Why I Oughta...

The neglected rhododendrons (they're only neglected because they have - imho - failed to live up to their promise) are back with buds that were set in Fall and (hopefully) have made it through the thick of winter temperatures.   The pair of Rhododendons were planted on either side of our back stoop and sort of just were blah.  They started to get thin and decline.  Could be because of chipmunks eating away at their roots.  Or, could be they were were in the wrong spot.  I ended up digging them up and replacing them with a pair of handsome dwarf Spring Grove Ginkgos and I've been VERY happy about that move.   Without much thought, I stuck them in around the small (immature) Dawn Redwood tree in the backyard.  That area is a sort-of no-man's land with nothing there on purpose, rather just the result of having 'available space' and plants that 'need a home'.   They get a mix of shade and sun back there and since I water (with a sprinkler) that bed on-the-regul

I was away from the yard and garden for more than a week recently, so on a recent walkabout, I noticed a few new things - or seemingly new (to me).  One of those new (to me) things was all the Summer growth on the pair of Rhododendrons in our backyard.    There are two of these tropical-looking shrubs that I transplanted from our back stoop to the feet of the Dawn Redwood in the back .  They suffered and struggled in the stoop area for what I think are multiple reasons (the conditions AND the fact that there are Chipmunks eating the roots) and while I didn't want to just toss them out, I didn't have much hope that they'd come back strong. That's why I'm surprised at seeing all this new growth on the tips of these.  Are they (now) thick and full shrubs?  No.  But, are they showing signs of life that is surprising?  Yep.  See the photo at the top of this post that shows off the new five-or-so inches of growth that has pop'd-off on the tips of the branches. There a

Back in mid-May, I replanted our two small, square beds on either side of our back stoop .  I dug out the RJM Rhododendrons that were there since our first Summer and replaced them with a pairing of Brookside Geraniums and a witches broom, dwarf Ginkgo named Spring Grove .  #13 on my 2023 to-do list was to 'fix the back stoop beds' and this swapping out was a big part of that need.   I also took a few plugs of Angelina Sedum from the north bed and transplanted it to the south bed, so they would be mirror-images of each other.   When I planted the Spring Grove Ginkgos, they has leaf'd out, but had suffered a litttle bit of late-frost damage to the tender leaves.  The geraniums were small and just emerging, too.   A little bit over one month later, what do they look like?  The geraniums have grown quite a bit.  And, so too, have the Ginkgos.  See below for (first) the north bed.  And then, below that, the south bed. Spring Grove Ginkgo tree - dwarf Ginkgo in Northern Illinoi

Back in early 2018, one of the initial moves we made in developing our garden and landscape was to add a pair of rhododendrons on either side of our back stoop.  Why rhododendrons?  Because the plan called for them .  PJM Rhododendrons to be precise.  They were planted in summer.  They bloomed and looked great .  A tropical-looking evergreen that is cold hardy to Zone 5b?  What's not to like.   It was a couple of years that I mostly ignored them.  They were watered and fed.  But, that's it.  At some point, they started to turn.  And they started to deteriorate. By last summer, they looked shabby . What do the pair of Rhododendrons look like this Spring?  Not great.  See below for the evergreen shrub to the north of the stoop: And...here below is the other one - to the north.  This one looks *better*, but not awesome. We've had a chipmunk that lived in these beds over the years.  Or...maybe more than one Chipmunk?  I am pretty sure that their burrows and/or munching on the r

As a sort-of tip of my cap to the plantsman Roy Diblik, I've started to document some of my own self-guided education with new plants and trees that I've come across in a tiny series of posts all called " getting to know ".  The most recent one of these was Primrose a couple of weeks ago.  Before that, I've tried to learn about everything from Pineapple Lily to the Thai Giant to the Siberian Larch .   The latest entry in this series is a Ginkgo 1 tree that is new (to me).   I came across it in the place that I've found other, surprisingly unique species: at the Home Depot on Butterfield.  The nursery manager seems like they take the biggest risks with inventory of any of the Home Depots around us.  They have - on occasion - things you won't find at the other stores.   So, what was this unique species?  I'd describe it as odd.  It is also small.  And sitting on a pallet next to a couple of contorted Harry Lauder Walkingstick trees.  See below for th

I've told this story before:  All the way back in 2018, we had some Lemon Coral Sedum in one of our patio containers .  One way or another, it managed to migrate from the container to the little, square bed next to our back stoop.   And, in a surprise to me, it managed to overwinter in that spot underneath a bed of snow.  I've since left it there and it has spread out each subsequent year.  I had not - up until that point - really thought much about groundcover.  But, then I saw this bed planted out front of the entrance of the Morton Arboretum in 2020 .  That inspired me to plant a mass of Lemon Coral Sedum up front in our front porch beds in 2021 .  It turned out really nice and created a carpet. With the success of the volunteer sedum in our backyard, I thought that I could replicate that growth and split up the front porch sedum and transplanted it in various spots - including IB2Dws and behind the large, Norway Maple in front.  All the while, the volunteer kept just sti

Tracking for the [ garden diary ] as well as the 2022 to-do list a couple of applications in the garden.  First up is iron. Fast-acting iron. Chelated Iron . I applied this to the rhododendrons by the back stoop and the Little Henry Sweetspire out front.  Below is a photo of one of the rhododendrons where I peeled back the mulch and sprinkled the pelletized iron.  I applied this iron to both. This is the product that I've used the past two seasons . (below)  Next up are the Disneyland Roses.  This is the second application of rose food to my three Floribunda roses.  This is the second application of the season.  The first was in mid-May .  In the photo below, you have to look closely, but if you do, you'll see the granular fertilizer. 

We've had a pair of Rhododendrons that flank the sides of our back stoop since our first year here in Downers Grove.  They've been a mixed bag - evergreen is nice, but they've under performed and have gotten a little leggy in some years.  They're there because that's what our plan called for, but would I plant something else there if I could do it all over again?  Probably.   On one side, I've had some ground cover take root in the shape of a volunteer sedum and that's a nice addition (by accident).  You can see both one of the rhododendrons and the Lemon Coral Sedum at the base in the photo below.   Taking a look back, it seems these bloomed in mid-June last year .  I gave both of these flowering shrubs a bit of a prune last year after they flowered and I'll do the same this year.   I've mentioned trying to use tropicals (and sub-tropicals) in the garden more this year and that is one of the reasons why I *want* these to work so much:  they lend a

The past few seasons, we've had some Sedum Volunteers (or....maybe a better way to describe them is as a 'Survivor' instead of a 'Volunteer' because it has overwintered in place) in one of the small beds to the north of our back stoop where our Rhododendrons are planted.    If you look at this post from 2020, you'll see the beginnings of these Volunteers (they migrated from a container to a bed) and I was surprised to see them come back last year (2021).  In fact, based on the experience, I decided to transplant a bunch of this stuff from our front porch beds to various places in the hopes that it would survive the Winter.   Most of that stuff seems to have died over Winter.  But....the original set in back?  It seems that it might have come through once again.   Here, below, is a photo showing how some of it is green and happy. I'll monitor this set of Lemon Coral Sedum over the Spring to see if it bounces back and continues to live here - as a groundcove

Here, below, is a look at the pair of Little Henry Sweetspire (Itea virginica 'Sprich') that was planted back in the Summer of 2017 when our house was built.  This shrub puts off these lovely, white flowers that have a really nice smell and the foliage puts on a show all year long.   This sits in a bed tucked in between our front walk and the driveway and just kind of keeps performing without much care. The last time I posted about these Little Henry's was back in September of 2019 here . I water the front yard during the Summer heat, so this shrub likely gets a little bit of that benefit, but I haven't fed it directly - to date.  But, I've noticed that the foliage is a little bit light green - not dark green currently.   I mentioned on Monday that the Rhododendrons seemed to need a little bit of iron , so I went out and picked up a bag of  this fast-acting Iron soil supplement from Menards  to see if it will make it happy and darken things up.  I'm going to use

We have a pair of Rhododendrons planted on either side of our rear stoop that we put in the ground in 2018 as part of our plan .  I have never pruned them, but have protected them a little bit in Winter using Wilt-pruf a couple of times.  These are evergreen shrubs and they put on a nice flower show most years. But, this year these shrubs looked a little sad earlier this Spring.  They were yellow, drooping and leggy.  I bought some Epsoma Holly Tone this year to feed my hydrangeas and these Rhdodendrons and it seems like they've responded a bit.  I'm pretty sure they have an iron deficiency - as outlined here by Ortho.  Purdue University Extension office has a post up about this yellowing - called chlorosis .   I have started to feed these with a little bit of coffee grounds, but I think that I'm going to need some more drastic action to correct the iron. But, back to this season:  these two shrubs are flowering right now with light purple flowers.  Here, below are the pa

If you look closely at the photo below, you can see a few of the lights on our Christmas tree inside the house as a tell for the time of year this photo is taken.  This is what I see when I go out to feed the birds and critters in the morning:  our rhododendrons looking sad and curled up from the cold.  By midday, they've recovered and seem to be just fine.    I've come to really appreciate these two shrubs on either side of our back stoop.  This year, I didn't apply any Wilt-Pruf to them, so not sure what impact that might have on their overwintering.  They did, however, get a nice layer of new mulch this season, so I'm hoping they're tucked in nicely and will - once again - surprise me by surviving.  Having SUCH a tropical look in the middle of Summer is a real nice treat for me up here in Zone 5b.  Surviving the Winter in Zone 5b just strikes me as an oddity based on their look during Summer.  Guess that's why I'm drawn to them.

After taking a full year off, our back stoop rhododendrons are blooming again this year with beautiful purple flowers. Both shrubs (these are evergreen...which always amazes me) are pictured side-by-side above, and there are individual (slightly larger) individual photos below in this post. The last time these flowered was when they were planted in May of 2018 .  In 2019, like all of our flowering trees/shrubs, the buds appear to have been killed by a cold Winter. On the left (above), is the Southern one.  On the right (above), is the one to the North of the stoop.  The southern one is larger in both dimensions - taller and seemingly wider as it has some branches that are spreading out a bit more.  It has taller blooms and - at this point - more of them.  The northern one is more compact, but has what seems like deeper green foliage.    I applied Wilt-Pruf to both of these last Winter and...frankly....I'm not sure if it helps.  Seems like it is one of those things

I wanted to take and share some photos in the [ garden diary ] here so I can look at the development of the shrubs and perennials in our yard.  I've already posted images of a few things including our Saucer Magnolia , Dappled Willow (treeform) , front-yard Cleveland Pear , some of our lilac buds , how we've added some wood chips to the far back and biosolids in testing and most recently, posted both hostas and peonies coming thru the mulch .  Here's a few items that I've covered over the years.  This is what they're looking like in mid-April, 2020. Starting with the northside Rhododendron.  This was put in the bed in 2018 and didn't flower last year.  Buds game looks strong this year.  This is the one plant that I applied Wilt-Pruf this Winter .  In the bed outside the screened porch, I planted a solitary Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass a couple of years back.  We should add more here, I think.  I trimmed last year's growth off in March and th

This is the second year that I've applied Wilt Pruf to some of our most delicate plants to prepare them for Winter.  Last year, I posted photos showing off how I applied Wilt Pruf to just one of our Rhododendrons as an experiment and it turned out t hat one that didn't get any Wilt Pruf seemed better than the one that has an application .  But, that could be for a variety of reasons - and perhaps the Wilt Pruf helped keep the one that was a little behind healthy during the tough Winter. I also applied Wilt Pruf to the small Weeping Cedar tree last Fall, but it didn't survive , so this is clearly not bulletproof. So...what is Wilt Pruf?  And why would you apply it to your plants before Winter? From this product listing : Wilt-Pruf is a natural, pine oil emulsion that is organic, non-hazardous and biodegradable. Simply, spray it on to form a transparent and flexible, protective coating that will keep plant foliage and stems from drying out through extended periods

It appears that we have a confused rhododendron in our backyard.  Nat told me that one of our two rhododendrons were flowering out back and I didn't believe her.  Wrong time of year.  I went back there - and sure enough - she was right.  A small purple flower had emerged from one of the buds that the shrub has been setting as it heads into dormancy.  This same thing happened last year with our Chanticleer Pear flowering tree out front - it flowered in early November .  Back to the rhododendron, it appears (for now) that there's just one flower, so I'm not concerned.  This story claims that it isn't that rare for them to flower in the Autumn.  I'll return to these shrubs before the Winter sets in with a Wilt-Pruf application like I've did last year . 

On the right is the southern Rhododendron and on the right in the image collage above is the northern stoop one.  They look different, don't they?  The one on the left is larger, taller, has less broned/curled edges.  And it also kinda looks a little brighter green, doesn't it? They looked different last Fall, too, when I applied Wilt-Pruf to one of them as a test .  And again this Spring when they came out of Winter .  What was most interesting to me is that NEITHER of these flowered this year.  Not a single flower.  Last Summer they flowered beautiful pink flowers .  See this post for the flowers , but also note how tiny they were last year.  They're really filled in that space more this year. They both set buds in the Fall, but just like our Flowering Cherry Tree and Saucer Magnolia in the front, we ended up with no flower show. The hard, cold Winter - including a long Polar Vortex - is likely to blame for those buds not blooming this year. These Rhododendrons

Back in December, I posted about an experiment that I was conducting with the application of Wilt-Pruf to one of our Rhododendrons that are located on either side of our back stoop.  Wilt-Pruf is an anti-transpirant that I bought to use on our fresh-cut Christmas Trees, but I also learned can be applied to any evergreen in an attempt to help it get through difficult Winters.  Wilt-Pruf is a natural product made of pine oil and creates a clear, almost flexible coating on the leaves and needles.   I sprayed it on just one of the Rhododendrons and figured it would be useful to compare the results.   The photo you see at the top is shows both of them on top/bottom.  The plant on the top is the one that had Wilt-Pruf applied.  The plant on the bottom was left bare.   The results?  Hard for me to say if it did anything, frankly.  I think the one that was treated has less spotting on the leaves, but maybe that's just random?   Thus, I'd say the experiment is incon

In the photo above you can see both of our Rhododendrons that flank the stoop out the back door of our family.  In April of last year, I showed the landscape plan that specified these two plants to be placed in the beds on either side of the rear stoop and then in June, I got around to actually planting them .  And they bloomed beautifully this Summer .  They're a really interesting plant/shrub because they have an almost tropical appearance but also are winter hardy here in Zone 5B.  They keep their leaves on all winter, but that doesn't mean they can't use a little bit of help in fighting off the harsh cold and ice. And that's where something called Wilt-Pruf comes in.  Wilt-Pruf is an Anti-transpirant.  That means it helps protect plants from drying out.  We bought the concentrate version and mixed up a batch to put on some of our plants/trees.  I sprayed our Weeping Cedar in the back .  And the little boxwoods that I added near the foundation behind our kitch

Back in April, I shared a small look at the landscape plan that was specified for either side of our rear stoop .  These are the stairs that come out of our family room and lead to our patio.  That plan called for a pair of rhododendrons that flank each side of the stoop.  Earlier this Spring, I picked up the plants and got them in the ground before the mulch arrived.  After a bit of acclimating, they seem to have stabilized and have begun to throw off a series of beautiful, almost out-of-this-world blooms.  The photo above is one of them.  And you can see both of them in the image below. (pay no attention to the hose or shoes or sidewalk chalk in the photo!  We live in a perfect backyard, folks!) One other thing to note in that photo:  the pot on the stoop contains the dahlias that I planted inside earlier this Spring .  Look how big and happy they are!?!?