Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I showed a photo of a series of Ostrich Ferns that have worked a little and naturalized along the long, linear mulch bed that runs between our garage and the Bluestone chip gravel path that leads to our backyard.  After planting one (or maybe two) transplants, we now have eight Ostrich ferns of different sizes that have begun to fill the area in.  In that post, I mentioned that I also planted some bare root Ostrich Ferns a little further back along the garage (behind the fence gate) .  Here's what those ferns now look like clustered close to the little stoop outside our sidedoor.  Below you can see the ferns that have unfurled in this little, narrow bed: In this post in 2018, I said that I planted three bare root Ostrich Ferns here , but thanks to them spreading a little bit, we now have nine ferns of varying maturity.  See below for an annotated version of the same photo/area showing the nine now in orange circles: There's also some Creeping Jenny M...

Over on the side of the garage - in the long, linear bed that is sandwiched between the house and the gravel path, there are a few different plants that I've tucked in here and mostly left alone.   I talked about this area earlier this Spring when I talked about (potentially) planting some trees that I can espalier against the house to kind-of 'break up' the large mass of wall .  When I posted that photo in mid-April, none of the perennials had emerged just yet, but with Spring turning to Summer around here, this spot has started to come alive.  And, what's showing up strong?  Ostrich Ferns.  See below for a photo showing some of the Ostrich Ferns that have spread and naturalized in this area: Here, below, is an annotated photo showing the location of eight Ostrich Ferns - some tiny and some more mature.  Based in the location, the larger stand of fern fronds that are just above the large rock were the ones that I originally planted and the rest have s...

We lived on Indiana Street in Elmhurst for almost ten years.  In two houses.  One of our own .  And one of Equation Boy/Man and my Sister Vic's .  Our last few years there, we lived next to a couple named Wes and Susie (hmmm...maybe Suzy?  Or Suzie? Who knows...I never asked how to spell it) who were good neighbors.  They had a hot tub and some nice Japanese Maple trees.  Wes was an artist who loved dogs and liked our little puppy (at the time) Lizzie.   One of them spent time in the garden.  (see Japanese Maples) And they had a front parking spot (not quite a driveway because they used the alley behind the house and had a garage back there) that was lined with Bearded Irises.  They always put on a nice show.   Fast forward to this Spring and Wes and Susie have moved out and someone is tearing down the house to build something new.  My Sister Vic was able to grab some of those Bearded Irises from the front and save th...