Why I Oughta...

Putting this in my garden diary:  waterslide (ruffled) hostas put on short, close-to-the-crown purple flowers in mid/late August.  See below for a photo of the current view of the three Waterslides that we have in the backyard.  I planted the f irst one of these in 2020 from the Morton Sale and added the two others from the orange big box store in 2021 .   Compare this mid/late August bloom time with some of the other varieties like these dark-green Venticosa hostas that bloomed with dark-purple, but very tall blooms in late July .  Having a mix of bloom-times is something that I need to continue to work on - with the ideal being a true four-season garden.

In the photo above, you can peep a bunch of things;  a few of the Everillo Sedges on the bottom right.  A couple of small Hicks upright Yew in the middle left.  The Chocoholic Snakeroot in the top right.   But, the focus of the photo here in the [garden diary] is the three ruffled hostas planted on a diagonal.  They are Waterslide hostas and they're looking really great.  I first planted one in fall of 2020 that I bought at the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale .  I (now) know that buying one of anything is a mistake.  So, in Spring of 2021, I remedied that mistake and brought home Waterslide Hostas that I found at Home Depot .   The one closest to the back (by the fence) is the oldest and the two one-year-old versions are closer to the front of the bed.   They're a cool blue/green color and the ruffled foliage provides a nice contrast to this area that features the sedges and yews.   I mentioned then - and it still holds true - that I'm drawn to ruffled foliage on these hos

Last year, I bought a single Waterslide hosta at the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant sale and immediately had regrets of not buying more.  It is a pretty green/silver color and has strong ruffled leaves. I planted it around the flowering Cherry tree last Fall and it came back this Spring .   When I went to the Spring plant sale, it was sold out, but that just meant that I had to hunt for it.  On a trip to Home Depot one night, I found two of them and put them in my cart quickly. Here, below, are the pair of ruffled, Waterslide hostas laid out where I planned on planting them - in a sort of linear drift adjacent to the sedges.   Once planted, you can see the difference in the size of the one from last year vs. this year's version with the oldest one on the top right: And, here's another look - below - showing the three Waterslide hostas.

Over the course of my gardening history, I think I've only bought ONE "plant of the year".  Back in 2013, I bought a single Blue Indigo (Baptisia Australis) from Luurs Nursery based on the sign calling it out as "Perennial Of The Year in 2010"  and planted it in front of our fence in Elmhurst.  I always liked that plant and thought that I should have bought more (see yesterday's post about mistakes ).   But, that might change this year.  I came across the 2021 Hosta of the Year from Proven Winners named Shadowland Wheee Hosta .  Walter's Garden bills this as the third Hosta of the Year (the 2021 version) and somehow they've already called next year's (2022) Hosta of the Year (Hosta Shadowland Diamond Lake).  Here's what it looks like: Source via Proven Winners . This year's winner (Whee) is described : Extremely ruffled, cream colored margins extend from the tip of each green leaf all the way down the petiole to the crown. This ruffled m

Yesterday, I posted a photo of one of the Hostas that I bought at the Fall Plant Sale (Praying Hands ) and talked about how I studied the shade to try to pick the right spot that provided the conditions while also placing it so I could enjoy looking at the plant.  Today, I wanted to add to the garden diary the other hosta - Waterslide.  This is the ruffled one that I posted about earlier this month when I bought i t. I ended up planting the Waterslide hosta adjacent to the three Japanese Evercolor Everillo Sedges that are planted at the base of our Kwanzan Flowering Cherry Tree .  You can see the Waterslide hosta on the left of the photo below. Just like the Sedges, I mulched the Waterslide hosta in with wood chips and have been trying to water it to get it established this Fall.   The plan in this area calls for the inclusion of Ostrich Ferns, so if you recall the back of the tag of this Waterslide Hosta , you'll see that both Sedges and Ferns are listed as companions.  And...