Why I Oughta...

In October of 2021, I bought and planted a single Shenandoah Red Switchgrass down by the sidewalk - IB2DWS .  It was an end-of-the-season #FallPlanting purchase and I put it in that spot because the description said that Panicum are well-known for being 'drought tolerant' .  This was a VERY hard-to-grow spot with harsh conditions:  hot concrete on two sides, competitive mature tree roots and gravely soil.   It went in and hasn't done super well, but...persisted.  There's something to be said for persisting in a spot like this was planted.   In the years since, I've left it alone.  But, as I've learned over the years, ornamental grasses need to be tended-to and do well to be divided every few years.  They will end up with 'center rot' and will get rejuvenated when they're divided.  I've typically done my ornamental grass dividing in the Fall, so this past weekend, I decided to divide a few - starting with this Shenandoah Switch Grass. Here's w

Another day, another set of plants going in as part of my #FallPlanting sprint.  This time...featuring a set of ornamental grasses that I've seen other talk about:  Muhlenbergia reverchonii 'Undaunted' - or Ruby Muhly Grass.  At the top of this post is a look at one of the small quart-sized grasses that I brought home.  And below is a photo of the tag at The Growing Place - where they call this grass a "show stopper'.   Across Instagram, I've seen a few gardeners that I follow post photos of the plumes of these Muhly grasses - especially in the sunset.  At $5 a piece, the sale price had me trapped.   When I began to get them planted, I was struck by how dense and mature their root systems were - see below for what I'd consider a root-bound grass: I opted to put them right at the end of the current boardwalk - two in back, one out front to create a small grass colony.  See below for two photos:  one from the yard looking back at the boardwalk.  The other fro