Why I Oughta...

A few years back, after getting to know them via Erin the Impatient Gardener, I planted three Gilt Edge Toad Lilies back by the firepit .  Three of them.  That first year, they did great .  They were about to bloom (I think), when the dang rabbits found them.  And gnawed them right off .  The second growing season (2022), the rabbits, once again, found them.  And ate 'em up .  That's when I put up some Chicken Wire rings.  I left them in place all-year-around. And today?  I have two Toad lilies.  Or...maybe this is just ONE plant that has two stems.  They're awfully close to be two different plants, right?  I'm not sure.  See below for a few photos showing these survivors in their chicken wire protection ring: I've said a few times that I should add more of these and I stand by that.  But, I think I need to see if these can get into a place where they're more rabbit-resistant.  Either by being more productive or less tender.  

100-or-so days after planting a 5-gallon Climbing Hydrangea ( Hydrangea anomala petiolaris ) back by the firepit, we're seeing some real upwards leader growth.  Or...what I plantsmen call "aerial rootlets".   We have this climbing, flowering vine going up a Hackberry tree and the R O U G H bark sure seems to be helpful in giving those aerial roots something to grab on-to. See below for the current mid-Summer form of our Climbing Hydrangea:  There are a few, sparse blooms on it this year, too.  So, that's kinda nice, right?   I'm hoping that this will wrap around (and not injure) the tree, so that it can be viewed from all angles. This also has me wondering:  where else could I plant one?  I've long talked about espalier'd trees along the garage, but maybe this is a better answer there, too?  Or...what about both? Last year, I saw one of these at 50% off the end-of-year sale at the Growing Place .  I'll have to pop back over there again this year. 

That photo (above) shows the five Ghost Ferns (Athyrium 'Ghost') that I planted (as a set of four) in the Spring of 2021. They were from the Morton Arboretum Spring sale and they've thrived since they were added to our backyard shade garden.  Why are there five Ghost Ferns when I planted four?  No...they're not spreading ferns like the Ostrich Fern that sends out underground runners.   The reason that there are (now) five of these ferns is because last Fall, I divided one of them into two .   At that time, I only divided one because I was a little afraid.  I didn't want to kill all of them off. I did the same dividing with some Shaggy Shield ferns and my fears were well-placed as not all of the divisions made it this year.   But, the Ghost Fern division not only survived, but it appears to have had a good year and is a vigorous, healthy fern.   Why do I bring this up?  First...to remind myself and to help prioritize my Fall dividing program.  But, also because of

Number 10 on my 2023 to-do list was to keep going on my 'fern upgrade' project.  That means that I need to say 'so long' (not goodbye) to my first fern love - the ostrich fern.  And begin to replace them with better performers.    I've written a few times about ferns that 'look good' after a full, not Summer and documented all of the various ferns in our garden in September .  At that time the Ostrich Ferns look tired and burned out.  The Autumn and Japanese Painted ferns do NOT.  Then, there's Winter - when the Autumn Ferns stick around and add some visuals to the mostly barren garden .   So, replacing Ostrich Ferns with other ferns is something that I've been trying to do - both through divisions as well as new additions.  When I planted the Inaba shadire Japanese Maple, I removed six Ostrich Fern clumps and put them in the far back.  I planted the tree a step-back from the border, allowing for a little planting near the edge of the lawn.   And th

Nobody grows hostas for their flowers.  Is that a 'hot take'?  I don't think so.  Foliage gardeners (I'm a self-proclaimed foliage gardener) grow hostas because of what they do:  shade-garden workhorses that add some texture and fill in spaces. But...they also flower.  With these tall, odd, scapes of flowers.  Are they scapes ? I think so .  I remember my mom's garden, filled with hostas.  And popping the purple flowers that emerged each Summer.  I don't think I've ever tracked the flower emergence in my own garden, so I figured I'd start a little bit right now. Why now?   Because I was walking around the garden one morning recently and was struck by one set of flowers in back.  On these hostas: The flowers seem VERY dark purple (for hostas).  Thanks to the Hosta Library, it appears that these are Venticosa hostas .   The Delaware Hosta Association has this description : The Dark Green One with Purple Flowers: H. ventricosa This one also has shiny heart-

In Spring of 2021, I planted eight bareroot Bressingham Blue Hostas from Longfield Gardens along the edge of a new curve in one of our backyard beds .   The plan called for these to be 'Hadpsen Hostas', but I found and admired the Bressingham Blue variety, so I made the swap.   One year post-planting, seven-of-the-eight came back and were putting on their trademark blueish-green foliage.  This is what the Bressingham Blue hostas looked like in late May 2022 .  Started with eight.  By May 2022, there were seven.  Not bad. How about today?  See below for a photo showing these hostas.  The two in the 'back row' are still there. But, at first glance, it seems that there are (now) just four in the front row.   But, if you look closer, there are (strangely) two very TINY tucked in there.  The first tiny one is in the open gap - what becomes the 'second' from the left.  Below is annotated (and zoomed) version of the same photo: And the other tiny one is all the way to

I've been all-in on Team Carex thanks to Roy Diblik and his Northwind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin.  He introduced me to sedges (Carex) and talked about how he uses them in his plantings.  Over the years, I've bought a number of different sedges from Northwind including: Bromoides and Little Midge , Albicans and Pensylvanica .   Now, I can add another one to the list:  Carex Montana.  The photo at the top of this post shows three Carex Montana plugs that I bought from Northwind last month and planned on planting by the Linden trees that are espaliered.   Below is the sign from Northwind that includes this description:   You've noticed the rich, soft green, beautiful foliage. Plant this in your shade garden and develop a ground layer of soft textures that will enliven your other plants and reduce weed seeds from germinating. Mix this Carex with other Carext to create a tapestry of colors and textures. Why not?? Haven't you wood chipped long enough??? Shots fired at

One of the big planting projects that I have tee'd up for this Summer is to plant a series of boxwoods underneath the pair of espalier'ed Greenspire Linden trees to add some structure and four-season interest with evergreen shrubs.  One of the things that I've learned from observing the garden over all four seasons is that while I claim to be a 'hosta gardener', I have begun to fall out of love with them (just a little bit).  Why?  Because they totally disappear during the late Fall, Winter and early Spring.  Sure...there's still a lot to love - they grow in the shade, are all-about-that-foliage, their Spring emergence is a fun little gardening moment and...they're forever dividable (meaning...they can be endlessly divided every Fall).  But, when I look at my beds during the month of January or February or March...and you didn't know they were planted out, one might think that the beds were totally empty.  As the hostas disappear. All that to say...I don

At what point can you consider a perennial 'established'?   There are tons of posts out there on the Web that talk about this very topic - what it means to be well-established ?   It appears that there's no clear-cut answer as every plant in every garden has a different timeline.   One of the colonies of perennials that I've been watching closely is also one of the colonies that was amongst the very first that we put in:  A dozen or so Fanal Astilbes .  They went in back in early Summer 2020 and came with a reputation for being finicky and wanting things like moist soil.    I posted in June 2020 and when I look back , I'm surprised by how far they've moved - I dug them up and transplanted them - over the years.   But, how are they doing in June 2023 - their fourth growing season?  Seemingly....they are 'established'.  See below for a photo showing the red flower stems that have emerged from the green foliage in the south beds: They're a really strong

I recently took notice of this pair of hostas that are planted right in front of the hops vine in our backyard (photo below) and thought that they were a really nice shape and foliage structure.   Why?  Because, I didn't divide these last Fall.  Last August, I included these in a roundup of 'dividing candidates' , but it appears that I left these as-is.    What variety are they?  They had white and purple flowers last year .  And they turned 'green apple green' color, too.  So....know that and using the "What Hosta do I have?" tool, I'm *pretty sure* that these are Honeybells Hostas .  I have a bunch of what I'll call 'ratty' or real common Lancifolia Hostas in the borders that I'd like to replace over time - and these beauties (ahem...Honeybells Hostas) are (once again) 2023 candidates for dividing and popping into the location of the 'ratty' ones.  

Some of the plants that we brought home from the Morton Arboretum annual plant sale were things that *had* to go in a specific spot.  I KNEW IMMEDIATELY where the Spine Tingler Epimedium was going to go.  Same with the Merlin Hellebores.  But, there were other plants that we bought that I KNEW I wanted to go in our garden, but also knew that there were a handful of spots that were viable options for their location.  The Dark Side of the Moon Astilbes are an example.  I put them on the southside, but I could have put them in a like 5 different spots. Another one that is similar are three Peachberry Ice Coral Bells - or Heuchera Primo Peachberry Ice.  The sign from the sale is at the top of this post that details these beauties.  But...that last line is the one that is most compelling:  Tolerates Black Walnut.  Isn't that interesting?  We have a bunch of Black Walnut trees.  We've lost some Heucheras over the years - like these Dolche Apple Twist varieties - that I didn't co

This second post featuring a new (to me) plant (in this case...a hosta) from the Morton Arboretum 2023 Plant Sale:  An Island Breeze Hosta.  The sign from the sale is below - and this one came in at $16.95...which is more than I'd normally pay for a more-common hosta.  This one is unique and one of the kids liked it, so we bought just one.  My rule of buying more than one is easy to break with hostas - because I know that with a little bit of patience, I'll be able to divide them in a couple of growing seasons.   This is the child of the child of Fire Island Hosta.  According to Walters Garden, at least : First came ‘Fire Island’ which was followed by its variegated progeny ‘Paradise Island’. Now there is ‘Island Breeze’ which is the third member of this “tropical” family and a sport of ‘Paradise Island’. The improvements in this cultivar include more impressive variegation due to its wider margins, thicker leaf substance, and a strong growth rate. More impressive variegation,

This Fall, I made a pretty big change in my fern thinking.  I've long talked about how shade gardening is where I find my joy and how hostas and ferns have emerged as my favorite plants in the garden.  And, my first love with ferns was the Ostrich Fern.   I inherited some Ostrich Ferns back in Elmhurst and -for the first time - had success with ferns.  They grew, stood up and even multiplied.  I shared them with my mother-in-law and she grew them in her shade garden successfully.  And, I fostered some of them over there, too .  I even brought some to our house in Downers Grove - including collecting some from my sister-in-laws's teardown garden .   Over the years, I've moved them around and have transplanted them in some spots - including under the tree swing tree and on the side of our house .  I've historically tried to use them *AS MUCH AS I COULD*.   But, then...the change I mentioned above happened.  I started noticing that the Ostrich Ferns weren't performing

On Friday, I posted a look at my initial attempts to divide some of our existing Summer Beauty Allium clumps in our backyard to create more new, 'free' plants.  As of that post, I was up to 27 'free plants' created through division.  Pretty good.  But, I had time and knew I had a few more viable Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion plants that were large enough to divide.  I also knew that I had a spot around the front of the Tree Swing Oak tree that is currently planted with hostas, but gets more shade than hostas typically like.  So, I dug those out and relocated them back into the understory garden bed. And, I dug up some Summer Beauty Allium from the southside beds , divided them and relocated some smaller plants to around the Tree Swing Oak tree.  Here, below, is the 'before' look - before I started to divide these.  My shovel is right in front of one of the clumps I divided. I added some of these divisions right next to the existing colony.  See below for a pee

We grabbed a small, quart-sized hosta from Lowes that was on a close-out sale on a total whim. Do we need more hostas? I'm not sure. Can we find a place for an interesting one? Certainly. And, that's what this one is: interesting. Named the Ben Vernooy Hosta, it just stood out on the rack of mostly plain green companions. I had never come across a Ben Vernooy sport before, but I know there are *a lot* of hostas out there. So, not being familiar with this one isn't a surprise. Thus, I did what I always do: whipped out my phone to read about it.  This listing was the one that had me put it in our cart . Here's how it was described: Ben Vernooy boasts an eye-catching colour of blue with broad bands of yellow along each leaf edge. Over time, the margins may change to creamy white, the leaves are still quite colourfast and you'll enjoy their amazing hues throughout the long growing season. Ben Vernooy presents some of the thickest, sturdiest leaves you can find on a host

Fall is - maybe - the most productive I'm in the garden all season.  The cool temperatures sure help.  But, so does the fact that you can get pretty great deals on plants at the nursery in October.  And...couple that with this being the best time to divide perennials means I'm out there making lots of additions to the beds. My 'NEW free plants' scorecard this fall reads like this:  2 hostas under the Oak , 2 Bressingham Blues by the Viburnums and 2 Lancifolia Hostas in the fern garden .   That's six new plants so far. But, the past weekend saw even more dividing and transplanting.  First up, the hostas that are sitting under the Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeams.  They've struggled from what I think is either sunburn or frost burn the past few years.  They are very likely getting TOO MUCH sun.  Below is a photo showing a larger hosta in the middle with my spade showing how I was going to divide this one.  And, to the right is a smaller hosta that isn't thri