Why I Oughta...

In the Summer of 2023, I planted a couple of Japanese Maple trees including a high-grafted Inaba Shadire , a Seiryu upright , a small First Ghost , a Firefly Japanese Maple , a small, mis-labeled cutleaf red Japanese Maple , an Emperor 1 JM in the Kitchen Curved bed,  and a Waterfall (or Virdis) low-grafted weeping Japanese Maple .   Of those seven Japanese Maples planted in 2023, just two of them are still with us in the garden.  The Emperor 1 in the "kitchen curved" bed is doing well (despite the Cicada damage last year) and the Waterfall weeping Japanese Maple.  The other five are gone.   When the Waterfall tree went in , it had a couple of primary branches that extended in each direction from the trunk.  It seemed to get established in 2023 and came back in 2024.   Then, it suffered a setback.  In the Summer of 2024, we had a significant storm that dropped some limbs from one of our Black Walnut trees.  That fallen branch (...

Yesterday, I showed a photo of the growth that the three Green Gem Boxwoods have put on in the past few years .  I also mentioned that there were a couple of small boulders tucked in-betwix them that started out as a feature but have recently been hidden by the foliage.  I put those three boulders (two round, one more-square) during the Winter of 2023 .  Today, they're covered in this beautiful, soft green moss.  See below: I'd like to move these out from in-betwix the boxwoods, but I don't want to damage this moss.  It sure seems to like to grow here.  This is *exactly* the type of " Garden Personality " that I'm after, but it is being hidden.   The conditions seem to be right with the mix of moisture, shade and surface area.  I'm thinking that I can move these out to a different shade spot and keep them happy. 

Planted in the Fall of 2021, we have a cluster of three Green Gem Boxwoods planted in our backyard.  They're in a transition spot in the beds:  behind what I call the "kitchen curved" bed and in front of the Stumpery.   These were planted for four-season interest and to add some evergreen structure to the bed when it was just being planted.   Green Gem Boxwoods stay small.  This post shows their details, including their 2-to-3 feet size/height .   In their fourth full year of growth in our garden (plus a half-year from Fall planting), they've put on some size, but I don't think they're done growing.   Here's what they looked like after two seasons .  Still LOTS OF SPACE between them.   Below is a look at these three evergreen shrubs.  When I planted them, I stuck some boulders/large rocks in between them .  Back then, the rocks were the feature.  Today...the rocks are almost unseen - due to foliage grow...

There aren't a ton of planting posts that I can publish that check the box on three ' to-do items ', but the three ornamental grasses that I planted in the backyard recently get that accomplished. Those three grasses are All Gold Hakonechloa macra grasses that I bought at the recent Morton Arboretum plant sale. The three relevant items are: 4. Finishing the garden edits, 10. Work on garden 'legibility' and 20. Stay focused on repetition vs. new. When I bought these three bright grasses, I wasn't sure where I was going to put them. Somewhere in the backyard or perhaps along the boardwalk. After thinking about it for weeks, I opted to place them at the end of the border that houses the rest of these All Gold Grasses. Extend the row closer to the house. At the end of April, I posted a photo showing the nine grasses in this border . With these three new ones, we're now at twelve All Golds in back. Here are the three new ones staged for planting: All Gold Hak...

After finding a falling for a new (to me...at the time) fern, I planted three Crested Surf Japanese Painted ferns in the backyard in 2021 .   They had a hard-time getting established, so I wasn't sure if they were coming back those first few seasons.  Now...in their fifth season, I'm seeing them push through the thick mulch layer with fronds unfurling in early May.    See below for the three Crested Surf ferns that are planted in a triangle: Similar to other things, I'm thinking that I planted these too far apart.  These, too, should be [candidates for dividing] this Fall.  

A quiet workhorse in the shady understory part of our garden are the three Queen of Hearts Brunnera that are planted along the front border.  They went in during the Summer of 2021 and I haven't thought much about them since .   Below is a photo showing these shade-loving perennials in full bloom with their delicate blue flowers on the tips of 'sprays' above the silver-lined foliage.   Looking at this cluster (now), I think I planted these too far apart and should have pulled them closer.  Perhaps one way to rectify this gap in the middle is to think about dividing a couple of these this Fall to add one-or-two more plants.  Marking this as a [candidate for dividing] for later this Fall.  

Back three weeks ago, I posted a photo and wondered if the Sun King Aralias that I planted last year were "back" for their second growing season .  I was concerned because I didn't baby these last year - and neglected them a little bit when it came to watering/irrigation and weeding.  I was so focused on the pizza oven that I fell-down a little bit in terms of garden maintenance.   I posted six (not five like I said in April) Golden Japanese Spikenard 'Sun Kings' in the back yard as part of a [garden edit].  I was seeing *some* growth by the stalks of last year's growth in late April, but today....I'm seeing foliage across all six plants. Here, below, is a photo from this week showing the six chartreuse-colored perennials that are putting on foliage and growing in early May: My plan this year is to pay close attention to these this season - in terms of watering and weeding.  I had them mulched in (professionally), so I'm hoping that will help ease the...

I have a couple Shredded Umbrella plants in our shade garden in the backyard. That's their trade name, but their scientific name is Synelesis aconitifolia and they're prized for their upright foliage that resembles - as you might have guessed - a 'shredded umbrella' in the garden. I bought them up at Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin from Roy Diblik after fellow garden designer Austin Eischeid gave a talk at Northwind about his shade garden and included the Shredded Umbrella Plant. I tucked two of them in amongst some Epimedium.  That first season, they went dormant early.  I assumed they didn't make it.  But, they came back last year.  Same thing:  early dormancy.  I figured the worst. So, imagine my delight when I see this unique foliage (below) peeking out of the soil this Spring: I'll post an update after this leaf's out later this Spring.  I'll include it on my shopping list the next time I head to Northwind.  

The garden is sleeping.  It has put itself to bed - with everything going dormant.  Everything...that is....except for some evergreens and semi-evergreens.  Evergreens - like conifers - are what I think of when it comes to winter interest.  But...semi-evergreens are something that I continue to learn about every season.  And...the shining star of my own semi-evergreens continues to be Autumn Ferns.   Have a look at these Ferns below.  This is Christmas Day.  And, everything is bare, brown and dry.  But...these?  Still showing off with their green fronds.  More Autumn Ferns needs to be near the top of my 2025 planting list.  I've said it before, but I haven't delivered as much as I'd like to on Autumn Ferns.  Yesterday's post about a Fairy Garden?  I mention removing Ostrich Ferns.  What should I replace them with in that spot?  Autumn Ferns need to be part of the equation.

2024 was the year of cut flowers, but it also was the year of some ' garden personality '.  I included the notion of adding even more 'garden personality' as number 22 on my 2024 to-do list .  To that end, I feel like I added a bit - including the 'feed me' compost bin sign .  I also added - and mostly neglected - a small Stumpery in the back late in 2023 .   There's another bit of 'garden personality' that I added earlier this year that I failed to post about here on the blog.  That "bit" is my first attempt at a more-permanent Fairy Garden using a piece of Norway Maple trunk and a couple pieces of Norway Maple bark to create a little roof.  I sunk the bottom-half of the trunk into the ground to give it some stability and attached the roof with a couple of decking screws.   I added a little branch 'perch' where the door will go about half-way-up the trunk.  See below for the first Fairy House built in my new(ish) (more permanent) F...

The Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas on the southside of our backyard in the 'kitchen curved bed' are holding on to their greenish/purple-ish leaves this late into the year.  Below in the photo you can see a number of them lined up along the back/middle-back of the border that are droop'ing, but...holding their large leaves: Also note...the leaf litter in the photo all across the beds.  I've cleaned these out a handful of times, each time trying to cut up the leaves with my mower and blowing the scraps back onto the beds.  

In the Fall of 2021, I was on a "Hicks Yew High" - where I planted these tiny shade-loving evergreen shrubs all over the backyard.  I put six of them in the south bed with designs to 'replicate' the undulating hedge from the back border .  Here are the six in winter when the contrast with the snow shows how small they really were in January of 2022 .  In Summer of 2022, I did a 'garden edit' where I pulled out some Lilacs and replaced them with some Green Giant Thujas.  At at that time, I also relocated three of the Hicks Yews .   Three remained.  Set on sort-of 'an angle'.   I set up my wine barrel 'water feature' next to them.  And, haven't thought about them much at all.  (that is the wine barrel that I've turned over for the winter in the photo...) Have they grown?  Yep.  The photo at the top shows their current state.  I'm hoping that - with time - the gaps will close and a small 'hedge' of sorts appears here....

More Yew posts.  At least...I have a few more Hicks Yew posts to document the current state of the garden.  Next up - today - is a pair of Hicks Yews that are planted along the fence in the firepit border on the south side of the gravel pad.   I last posted about these in Summer 2023 , when I discovered that I had NOT posted about their planting.  I'm going to guess that these went in the ground in 2022.  That means they have had that same 2.5 growing seasons under their belt. In the photo at the top of this post, you can see the current state of the Yews.   Slow and steady it seems.  In the shade.  Even without irrigation.   This is part of the Yew update series of posts that are documenting the various shrubs in our yard.  I've posted about the  Brown's Yew , the  hedge of small Hicks Yews (for an undulating hedge)  in the far backyard,  the Hicks Yews that I planted *behind* the Oakleaf Hydrangeas ...

I have a little cluster of Carex Montana that I planted in Summer of 2023 along the beginning of the impromptu flagstone path along the south entry of our house.  I picked them up at Northwind Perennial Farm and they were just plug-sized .  I put them in next to the Boxwoods that are under the Linden trees and allowed them to anchor the 'corner' of the path.   These things stood-out to me so much this season that I posted about them just a month-or-so ago when I said they were thriving in this deep-shade location .  In that post, I mentioned that I "should plant 12 more of these along the path".   With Fall Planting season here, I decided to try to divide some of these Carex Montanas to get a couple of free plants.  Like I've done with other divisions - when I haven't divided said plant before - I hedged and left one of the three intact.  I didn't touch the one in back.  But, I dug up and divided the other two - which were a little bit ...

Back in 2020, I discovered Toad Lilies and set about trying to plant a few of them in my woodland garden in the far back .  Like a lot of other things, these were shared by Erin the Impatient Gardener, who shared them in her own garden.   Come Spring 2021, I planted a few small containers of them in a little drift in the southwest corner of our lot .  The variety that planted are called Gilt Edge Japanese Toad Lillies and they were IMMEDIATELY destroyed by the (dang!) rabbits .    That's when I installed some rings of Chicken Wire to protect them.  I've left those rings in place for three-plus years now and because of that (I think), well....we *still* have Toad Lillies.  Not a lot of them.  But, they're still here. I posted the VERY SAME photos last year - about a year ago.    Here, below, are a couple of photos showing the remaining Toad Lillies.  These get ZERO supplemental water, so they're just doing their thing on their...

I planted the third Emperor 1 Acer palmatum via the Morton Arboretum plant sale this Spring.  I brought it home in a small one-gallon container - and like the other ones - netted it with tulle to protect it from cicada damage .   The tree suffered a little dieback, but otherwise has been just trying to survive the summer heat.  Unlike the Emperor 1 I posted about two days ago , this one is in full shade all the time.    Now that we're back from summer vacations, I'll try to baby this one with a little bit more water than it has been getting and hope to put on some new limbs before dormancy arrives this Fall.

Back in May of 2019, I planted a number of very small, one-gallon Canadian Hemlock trees .  A few of them were destroyed by rabbits.  And a few died from drought.  But, two of them have managed to make it to today.  In terms of growing seasons, that: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and now...in the middle of their sixth growing season:  2024.   After the rabbits ate these things up, I began to protect them with chicken wire.  The past few seasons, I've just left the chicken wire rings in place.  And the trees have just kept-on-growing.   I heard from someone on the blog about the hemlocks and they wondered how they were doing.   Here's a couple of photos that show them - although...they're *hard to see*.   The first photo shows both of the trees - one on the left and the other on the right - split by that narrow tree trunk in the middle.  The second photo shows a close-up of the chicken wire ring. I'd say that ...

The pair of Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are planted near the Dawn Redwood tree are in bloom.  Late July.  With long, slender bloom heads that are turning from light green to pink.  Below are a couple of photos that show both of them.  There's also an Alice Oakleaf Hydrangea that I relocated here, but that one isn't as advanced as these two.  Planted in May of 2022, these Ruby Slippers are a dwarf variety of Oakleaf Hydrangea that I bought at the Morton Arboretum annual plant sale .   In the photo above, you also can get a peek at some of the recently-planted Sun King Golden Aralia (Japanese Spikard) that also came from the Morton Arboretum sale .    The last time that I peeked at these in the [garden diary] was about a month ago when I revisited this 'garden edit' .   I feel good about the border and the little slice of the garden that fronts this, the part *behind* the Nootka Cypress - sort-of adjacent to this - is anoth...

We bought a small, unique hosta named the Hacksaw Hosta at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale back in Spring of 2022 and planted it in the backyard.  The (dang!) rabbits ate it up, but it came back for year two - 2023 - and put on some growth .   This year - the third growing season (two years since planting), the Hacksaw hosta has sort-of spread out.  And has thrown up a one fully-formed hosta and a third tiny sprout.   See below for the current state showing the two hostas and on the right...the start of a tiny third one: Part of my 2024 to-do plan is to keep going on the 'Hosta Replacement Plan'.  When I think about replacing hostas, this Hacksaw isn't one of them that needs to go.  It is unique and worth highlighting as a specimen in the shade garden.  

It is finally time to call a couple of dead trees:  Three Japanese Maples didn't come back this Spring.  They tried - leaf'd out from the graft - but now...they are foliage-free.  Two of them are from Mr. Maple - the upright Seiryu Japanese Maple and First Ghost - back by the firepit.  Both...are now on the LOST TREES list.  The Seiryu is one that I really was keen to see grow as I planted it in the shadow of the dying Flowering Cherry Tree.  That tree died last year, and now the JM is gone, too.  That leaves a big empty opportunity for a shade-tolerant tree.    The last one was the Inaba Shadire high-grafted tree.  Below are a couple of photos showing the skeletons of these Japanese Maples.  First the Seiryu followed by First Ghost.   Sadly...these are the fourth Japanese Maples that didn't make it just this year - with the unknown laceleaf tree from the orange big box store was pulled and replaced by an Emperor 1 earl...