Why I Oughta...

Right around this time every (early) March, the green tips of a set of daffodil bulbs emerge from the mulch in the bed behind the secondary Northern Red Oak tree.  These were inherited - and I didn't plant them.  I've observed them over the years - as far back as our first Spring here (2018) -  and here's last year's post .  They have flowered exactly ONCE.  Just once - in 2021 .   Will they bloom this year?  I doubt it.

We've had a VERY mild Winter.  There was a span of about three weeks when it was brutally cold and it seemed like it snowed every.single.day.  But, overall...it was mild.  And that's likely turned a number of gardening variables on their ears.  Emergence.  Bloom time.  Exposure to late Frosts.  And, more, I'm sure. One of the 'mild Winter' related change that I saw VERY early in January was that the tulip bulbs that I had planted around the parkway tree had ALREADY come up, out of the mulch.  By January 5th.   J A N U A R Y. That seems VERY early.  It was BEFORE that three-week spell of 'brutally cold' weather that I mentioned above.  But, tulips being tulips, the foliage didn't mind the weather.  (or...the snow blanket was sufficient insulation.) I'm *very* aware of mulch volcanoes around trees and worry that every year - when we add another layer of mulch - that I'm burying things and creating problems.  Everyone sa...

Nothing like a deadline to get you to fill your containers, right?  We were hosting a little Easter party earlier this month and that meant that Nat wanted our front porch container full of something.  What's that something this time of year?  Normally...pansies.   Like these:  When I was at the orange big box store, I also saw something more interesting:  ranunculus.  In a spectrum of colors including orange, red, yellow and pink.   I was, naturally, drawn to the orange ones.  Here's how things ended up:  12 pansy plugs in purple (let's call it blue, ok??) and six five-dollar ranunculus interplanted.   Last Summer, I went with pink and green .  

Here comes planting season. The first of the new perennials has just gone in:  the three primrose that we bought at Wannemaker's early season sale .  These are Primula belarina 'Blue Champion' and I interplanted them with the Twinkle Toes Lungwort that I transplanted late last growing season (I moved them closer to the front of the border in order to allow space for other things in the middle of the bed that are taller .) and they have reemerged this Spring.   This area is more Sunny this time of year, but becomes more shade as the trees take on their seasonal leaves.   My hope is they'll be watered in (enough) to get established this year and as the Lungwort grows up, it will protect these Primrose a little bit.  

There we were...wandering around the Garden Show at Wannemaker's earlier this month when I was smacked with a burst of color.  The lure of color and vibrancy is almost too much.  Not to mention that Nat was with me and she fell in love with some color and picked out a new (to me) flower and put it in our cart.  What caught her eye?  See below for a peek at a purple/blue flower: At the show, there were various growers with little 'booths' or setups - the one that we were most drawn-to was from Elite Growers in Volo .  Here's the Elite Growers booth below.   But....come on.  It is mid-March.   All logic went out the window.  That's what happens when you go plant shopping without a plan.   What did we get?  A set of Primrose.  Primula belarina 'Blue Champion'.  See below for the plant tag: Primrose are not - nor have *ever* been on my radar.  But, now they're going to be in our garden.  That tag talks...

The patch of yellow Daffodils are back and are certainly a sign of Spring in our backyard.  These sit under the canopy of a large Red Oak on the south side and were Spring ephemeral flower bulbs that I inherited from the previous property owners.  Without any help at all, they keep coming back year-after-year.  They flowered just once - in 2021 - but maybe they'll bloom again this year.  Here's how they look right now - tips of green foliage peeking through the mulch:

This Spring, we had the most tulips come up that we've ever had in our garden.  That's because that I've planted tulip bulbs every Fall for the past few years.  Adding colors and textures and growing the area where the bulbs are planted.  Last year, I was able to snap a few photos of the current state of tulips, so when I was planting the bulbs in the Fall, I had a sense of where they needed to be planted to fill in the area .  This post shows an updated look at a few areas to focus on planting bulbs that I'll need to reference come Fall. First, around the front of the Norway Maple, there's a bare spot between the two grasses you see where the rootflare enters the mulch.  As well as right in front of that grass in the center of the photo - to the left of the Boxwood.  I should plant bulbs in those two spots: As we go around the Norway Maple, there's more gaps to fill in: Between the front of the tree and the Lemon Coral Sedum on the left of the photo betwee...

The multi-trunk Saucer Magnolia tree that we planted in our front yard in 2017 is RIGHT NOW in full bloom showing pink and white flowers all over the tips of the tree.  The last time that I checked in on this tree was in mid-February of this year when I looked at the fuzzy cluster of buds on the tips of the limbs that were getting ready to put on the show.   The history of the Saucer Magnolia in Northern Illinois - Zone 5b: Summer 2017 : Planted as a small, multi-trunk tree. Early May 2018 :  Didn't bloom until early/mid May 2018.   2019:  The tree did NOT bloom at all. Early April 2020 : Blooms began the first week of April. Mid-April 2021 : In bloom by mid-month (April). This year - April 2022 - the tree is in full bloom the last week of April:  From April 23rd thru (at least) April 27th.   See below for this VERY pretty tree: The tree continues to have a good upright shape.  Once the blooms fade this Spring, I'll look to try...

We have just ONE hellebores in our garden - bought during the height of COVID during a 'drive-thru' trip to the Growing Place.  Our plan calls for a couple of areas with MULTIPLE (like 10) Hellebores (or Lenten Roses) , but alas...we have just one.  And, yes... I (now) am aware that buying just ONE of any plant is a mistake, but I didn't know that then .  The problem (then AND now) is that Hellebores aren't cheap.  They're $20 to $30 a piece.  When I need 20 or so, that's a big budget number.  So, I'm going to say *that's* why I have just one (for now).   That one that we DO have in our garden is called a Sally's Shell.  Planted in May of 2020 .   In early March (9th), it was beginning to emerge from the ground .  And...  It bloomed for the first time last Spring in late March .   This year, that schedule has shifted back just a bit.  This is mid-March and it still looks like it is *just* emerging from the g...

Last week, I posted a couple of photos showing off some tulip tips and allium tips that have emerged in the front yard as the snow has melted and the temperatures have turned upwards.  A few days ago, I wandered around the backyard to see if I could see any signs of life out there and sure enough....some of the tulips that are planted under the Tree Swing Oak tree have emerged through the mulch.  See below for a look at the red foliage peeking through: In the Fall of 2020, I planted 114 tulip bulbs in this bed - a combination of purple, white and yellow blooms.  Based on this redish color, I'm thinking that this one may end up being one of those purple flowers like Queen of Night or Negrita Tulips.  This is the second Spring these have come back - here's a photo from March 8th of 2021 showing the same bed .  These are planted in amongst hostas some grasses that I thought would be good companions in early Spring.  As the tulips die back, the hostas begin ...

Last Fall, I planted a variety of Spring bulbs in beds like I've done over the years.  I posted some photos and details of the various Allium that I planted , but I don't seem to have shared the details of the tulip bulbs that I also put in at the same time.  The problem with that is that I'm TOTALLY unsure of where I put all of the bulbs.  It appears - based on some photos I've found in Google Photos that I put in 100 Tulip bulbs.  See below for the photos - showing two bags from Longfield Gardens: I recall planting *some* bulbs down by the parkway - both under the Norway Maple and around the 'hard to grow' area IB2DWs.  But, I'm guessing I put them in elsewhere, too and will have to track the blooms as they come up.  But, guess what?  I'm seeing some of these newly planted bulbs peek up through the mulch.  That means...Spring is ALMOST HERE. First, around the Norway Maple tree in the parkway.  I don't know now many bulbs are here, but I re...

Despite it being September, my brain is already thinking ahead to Spring.  That (for me), normally means bulbs.  And I'm working on that - as I type.  But, it also has me thinking about something else - that is new to me:  Spring ephemerals.   One of them that I'm most interested in - after seeing them LIVE in person at Northwind Perennial Farm - is Mertensia virginica - or Virginia Bluebells. View this post on Instagram A post shared by E R I N🌿The Impatient Gardener (@impatientgardener) That post, above, is from Erin the Impatient Gardener.  I've told you how much I like her garden - as she's in my zone.  I don't have many "Spring Ephemerals" that aren't Fall-planted bulbs and this one feels like a good add to my garden.  Here's a document from the Wisconsin Horticulture Department Extension office that talks all about them . A few things jump out to me - see for snippets below : Virginia bluebells can be used in bord...

The tulip bulbs that I planted last Fall in the front yard ( I planted 57 of them last Fall ) have really come up this Spring.  I'll take a proper photo of all of them - from the front - when they are all flowering.  But, for now, I wanted to document the location of the bulbs and where I can add even more this Fall.  From the front porch, this is the view of the stand of tulips around the Norway Maple tree: I wanted to post this on the blog in the Garden Diary so I remember WHERE to plant this Fall's bulbs to really fill in this area with tulips - so I circled these areas in the photo below.  I can see surrounding this tree with even more bulbs. I've posted about these tulips this Spring - first when they came up .  And then again, when they were covered in snow .  

Our front yard, multi-stem Saucer Magnolia tree is in full bloom this week and it is putting on quite a show.  We had this tree planted in Summer of 2017 and have seen it bloom in 2018 , 2020 and now (for the 3rd time) 2021.  Despite the hard, cold Winter and the late frost(s) this Spring, the flower buds persisted and began to unfurl during the first week of April.  Below, you can see one of the flower buds as it began to open up: This flowering tree (this year) is timed with our 1.5 Flowering Pear trees and the emergence of our tulip bulbs.  It is (this year), not flowering at the same time as our Cherry Blossom tree in the backyard - which is really behind this Magnolia.

I've written about a patch of volunteer (I should have called them "inherited") Daffodils that live under the Northern Red Oak tree back in 2018 when I speculated that they were (indeed) daffodils .  But, that they never actually flowered for me since we lived here.  This patch of green shoots comes up every Spring.  There are like 16 distinct patches that sit in between the fence and the large Northern Red Oak tree that have put green shoots up that have an onion-like look and smell.   I've wondered WHY they haven't bloomed - could it be that they are too old? Or not enough light?  I haven't removed the foliage of these in previous Spring seasons in the hope that they'll collect enough energy to put off blooms the following year.   But this year?  We have *some* flowers.  Have a look at the photo below showing off some yellow flowers.  Pretty great!  Not all of them are even showing buds, but we'll get a few more this season...

Last Spring, while the world was pretty well shut down, The Growing Place nursery got creative and held a 'drive thru' shopping experience.  You couldn't get out of your cars, but you could drive thru the areas with the plants, shout out to the staff who would grab something for you and toss it in your trunk.  We ended up buying a few things that were part of our plan (Summer Beauty Allium) and some that weren't ( Harry Lauder's Walking Stick contorted tree ), but were things we wanted.  One of the other items we bought was our first Lenten Rose (or Hellebores).  We picked a Sally's Shell and planted it in Spring .  It was flowering when we bought it and I was careful to watch it all Summer. Notice, I said "a" Sally's Shell.  Which, upon reflection, is a very common gardening mistake:  buying just one of something .   Our plan has a couple of spots that call for drifts of Hellebores - and one of them is this season's "Priority Area #2...

Last Spring, our neighbors to the north began framing their house and once the window placements were set, I came to the realization that our row of Frans Fontaine Hornbeam trees were doing a pretty great job of screening between our houses.  But, there was an edge spot - closer to the front of the house - that was going to be exposed to one of their new windows.  So, on Earth Day 2020, we decided to plant a columnar flowering pear tree (yeah...I know.  they're not great trees.  But, I needed to put in something that was inexpensive, narrow in habit and, ummm, fast growing.  The Chanticleer Pear tree fit the bill . When I planted it , the tip top of the tree was right at the fence level.  But, by the time Fall came around , it had put on more than 18" to the top.  Have a peek at it in October of last year .   The tree was beginning to do its job.   I've had mixed luck with these trees.  I had a large (3"+ caliper) planted in o...

 Last week, we were snapped back to reality with a heavy, wet snow.  False Spring had come and gone.  But, what remained after the snow fell were still some signs of Spring including these tulip starters that had come up from the mulch.  With the snow laying on top, it suddenly became VERY easy to figure out how many of these tulips were up and where they were located.  I suppose you can call that a silver lining, right?

Starting all the way back in 2010 , I have documented the re-emergence of the pink peony tips as they peek out of the mulch in our flower beds.  When we lived in Elmhurst, our yard was MUCH smaller, but also it was full sun.  That meant that we could have quite a few peony plants that would throw off flowers that Nat could cut and bring inside.   Once we moved to Downers, peonies haven't been a focus.  And that's due to the shade garden we have in our yard.  We have a series of peonies that we've planted - including some teardown peonies, but none of them have ever flowered.   Here's one of them as they peeked thru this past weekend: Here are these same peonies in 2020 .  I think these are the 'teardown' ones, but I also planted some new ones as tubers back in 2018 .  Back in 2019, I did a roundup of all the peony plants on the property here and one of them even flowered ?!?  I don't remember that at all.   Well, I've be...

Last year, I planted one (yes, I know, I know...it was a mistake to buy *just* one) Lenten Rose (or Hellebores) in our backyard that we picked up at The Growing Place .  It is a cultivar called Sally's Shell and it was in flower when we bought it , but quickly planted it in the backyard right where the plan called for a series of them in what I've called the 2021 Priority Area #2 .  That area calls for ten (10) of them, so I have some more to buy to get close to that coverage this year.   But, before I turn to adding MORE this year, I wanted to figure out how it weathered the Winter.  And, it didn't take me long to identify this beauty as you an see a purple-ish ball of foliage that has emerged from the mulch/wood chips - that you can see below: Stepping back a little bit, you can see (below) how it sort of just fades into the wood chips, but there are some of the stems and leaves that survived the Winter associated with the little purple package in the middle....