Why I Oughta...

Last year, we planted a tiny (but unique) hosta called a Hacksaw Hosta in the backyard .  I placed it in amongst some other shade plants and mostly forgot about it.  Then, the rabbits found it and ate it all up.  I figured it was gone.  So, imagine my delight when I see not just ONE small Hacksaw hosta emerging from the wood mulch.  But...two of them.  See below for the pair of (tiny) Hacksaw Hostas: I've already repurposed one of the chicken wire rings to protect these tender hostas from the dang rabbits.  And, I sprinkled a little bit of municipal biosolids around the base of these to try to give them a tiny bit of a boost. 

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?  

I bought and planted a small cluster of three large-scale hostas last Fall in one of the borders around our firepit in the far back of our garden.  They are called Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas and were the 2014 Hosta of the Year.  I posted about them here  when I found them in the 50% sale at the orange Big Box nursery.  I planted them in September and they were small at that time .  For comparison's sake, head to this post and quickly look at the photo .  Then come back here.   These did fine in September and October.  And they lasted all the way until mid-November when they started to head into dormancy .   How are they doing today?  Well...all three are back and growing.  Two more than the third, but have a look at the photo below to see how they're all doing by mid-Summer: I spaced these out to allow for their full mature size, so I expect those gaps to fill-in.  I posted about how this spot could use some additional shrubs - including oakleaf and climbing hydrangeas here .

During the flurry of posts about the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale, I seem to have missed posting the details of this small, unique hosta that we bought and planted in our backyard.  Above, you can see the listing for the Hacksaw Pocket Hosta.  It is described as: "Vigorous, small green hosta with thin rippled leaves that have a serrated edge".  It stays small - just 6-9" tall, but when mature will get up to 2' across.   Below is the plant tag for the Hacksaw Hosta.  You can tell that this one was pretty small in the container.  We planted it in the backyard, near the Everillo sedges and Crested Surf ferns .  One month in, this hosta has put on some new growth.  I'll keep babying it for the season and then hope it will just go on autopilot like the rest of our more-mature hostas.  

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 Spring, I planted a bunch of bare root hostas in a few spots around our backyard that Nat brought home from Costco.  I'll get to the Frances Williams Hostas in another post, but this one is about the Bressingham Blue bare root hostas from Longfield Gardens .   I planted eight in what - at that time - I called the 'focal curve' .  And six back by the Yew Hedge . Two by the downspout around the Screened Porch .   That's only 16, so I'm not sure if I planted 18 of them (sometimes...these bare root hostas are so tiny that I plant two in one spot).   I covered some of these last year showing their first year growth.  By June, I was seeing some of them emerge from the mulch .  And by August, it looked like seven of the eight in the focal curve had made it .  I don't seem to have documented in the [garden diary] the ones back by the Yews, nor the ones by the downspout.   So...one year after planting bare root hostas, how are we doing?  First, it seems the two by t

Yesterday, I shared a look at one of the Moneywort plants that I transplanted from a container to our side yard.  It has thrived in deep shade. And....Last week, I posted (again) about dividing and transplanting some Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses in our front beds (under our Norway Maple) and talked about how one of my 2021 to-do list goals was to transplant some foster plants AND to divide up some of my existing perennials.  I've created 12 'free grasses' by dividing up what I have on hand and in *that* post, I mentioned that I also divided a purple Heuchera earlier this year - but failed to post about it. The last time I checked in on this particular plant was last August when it had survived a full year after being transplanted the previous Fall.  But, earlier this year - right around early Spring - I dug up and divided this plant into three separate plants and put them back into the same bed on the northside of the garage.   You can see that bed below with the

Last year, we had some Moneywort (Creeping Jenny ) in our front porch container that before Winter set in, I transplanted into a couple of beds to try to grow as ground cover.  One of the plants I divided and planted in the ' in between two driveways' bed that I was just establishing last Fall .   Another one of them ended up behind the fence, but along the house.  This bed is now set against the metal path edging and had a couple of legacy Hostas planted here and there over the years.   This particular Creeping Jenny seemed to weather the Winter just fine (it *is* tucked in against the house and has the fence not far from it, so there isn't harsh Winter winds that could hit it) and this Summer, it seemed to stretch out a bit.  You can see the current state of the ground cover below:  This seems like it needs a few shade tolerant plants tucked in on their side of the main planting of Moneywort, but it also tells me that I can replicate this in other dense-shade areas.  This

Last month, I posted about an interesting hosta that I came across at the Growing Place called Brother Stefan hosta.  In that post , I referenced a Rob Zimmer column in the Wisconsin Gardener that highlighted a few OTHER 'interesting' cultivars of hostas that mentioned a hosta that I've seen ALL OVER various big box garden centers and, without much thought, I simply dismissed.  I dismissed it because it seemed very popular.  But, Zimmer calls the Abiqua Drinking Gourd 'One of the true giants'.  Well...that has me interested.   Source via WisFarmer.com So, when I found myself at one of the Home Depots this past weekend, I picked up a trio of Miscanthus sinesis 'Adagio' Maiden Grasses .  I also found these Abiqua Drinking Gourd hostas in the 50% off section.   Well, they *had* to come home with me.  Below, you can see the label: And, here, below, are the trio of these hostas in their nursery containers: What is the description of these?  New Hampshire Host

Yesterday, I started a study or inventory of some potential hostas to think about digging up, dividing and transplanting during the month of September.  There are a bunch of candidates to think about in the backyard, but there are some that are most certainly on the no-dig, no-divide list.  At least this Fall.  I'm talking about some of the bareroot hostas that I planted earlier this Spring.  S tarting with these (below) Bressingham Blue hostas that I planted back in late April .  That post lists eight in the planting. But, today?  I see seven total plants that have withstood the Summer heat.  Two in the bac krow and five across the front of the border.  Below you can see the different sizes of the various Bressingham Blue hostas that have survived: Some are, clearly, larger and most established than others.  I've babied these with water for most of the Summer, as they're planted adjacent to one of our new trees.  I'm thinking that seeing these grow up and out is a goo

 One of the items on my early Fall garden task list is to divide up some of my hostas.  I usually do this in Spring and I think that causes many of them to be delayed a bit and not reach their potential in the growing season.  I've read around and it seems that there's mixed views :  some divide in Fall.  Some in Spring.  So, that's what I'm going to do:  divide some in the Fall.  After having divided a lot in the Spring.  Seems like the month of September is the month to divide.  I figure I'll give these a go right after Labor Day.  Cooling temperatures, but still enough time to establish themselves before going dormant with Winter. Here, below, is an inventory of some of the hostas that I think are ready to be divided.  By my count, there are 9 eligible specimens.  Dividing these will give me nine new plants to add to the beds.  For no cost and just a little bit of effort.  What's not to love about that?  Oh...transplant shock, you say?  I suppose there's

Our backyard is mostly shade.  And, because of that, I'm a shade gardener and have been focused on adding shade plants to our yard over the past couple of years.  But, I haven't strayed too far from Hostas and Ferns.  I recently came this list of Shade plants that includes foliage and flowering sub-lists that I've been reading to get acquainted with some new ideas.   We also spent some time over the past few weeks at the Morton Arboretum walking the paths and looking at some of the gardens.  In particular, we spent an overcast morning puttering around the Fragrance Garden seeking inspiration based on seeing what they have planted in some of the shady spots.   Here's a few shots that include a mix of shade-tolerant perennials and annuals below.  This is where that list from Garden Design linked above comes in handy - for identification.  First up, a mix of some All Gold Hakonechloa macra grasses planted with (what I think are) Hypoestes (polka dot plant) and some bego

Earlier this Spring, I planted two pairs of two new ferns (at least they were new to me) in the backyard bed near where I transplanted a bunch of Ostrich Ferns last year.  They are in the shadow of the big Northern Red Oak tree (Tree Swing Tree).   The two different ferns were Shaggy Shield fern - Dryopteris cycadina  -   and Tassel fern - Polystichum polyblepharum.  They were small 4" containers with small ferns when I planted them in .  I applied a thick layer of mulch.  The Shaggy Shield (or sometimes called Shaggy Wood Fern) is doing fine.  But, that's not why I'm posting here.   I noticed some new growth on the Japanese Tassel Ferns - Polystichum polyblepharum - that helps me understand how they received their name.  Back in that post, I talked about how the new fronds kind of curl up to look like tassels.  T his screenshot below of the listing from Gardenia says it best , I think: Via Gardenia That's exactly the stage of some of the new growth on our first-year

Nine months ago, when our yard and garden had gone dormant, I posted a 'plant dreaming' post about Toad Lilies that Erin, the Impatient Gardener had introduced me to via her Instagram handle.  "You should know Toad Lilies" she wrote.    I included a mention of Toad Lilies in my 2021 to-do list (#18) and came across them earlier this Spring at Hinsdale Nursery.   In early June, I had three of them on hand and planted them in the far back - behind the new fire pit area .  I've watered them in a little bit, but I'll say that they seem to be doing just fine without being baby'd.  Here, below, are a couple of photos of the trio.  First, you can see the variegated edge on all of them is really bright and clear.  Love that.  What's interesting is that the photo at Hinsdale Nursery shows a white edge , whereas ours are much more lime green.   I spaced these three out in a little cluster as I understand they'll sort of naturally colonize.   Below is anoth

Mid-July is when the big box stores start to put some of their perennials on 50% off sales.  They have their trees and shrubs that have been picked over out on pallets with big 50% off signs, but they also begin to put some of the perennials inside the garden center, including shade plants on discounts, too.  On one of my trips to one of the Home Depots near us, I found some of these Jack of Diamonds' Brunnera in 1# nursery pots from Proven Winners that were marked down 66% - making them three for the price of one.   These are the second set of Brunnera that we now have in the yard with the first ones (a trio of three) were these Queen of Hearts ones that I planted in June of this year in the shade of our backyard .  These are new to me this year, but were on the list that Laura from Garden Answer published of her favorite shade perennials.   The Queen of Hearts Brunnera are planted in a border mixed with some hostas and they've done well this first year.  The leaves are getti

 Yesterday, I checked in some Bressingham Blue hostas that were planted in 2018 as bare root plants and had now grown to be fully established and thriving.  In that post, I mentioned that there was a Japanese Painted Fern planted in between some of the hostas.  I figured that fern deserved a proper [ garden diary ] update for Summer 2020.  You can see the fern below - it is happy and healthy, despite being crowded by the hostas.   If you go back to the post showing when I bought and planted this fern in 2018 (bought for just $2 at Menards), I included a photo of the tag.  And that means that I can confirm this is a Pictum Japanese Painted fern.  My plan (as of yesterday) is to try to split up/divide the hostas this Fall to provide this fern with a little bit of space.   As for growth history, here's what I have: 2018 - planted in Spring . Looks like it struggled due to Summer + transplant stress, but also likely because I ignored it, but it came back after a little bit of wateri

Just yesterday, I posted a couple of photos of some newly emerged Frances Williams Hostas that I planted as tiny bare root plants from Costco . When I was out there taking photos of those new plants, I remembered that I had previously planted some bare root hostas - and wondered what their growth trajectory looked like.  So, I went over to the north side of the screened porch and found a grouping of three of the Bressingham Blue hostas that I planted as bare root plants in Spring 2018. That means that what you see in the photo above - a trio of Bressingham Blue hostas - grew like this: 2018 - Planted as bare root.  First growing season 2019 - Second growing season. 2020 - Third growing season.  I included a photo of these in a post in June 2020 . Note, the tops of the foliage reached the line where the foundation hits the house.   2021 - Fourth growing season.  Photo above.  You can see that they've grown in height and width.  And (in this photo) are starting to produce their flowe

In what feels like a totally different gardening season - but was just late April - I planted nine Frances Williams bare root hostas in our yard.  They were part of a bundle of bare root perennials that Nat picked up from Costco that included some Bressingham Blue Hostas and some purple Astilbes .  I'm posting this in early July, but the photos from this post are from mid-June (hence the blog post title being June 2021). In terms of success, I saw (and posted about) many of the Bressingham Blue hostas that came up (not total 100% success) and how most of the Gloria Purpurea Astilbes not only emerged from the ground, but also flowered in June .   But, up until the middle of June, all but ONE of the Frances Williams hostas were nowhere to be seen.  Close to the trunk of the Northern Red Oak (tree swing), I had one of these variegated hostas emerge and put out a nice little package of foliage.  Here's what that first one looks like: But, when I took a closer look, I see a bunc

The photo you see above shows a trio of Brunnera Queen of Hearts planted in the north side rear bed surrounded by some transplanted hostas in a sort of 'ring' or 'hoop' shape.  How these Brunnera got to my yard is a story about YouTube gardening and the influence of creators like Laura @ Garden Answer.   A few weeks ago, I watched this video where she talked about 15 perennials that every garden should have that included a mention of Brunnera .  So, it was suddenly on my radar.  And, when I found myself at Home Depot on a recent visit where I came across this Queen of Hearts cultivar, I grabbed three of them and knew where I'd plant them - despite them NOT being in our plan.  Here, below, is a look at the tag from the Proven Winners version and what it looked like in the nursery container: As I mentioned above, the plan doesn't CALL for these, but this area is what I called Priority Area #2 from this year - the woodland area.  These are now to the east of the n