Why I Oughta...

The star of our early Fall garden?  It is clearly the Lucky Charm Anemone in the 'kitchen curved' bed in the backyard.  I've posted about this same 'early Fall' or 'late Summer' flower show over the years including last year when I showed it in late August .  Or in 2023 when I posted (again) in Late August .   I posted a month ago when this first started blooming in late August of this year.   This photo below is posted on the very last day of September, so more than a month later than the past two years.  I'd describe this as being 'peak bloom' right now with the top of the long flower stems being FULL of pink petals with yellow centers.  I've been using cuts of this flower in arrangements for the past few months and as the petals drop, what is left behind is a sort-of chartreuse 'ball' on top of the thin, wire-y stem that I can also use in the final few Dahlia arrangements in the next few weeks.  This is another 'garden win'...

Back in May, I planted three small quart-sized containers of a new (to me) Nepeta named Chartreuse on the Loose .  I put them in near the timbers of the retaining wall for the pizza oven that is a part-sun spot.  It gets shade all morning, then full sun from late morning (as the sun comes over our house) until mid-afternoon (when the sun hides behind the canopy of the large trees in our backyard).   When they were planted, the three plants looked small.  And far apart from each other .   Now, four-plus-months later, here is what those same three small plug-like plants look like (below):  a colony of Nepeta. Back in the original post , I included this plant description from Walter's Garden on this variety of Nepeta: 'Chartreuse on the Loose' is a perennial with season long interest perfect for lining the front of the border. The foliage allows for a full three seasons of interest with bright chartreuse yellow leaves. Clusters of lavender blue flow...

Last month, I went to the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant sale and was (surprisingly) restrained in what I brought home.  I'll get to posts about each of the perennials (and one vine) as they go in the garden, but I also wanted to share a few things that caught my eye at the sale.  As usual, there's far more at the sale than one could ever imagine planting in their garden.  Due to the conditions in our garden, I was more focused on trees/shrubs and (mostly) shade or part-shade perennials.   Here are a few things that caught my eye at this year's sale.   They had Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress trees for just $33.  This is an upright version of the Bald Cypress.  At $33, you might imagine they're pretty small.  But, a super unique tree. A tree that has been on my 'wish list' for a while noe:  Chamaecyparis Soft Serve - This is the 'Gold' cultivar - which makes it even more unique.  At $25, this is another rare evergreen tree....

A few days back, I posted a photo of some snow-covered Angelia Sedum groundcover that was providing a little bit of Winter Interest near our back stoop.  On my way out to dump the kitchen compost bin in the larger bins in back, I stopped to look at some other groundcover that was 'showing up' in the snow:  Spine Tingler Epimedium.   Below is a photo showing the three plants - that I put in the ground in Spring 2023 :  There, amongst the light snow and leaf litter is the dried-out, rigid and spike-edged foliage of Spine Tingler.   These have fared a bit better than the Amber Queen varieties, so perhaps a few more of these should be on my list at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale in 2025.  

I've mentioned over the years that plantsman and gardener Roy Diblik up in Wisconsin has turned me on to a variety of plants - but mostly sedges.  ( Insert Voiceover from Sam Eagle:  "A salute to all plants, but mostly Carex." ) Via ImgFlip - Sam Eagle Muppets - A Salute To All Nations Meme The photo at the top of this post is a trio of Carex Albicans that are planted on the border of our firepit area that is mostly full shade and pretty dry.  They are performing REALLY well in this spot and one of them (the one on the left) is the largest of the three. Looking back at the post when I planted these in August of 2022, they were just 'plugs' and small at the time .   They were purchased at Roy Diblik's nursery:  Northwind Perennial Farm where they had this sign describing Carex Albicans: You'll note that I described the site for these (by the firepit) as mostly full shade and dry.  What's the sign say?  "An excellent selection for dry, shaded sites...

Back in 2020, I published a long post talking about how I wanted to add a (at least one) Japanese Maple to the backyard .  I ran through a series of varieties to try to narrow down what I wanted and ended up planting an Emperor 1 Japanese Maple (from the Morton Arboretum Sale) back by the firepit.  That tree has now gone through two seasons and seems to be settling into the spot.  The dark maroon leaves of the Emperor 1 Japanese Maple tree are in the photo above.   I also planted a Tamukeyama dwarf Japanese Maple up a little closer and was happy with that one, too.  Until this year, when that tree seemed to die.  Could it be the Walnut trees?  Maybe.  I've left it in the ground to see if it will come back this Spring.  If it doesn't, I'm thinking that I should replace it with ANOTHER Emperor 1 or other Japanese Maple from the Morton Arboretum this Spring.   Maybe on the north side, too? Underneath the Cataplas? In front of th...

Earlier this week, I p osted some photos of our four (current) Hellebores in the backyard and talked about how our plan called for even more in the borders in a few areas .  As I wrapped up that post, I mentioned that there were (now) a few perennials on my 'plant wish list' and that I should do a proper post showing the mix of trees, shrubs and perennials that I have on this standing 'want' or 'wish' list.  That's what I'm doing here:  taking that first list and add shrubs.  As part of my 2023 garden planting, here's my current (as of early December) standing plant wish/want list below: Perennials, groundcover and grasses: ( previously posted - but I added a few more here)  1. Hellebores . Up to 16 more. 2. Even more Autumn Ferns and Ghost Ferns . Probably want to replace (gasp!) my Ostrich Ferns. 3. More Hakone Grasses - Japanese Forest Grasses . 4. Pulmonaria ground cover . 5. Pineapple Lily bulbs . 6. A couple of Disneyland Roses for IB2D...