic's house that we lived in for two years) since last year when I planted three from Northwind Perennial Farm. Here's a post from more than ten years ago (eeek!  ten years!) of the plant that Nat's Mom gifted us for our garden back in Elmhurst ....

One year ago tomorrow, I planted a trio of Anemone Lucky Charm that we brought home from Northwind Perennial Fam in Wisconsin, tucking them into our backyard .  That first year...they were temperamental.  They wilted at the slightest dry period.  I baby'd them all Summer and Fall - hand-watering them - to keep them happy.  They seemed to go dormant in normal fashion.   This year, they emerged again and seem to have established themselves quite a bit MORE.  They no longer require attention and are now putting on some size.  See below for the current state of these three: These have special meaning to me - and I'm really excited to see these put out some blooms that I can bring in to Nat this Summer - they bloom in September and October. 

I wandered around the beds for the first time in a week recently and noticed a few things have come back for the 2023 growing season and wanted to document them - and their timing - here in my garden diary.  I'll do that over a few posts in the coming days.  First up?    Three Jack of Diamonds Brunnera that are planted in the southside backyard bed .  Below, you'll see the early, curly foliage that is coming up front the hardwood mulch: I planted these three in Summer of 2021 , so this will be their third growing season in our garden.   Here, below, is a wider-angle look at the three of these shade-tolerant perennials. They're pretty hard to see in that pic...so....below is an annotated versions;

There we were...wandering around the Garden Show at Wannemaker's earlier this month when I was smacked with a burst of color.  The lure of color and vibrancy is almost too much.  Not to mention that Nat was with me and she fell in love with some color and picked out a new (to me) flower and put it in our cart.  What caught her eye?  See below for a peek at a purple/blue flower: At the show, there were various growers with little 'booths' or setups - the one that we were most drawn-to was from Elite Growers in Volo .  Here's the Elite Growers booth below.   But....come on.  It is mid-March.   All logic went out the window.  That's what happens when you go plant shopping without a plan.   What did we get?  A set of Primrose.  Primula belarina 'Blue Champion'.  See below for the plant tag: Primrose are not - nor have *ever* been on my radar.  But, now they're going to be in our garden.  That tag talks...

Back a few years, my sister gifted me a clump of purple bearded (I think) Iris that came out of her (and...for a couple of years...MY) neighbor's garden . His name was Wes and he had a couple of rows of Irises that lined his driveway.  Wes and his wife moved away and his house was torn down for a McMansion to go up on the property.  But, before the bulldozers arrived, Vic dug up some of the Irises.  I planted them on the side of our house and they flowered that first season .   Last Spring - in early April - I posted a walkabout that showed early foliage including these Iris tips .  Looks like these are about three weeks ahead of 2022.  See below for the tips: Wes' garden might be gone.  And, we might have moved off of Indiana Street.  But, with this plant, I can say that little bit of Indiana Street (and Wes' garden) are alive and well over here in Downers. 

 This is the second new (to us) perennial that we recently planted that came from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm.  I'll admit that I made one of the core gardening mistakes ( don't buy just one of anything ) with both of these recent additions, but these were picked out from the shade section by my middle child.  This post is about Alchemilla mollis 'Auslese' - or Ladys Mantle.  The sign at Northwind is below and points out that this works in part shade, has yellow flowers and spreads out to about 20".  It also calls out the scalloped, grey-green foliage. And, here below, is our pint-sized plant.  Of note, after just a few days home, I've come to realize that this thing needs to be watered regularly.   So, what, exactly is this?  Is it like a Heuchera?  Is it ground cover?  (If so, it would count towards my 2022 to-do list goal around groundcover, right?) The University of Wisconsin Horticulture Extension has a page up about ...

My middle child is my gardening partner.  She has created a little garden of her own in the backyard and each time I take her to the nursery, she's picking up a plant or two to add to her little patch.  She's 'getting to know' some of these plants.  Some work, some won't.  The last time we went to Northwind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin, she came home with this cool Lamb's ear .  This trip, she bought a few different things including this Spike Speedwell below.  The sign - you can see it in the photo below- calls this Veronica 'White Wanda' Spike Speedwell.  But....I can't find anything called White Wanda out there on the Web.  Plenty of 'White Wands' like this one at Walter's Garden .  But...maybe this is a Northwind creation - they named themselves?  ( Being a Marvel family, I'm not going to lie:  the name White Wanda kinda was a draw here... ) The sign above talks about this being a 'perfect height' for behind low-growing ...

Last Summer, I added six Brunnera plants to the garden.  Three on one side, three on the other.  First...I started with a variety called Queen of Hearts.  Those were planted on the northside in a little cluster amongst some various hostas. Here's the post showing their initial planting .   They seemed to do just fine last year and appear to have established themselves.  Below, you can see how they look today - with about a year of growing and putting down roots: All are doing well and if you look closely, you'll see some spent flower stalks emerging from the crown.  Each of these had some nice blue-ish flowers that bloomed on their tips.   If I'm looking at adding more shade-tolerant perennials to the backyard and I come across even more Brunnera on sale, it is a no-brainer to pick them up.  They are simply performing for me.  They also can use a focal plant that sits right in the middle of these three, right?  

Up at Northwind Perennial Farm, my middle child picked out this Lamb's Ear from the bench and said that she thought we could use it in the garden.  Like everyone else, we're drawn to the feel of Lamb's ear, but haven't planted any in the garden to date.  That changed with this variety - Helene Von Stein.  See below for the sign from Northwind: The sign calls out the size of the foliage.  And so do every listing on the Web.  This one from Bluestone Perennials calls it 'the biggest leaved Lamb's Ear around' .   Because of the uncertainty around *where* this should go (note:  it is NOT in our plan), I made one of the biggest gardening mistakes:  buying just one .    We ended up planting this in a little section of the garden that the middle child is (now) calling her own.  It is on the northside, in between some of the Viburnum.  See below for our (for now) solo Helene Von Stein Lamb's ear: I'll watch this one for a bit, but ...

The colonies of Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion - Allium - are looking full and happy in the various spots of our garden.  All of them are showing a series of buds that are - right now - downward-facing - and ready to explode with Summer color.   Last year, these were further along with their white flowers extending upwards by mid-July.   So, these are a bit behind.   I should use these in a few more spots, so I'll put that on my 2023 to-do list (along with groundcover).

There's a flowering perennial that I've been thinking about and chasing ever since we moved out of our house in Elmhurst.  Actually, there are a bunch of them.  But, one that I think about often:  Anemones.  Nat had them in her wedding day bouquet and her Mom bought us a plant back in 2010 and I just stuck it in the front yard garden.  It bloomed and grew .  And then we moved out. I've admired an Anemone in one of our neighborhood gardens and always thought that I needed to plant some in our backyard garden.  The moment finally arrived when I was looking at the nursery tables at North Wind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin recently.  That's when I came across the sign you see above.  For Anemone 'Lucky Charm'. The description reads - in part:  "Here's an anemone that welcomes the beginning of Spring with beautiful, dark purple foliage and ends the season with engaging dark pink flowers, touched with gold.  And, during the middle...

Two years ago (June 2020), I planted a dozen Fanal Astilbes in the (then) small bed along our south fence line in an area that was visible from both the patio and our kitchen windows.  They were in the plan and that was the *approximate* spot for them (at the time).  Why do I say 'at the time'?  Because when I planted these the bed was only about five feet from the fenceline.   That all changed in Spring/Summer of 2021 when I laid out and had a crew dig all new beds that reached far into the yard with a curvilinear shape.  Once the new edge of the border was created, I dug up all of these Fanal Astilbe plants and moved them out, closer to the border .  I planted twelve in 2020 and transplanted all twelve in 2021.  Today?  All twelve are still here.   I moved them to be a little bit of a serpentine row that you can see below.  (You'll also note that the three Butterscotch Amsonia that I planted last Spring are also back.) Thes...

I planted a trio of Cat's Pajamas Nepeta (along with some Blue Fescue) out front in the bed IB2DWs this Spring and it was the FIRST Nepeta that I've planted.  One of the features of Nepeta is that it can take a haircut after the first bloom - to both push a second flush of flowers but also to keep the plant neat and tidy.   In the online gardening world, you'll hear people talk about the ' Chelsea Chop ' - where you prune things back in late May to get that second flush.  More here on the Chelsea Chop .   I went ahead and pruned back these three Nepeta.  You can see that in the photo below showing the three pruned and cleaned up along with the pile of plant material that I pruned out laying in the middle of the photo - to show how much I took off these perennials.   From a purely technical perspective, you might be wondering:  Is this a " Chelsea Chop "?  The answer?  Maybe?  But, probably...Not really.  I think the ...

During the flurry of posts about the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale, I seem to have missed posting the details of this small, unique hosta that we bought and planted in our backyard.  Above, you can see the listing for the Hacksaw Pocket Hosta.  It is described as: "Vigorous, small green hosta with thin rippled leaves that have a serrated edge".  It stays small - just 6-9" tall, but when mature will get up to 2' across.   Below is the plant tag for the Hacksaw Hosta.  You can tell that this one was pretty small in the container.  We planted it in the backyard, near the Everillo sedges and Crested Surf ferns .  One month in, this hosta has put on some new growth.  I'll keep babying it for the season and then hope it will just go on autopilot like the rest of our more-mature hostas.