Why I Oughta...

The past two days, I've posted photos of plants that I picked up at the Lowes 50% off Fall sale starting with the Proven Winners Dolce Silver Heucheras .  And just yesterday I posted details of five small quart containers of Ajuga Chocolate Chip groundcover .  But, I also grabbed a few other things including a pair of these handsome hostas that have large white centers that sure made me pay attention to them mixed-in amongst other hostas.  Look at the photo below to see the why I had to buy them: The color was striking.  I pulled one of them off the rack and turned it around to figure out what the variety is named.  Below is the plant tag that shows off the Monrovia tag and the name:  Forbidden Fruit Plantain Lily.   I whipped out my phone and did a quick search to figure the story of the Forbidden Fruit hosta out and came across this listing from NH Hostas .  They called me out as one of those nursery suckers,  lol.  From their listing :  Fully tetraploid sport of 'Orange Marm

Groundcover, groundcover, groundcover.  That's one of the things that I've tried to tell myself to focus on when I'm at the nursery.  Wisconsin Plantsman Roy Diblik (who I've posted about a bunch of times) along with my other Zone 5 garden inspiration Erin the Impatient Gardener have done a series of YouTube videos this past year that I keep revisiting for ideas.  In this one, they talk about a bunch of plants including how Roy has been 'experimenting' with Ajuga Chocolate Chip .  He's been planting it on the edge of a path as a groundcover and talks about how it outcompetes weeds.   I've looked at some small quart containers at his nursery up in Wisconsin, but haven't pulled the trigger.  So, imagine my delight when I saw these small nursery containers of Ajuga Chocolate Chip at Lowes during their 50% off sale.   At $2.25, I bought all that they had:  five small containers.  Here, below, is what they look like in their flat: I'm going to tuck th

Over the weekend, we popped into Lowe's to find that their entire garden center (aside Fall things like mums and kale) has been marked down 50%.  Lowe's isn't super convenient for us, but one of the things that I've noticed over the past couple of seasons is that they do a nice job with their garden center and usually carry things that are not normally sold in the Orange Big Box store nursery.  Last year, I planted a couple of purple Heucheras that I bought at Lowes that were 50% off and they've done well in the garden .  Those Purple Palace Coral Bells/Heucheras have all managed to survive this growing season and have put on growth.  This post shows all three of them and talks about the decline of another variety - Dolce Apple Twist .   My experience with those two - the common Purple Palace doing well and the more exotic Apple Twist not so much - was front and center when I came across a couple of plants at Lowes 50% off sale.   As I was walking down the nursery

Yesterday, I posted some photos of a six new (but small) Autumn Ferns that I planted in our backyard as part of my Fall planting program .  In that post, I talked about how I've been really impressed with the first three Autumn Ferns that I planted in 2021 and knew I wanted to add even more.  I've long expressed my strong relationship with perennial ferns and how they're my favorite plant in the garden.  That love of ferns started with Ostrich Ferns, but of late, has shifted away from them as I've found new, better, more interesting shade garden partners.  And ones that don't deteriorate in August and September .   One of my 2022 to-do list items was to plant more four-season plants (#2) and Autumn Ferns were (at least last year) showing up strong deep into the Winter.  As of yesterday, I had nine Autumn Ferns planted - 3 in 2021 and now six in 2022.  But, I was back at the Orange Big Box store and I found even more of the 50% off Autumn Ferns - or Erythrosora fern

Last week, I shared the sweet deal I found at the Orange Big Box nursery on six small Autumn Ferns and talked about how they are/were on my plant 'want list' because of how well they've performed in our backyard the past two growing seasons.  The three that I have are standouts and are what I'd call semi-evergreen as they last WELL PAST the first frost.  That four-season aspect is a big part of what I'm drawn to with the Autumn Fern.  And... the fact that it doesn't look ratty after the long, hot Summer . One of the aspects of our garden that I've continued to work on is the notion of repetition.  Garden design that works (for me), very often includes a repeating set of plants in different locations to help pull the whole thing together.  I have started on my repetition journey with Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses and Hicks Yews.  I'd like to keep adding Autumn Ferns in different spots to begin to show a repeated glimpse of these four-season ferns. 

Yesterday, I posted a few photos of a hosta that I divided and transplanted around the large red oak tree in our backyard.  I tucked in the two new divisions into a part of the border that was bare.  I mentioned in that post that doing the seasonal gardening chore of dividing perennials was/is on my 2022 to-do list and I had planned to do a few more around the backyard.  Today, I'm showing a divided Bressingham Blue hosta that I dug up from around the side of the screened porch and split into three segments. The hosta in question was planted as a bareroot plant in 2018.  That means it has had five full growing seasons.  Here's what it looked like last Summer (2021), when I declared that this had finally reached maturity .  Today, I dug it up. First, below, you can see the current state of the hosta.  It has many stems and is a good division candidate. I split it into three segments and tucked the largest one back in the same spot.  Below, you can see the remaining Bressingham

The time has come to start dividing some perennials.  Why?  Because the temperature has dropped and I find myself with a little bit of time where I can putter in the backyard beds after work before it gets dark.  As a reminder, #12 on my 2022 to-do list was to add more 'free plants' through division - something that I've done the past few growing seasons.   My plan focuses on two different types of plants in our garden:  grasses and hostas.   Earlier this Summer, I went around and identified a few candidates to work on, but I started with a couple of hostas NOT on that list.  I was out by the large, Northern Red Oak tree in the south beds recently and noticed that a couple of hostas that are planted there have grown enough to be considered good candidates for division.  I dug up two - these are unknown cultivars - and split them.   I put one from each division in a hole kind of 'around' the oak tree trunk - in a spot of the border that is currently empty.  See belo

Just last week, I posted some details and photos of ferns that are peforming really well late in Summer and early Fall in our garden .  Those were Japanese Painted Ghost Ferns and Autumn Ferns.  I planted three Autumn Ferns - Dryopteris erythrosora - in May of 2021 and have watched them become standouts.   One of the things that I learned - by 'getting to know' these ferns is that they're semi-evergreen.  All the way until mid-December (2021) , I was able to see these ferns show up in the garden, well-past when everything else went dormant.    I liked them so much that I put the idea of adding more of these on my 2022 to-do list (#2)  and on my 2022 plant wish list .    Good news:  on a recent trip to the orange Big Box nursery, I found a set of six of these Autumn Ferns that were 50% off.  They're small to begin with (1.5 pint), so half-off made them $3 a piece.   Some photos below show these newly acquired Autumn Ferns.  First, a top-down look at the fronds.  Then, a

I've long talked about how my favorite garden plant family are ferns.  Hostas are a close second.  Why?  Because my Mom was a shade gardener who toiled in her garden over the years with hostas .  Our backyard is mostly shade, so like my mother...I, too, am a shade gardener.  That means finding things that work well in shade and/or part shade.  That has lead me to lists like this that talk about various things that work well in shade like heucheras , lungwort and...of course ferns and hostas.  Over the years, I've planted various ferns in our gardens, but my first fern love was the Ostrich Fern .  I've had them in our garden in Elmhurst, brought a couple to my sister & Equation Boy's house (when we lived there) and have them here in Downers .  And, while they're really great ferns, they start to look a little ragged as the growing season goes on.  But, on a recent walk around the garden, I've noticed that a couple of varieties of ferns are looking REALLY goo

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos showing the transplant location of three purple Astilbes that I moved from the north bed to the south bed where they're (now) tucked in amongst some other Fanal Astilbes.  In that post, I mentioned that this was the first of my early Fall transplant moves that I was planning to take on as the weather begins to turn cooler.  On my [ Fall 2022 ] task list was another transplant project:  Twinkle Toes Lungwort .   I planted three of these Lungwort in the south bed back in the Fall of 2020 and they've done really well over the past two growing seasons.  All three of them have put on size and are really lovely dotted silver, low border-loving plants.   In my post from a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I wanted to dig these up and move them closer to the front of the bed.  The reality is that they're low-lying plants and need to be closer to the front so I can plant something more intermediate behind them.   This post shows the location

Last Spring (March 2021), I planted some bare root Astilbes from Longfield Gardens that Nat picked up at Costco in the backyard .  They were Gloria purpurea variety and were billed as having purple flowers.  I checked in on them this Summer when I noted that they were pretty crowded in a spot between the trunk of a tree and some hostas.  I mentioned then that I wanted to transplant these this Fall.   Well...Fall isn't REALLY here, but in my garden, I'm doing some of my Fall tasks, including transplanting and dividing.   On a recent, rainy evening, I went out and dug the three Astilbes up and transplanted them over into the second row of my OTHER Astilbes.  Here, below, is what the area looks like with the three new ones planted: It isn't PLAINLY obvious where the three transplants are located, so I've included (below) an annotated photo that I can reference next season when I start scanning the mulch layer for tips of new growth to emerge in Spring.  Here's where

A few days ago, I showed how the Bird added a single Carex Albicans to her little backyard garden and mentioned that I had bought a few more of these plugs.  I intended to plant all four back by the fire pit border, but she wanted one, so it went in her garden.  As I talked about in that post, these sedges are plugs from Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin, where gardener Roy Diblik evangelizes for Carex as the cure for garden groundcover.  Below is the sign from his nursery: These Albicans are darker green than the Bromoides that I planted yesterday under the Hornbeams .  Below, you can see some of them before planting: Here, below, is the layout of these three.  They're close to the fire pit gravel border and will (hopefully) fill in and cover up some of that mulch. I could plant four dozen of these and that wouldn't be enough, so three barely makes a dent.  But, every garden has to start somewhere, right?   These three additional Carex Albicans now add to the total of care

We have two Praying Hands hostas in our backyard shade garden.  They are both planted close to each other in the hosta bed underneath the large Northern Red Oak tree swing tree and tucked in amongst some other known varieties like Frances Williams and Christmas Tree as well as a bunch of other, unknown varieties - some variegated, some not.   I planted the first one of these in Fall of 2020 .  At some point, I acquired a second one.  I don't seem to have posted about this second planting, nor how I transplanted the first one, but those two things did, indeed happen.  I originally planted this back by the colony of Guacamole Hostas, but I moved it because there's a little path to a kids picnic table there and this was going to be trampled.   Here, below, is a look at both of them. First, the larger of the two.  I'm thinking this is the 2020 version below.  You can see ferns and other hostas in the photo.  As well as the tray of Kentucky Coffee tree seedlings that I have tuck

Last year, I bought and planted a small, native Pagoda Dogwood tree in our backyard close-to/near our firepit area.   It was tucked in right on the curve that transitions from our Hicks Yew hedge (in formation) and the firepit border and I thought (at the time) that it would provide a nice little focal point there - and grow up/over the Hicks Yew hedge to both provide screening and a little sense of placemaking by the firepit.    The small tree managed through the Winter (I protected it from the dang rabbits with a Chicken Wire hoop) and leaf'd out this year.  The leaves are quite nice and interesting .   It has put on growth - a little up, but plenty out.  That means that - for now - it is crowding out the Hicks Yews and the hosta that are planted close to it.   Here, below, is a look at the situation.  Pagoda Dogwood in the middle.  Hosta of some unknown variety on the left.  Small (but growing) Hicks upright Yews on the right.  As the Dogwood has spread out, it starts to 'c

It seems that I've stumbled across a groundcover that works for me in areas of deep shade and places that I'll neglect.  That's the situation on the north side of our house - along the gravel path.  I have never watered this area.  But, I stuck a Creeping Jenny Moneywort out there after I dug it out of our Front Porch Container and it has...ummm...taken. Last October, I showed a photo of this ground cover and it was just getting started here .  What's it look like today?  See below for how it has spread out and is thriving: I like how it is spilling out onto the path.  And how it has filled in a huge section of this long, linear bed.     With this kind of growth, you have to wonder if this is an invasive, right?  University of Wisconsin says that it isn't .  But...I'm not sure.  Despite adding some ground cover being one of my 2022 to-do items, I'm not going to fly out and buy a bunch of plugs of this stuff.  At least...not yet.  But, this passage makes me w

First planted as a tiny nursery hosta (from Menards) in 2018, we have a lone Christmas Tree Hosta in our backyard, under the Northern Red Oak tree swing tree .  That means this hosta is in its fifth growing season.  I posted a photo of it in August of 2020 - right about two years ago.  Check it out here .  Last August (2021), I included an inventory of some (potential) division candidates and included this hosta .   Finally... last Fall (2021), I included a photo of its yellow foliage right as it was heading towards dormancy .   So...what does it look like today?  See below for the current state: It has continued to put on more size and mass.  That means...it should go on my Fall 2022 division candidate list.   Earlier this Summer, I mentioned that some of the bare root Frances Williams hostas need to be relocated .  They're in the same bed as this one.    Add these all to the list along with the purple Astilbes that I posted about last week .   Here's the [ Fall 2022 ] task l

Last Summer, I added six Brunnera plants to the garden.  Three on one side, three on the other.  First...I started with a variety called Queen of Hearts.  Those were planted on the northside in a little cluster amongst some various hostas. Here's the post showing their initial planting .   They seemed to do just fine last year and appear to have established themselves.  Below, you can see how they look today - with about a year of growing and putting down roots: All are doing well and if you look closely, you'll see some spent flower stalks emerging from the crown.  Each of these had some nice blue-ish flowers that bloomed on their tips.   If I'm looking at adding more shade-tolerant perennials to the backyard and I come across even more Brunnera on sale, it is a no-brainer to pick them up.  They are simply performing for me.  They also can use a focal plant that sits right in the middle of these three, right?  

Last year, I planted a series of bareroot astilbes - Gloria purpurea - in our backyard around the base of one of the flowering pear trees.  I stuck them there without much thought and early enough in the growing season that not everything *around* them had grown in just yet.  At the time, it looks like I planted six bareroot plants .   I was out in the garden recently and had a look at these.  See below for a photo showing this little slice of the bed: By my count, I see THREE Astilbes that have made it.  As I think back, I'm *pretty sure* that I recall that some of the bareroot starts were small, so I tucked more than one in the hole.  Perhaps I doubled all of them up and ended up with just three? Whatever the case, I'm now seeing these crammed in amongst the tree trunk and a trio of hostas. Which, leads me to think I need to do something here:  transplant these astilbes to a different location. They need a bit of room to spread out. But, where?  The little slice of Japanese-

Just like yesterday's post showing the mid-Summer view of the three Waterslide hostas in our garden, I wanted to do a similar mid-Summer checkin on the three Crested Surf Japanese Painted Ferns back in a similar spot.  The last time I showed these was back in May when I was happy (and surprised) that all three of these came back for their second growing season .  How are they doing mid-Summer?  Pretty good, I think.  All three are green and doing well.  They're a little delicate and seem to be pretty needy (for now) in terms of water, but they've all put on growth and are filling in together. See below for the Crested Surf ferns with a hosta planted in the middle: I'm not sure the hosta belongs there, but for now...I'll leave it.   These are unique hostas (for me), so I'll keep a close eye on them as they continue to establish themselves.  I'm thinking that if we can get through this full growing season (year two), they'll be more hardy going forward.

Over the past two seasons, I planted a total of ten Guacamole Hostas in a colony in the northside bed of our backyard.  These are planted under a number of trees including a large Catalpa and a large Walnut.   I planted the first three in 2020.  Then last year, I tucked in seven more .  Below is a photo showing how these are looking today.  They've put on size and most of them are showing that two-toned foliage that Guacamole Hostas are known for in the garden. Here, below, is a photo showing this same spot 13 months ago : There are a few spots that I could tuck something else in amongst the hostas here, so that's now on my radar:  companion plants. Something with a contrasting foliage and/or height seems right.  I'll keep this on my list of things when I head to the nursery for Fall sales.