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Showing posts with the label seed heads

Autumn Moor Grass - Peak Season - October 2023

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Back earlier this Summer, I bought and planted eight Autumn Moor Grasses - Sesleria Autumnalis - from Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin .  They went in a staggered planting in our front porch beds to provide two things:  something interesting in front of the boxwoods that wasn't too tall AND something that would come up after the large Allium foliage begins to die back and would hid the dying leaves.   One of the things at all gardeners chase is the notion of a four-season garden.  You want things to be interesting and in-bloom in Spring, Summer and Fall.  And, ideally have a little winter show during dormancy.  That notion - of bloom time coupled with their short height - is what sold me on these Autumn Moor Grasses .  They show strong in the Fall.  Here we are on October 1st and what do they look like in their first year?  Like real stars: They're just what I wanted - with low, mounding foliage and see-thru seed heads that rise up above.  The Dusty Miller volunteers sort-

Totem Pole Ornamental Grass Update - September 2023

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In the Spring of 2021 (two growing seasons ago), I bought a singular (broke the rule of buying multiples), large-scale ornamental grass named Prairie Winds Totem Pole - Panicum virgatum .  Planted it on the edge of the front porch bed as a vertical accent.   What caught my attention at the Morton Sale?  The height of this grass being listed as 72" tall - 6 feet tall .    It came back in May of 2022 - and is a late starter every season.  A year after planting, the grass was still small , but by the end of the growing season, it was probably four-feet-tall or so.  And had some nice Winter Interest .   But, that front porch bed has changed quite a bit in the last year - the Norway Maple is gone.  Replaced by a smaller Triumph Elm.   That has opened up this bed to more light and reduced root competition.   And the results on this ornamental grass?  The tallest it has ever been - and close to the promised 6-foot-height when you count the seed heads.  See below for current view of thi

Totem Pole Switch Grass Winter Interest - January 2023

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Planted in 2021, this will be the third growing season for a singular large-scale Switch Grass that is planted in our front porch bed: the Totem Pole Switch Grass .  I've been able to 'get to know' this grass a bit over the years and have discovered that it is late starte r - well after most grasses emerge for the year.  And that every year since planting, the grass has grown taller and taller .  On a recent warm(er) afternoon this past weekend, I wandered around the front beds to have a look at some plants and came across this grass.  And was struck by the seed heads.  And how it provides a really nice look in Winter.  See below for the current state of the Switch Grass: With the removal of the declining Norway Maple and the planting of the Triumph Elm, this front yard bed is one of my main/top priorities for 2023.  Do I leave this grass here?  Add more of them?  Time to make a plan. 

Carex Pensylvanica Black Seed Heads - May 2022

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Last year, I planted a few Carex Pensylvanica in our backyard (under the Frans Fontain European Hornbeam trees) that I brought home from Northwinds Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin.  It doesn't look like I planted anything about these being in the garden last growing season.  These were the the pilot plantings of Carex under these trees and they seemed to do fine last year.   Carex Pennsylvania can be planted as close as 1' centers where they'll knit together to create a carpet.  Mine are planted 10-plus feet apart, so there's, ummm, no 'knitting' going on.   But what *is* going on?  A really lovely Spring seed head show.  See below for a look at one of these Carex showing off dark colored, almost-black, seed heads with the flush of new Spring growth. I've taken different approaches with all three of these sedges in terms of Spring cleanup.  This one (above), I've left as-is.  No trimming at all.  One of the other ones I ran over with the lawn mower and