Why I Oughta...

Last week, I posted some photos and details of how we added another Japanese Maple - Acer palmatum dissectum Waterfall - to our backyard .  That was the third (current) JM and the second small one we planted this season.  Earlier this Spring, I bought and planted a 2# Emperor 1 JM from the orange big box nursery and put it in a spot that we can enjoy from the patio.  I've had luck with a different Emperor 1 JM, so I wanted to go with something that I knew worked in our yard. On one of my visits to Home Depot, I wandered around the parking lot nursery (as one does during June) and noticed that mixed in with the small Emperor 1 Japanese Maples in 2# containers was something different.  There were small trees in there that, while they were red-leafed, were certainly NOT Emperor 1's.  They were lace-leafed dissectums - at first sight.  Here, below, is what the foliage looked like on these small trees: Well...that's interesting, right?  I picked up the container to look at the

There are big portions of our back lawn that currently look like this photo below - littered in white, tropical-looking blooms that are falling from a pair of mature Northern Catalpa trees that we inherited in our Zone 5B, Northern Illinois backyard: Below is a look at the mid-yard Northern Catalpa tree that is fully-leaf'd out and full of white blooms: Both Nat and I have grown to really like the Catalpa trees - and their large leaves, white blooms and layered limbs.   I've posted about the Catalpas before - here's one from Fall 2021 .  And from 2019 when I posted about it for the first time .  And, I've been growing some seedlings in containers , too.  More on these in a future post.  

In May, I planted my third Japanese Maple tree - a small, container-grown Emperor 1 Acer palmatum that is upright and carries red foliage.  In that post, I mentioned that while it was the third Japanese Maple that I planted, I had lost one - a Tamukeyama weeping tree- so, I was really on number two.  Today, I'm planting another Japanese Maple that checks some of the boxes:  weeping and lace-leaf.  But, it is also green.  My first green Japanese Maple.   Back in December, I mused about how I should add a 'few Japanese Maples' to the garden this year .  Going from one to three is 'a few', I suppose.  But, I'll let the cat out of the bag - I'm not done this year.  (eek!). That post from 2022 referenced this original overview (get to know) post showing a few Japanese Maples that work for Zone 5b .  On that list was a tree called a Virdis Japanese Maple.  Well... according to Mr. Maple , the Virdis is also known as the Waterfall Japanese Maple.  From Mr. Maple

2023 appears to be an 'on year' in terms of evergreen growth on our small Weeping White Spruce in the backyard.  The photo below shows the flush of greenish-blue needles that have grown out this Spring on and are covering the tree.  It also shows the slightest bit of apical meristem growth (hooray!), potentially signal'ing that we can get this tree back on the right path vertically-speaking.   I planted this small tree all the way back in 2019 - which means this is the fourth growing season - and the tree has NOT GROWN in height at all.  I'd say that this tree is just about the exact same size (height-wise) that it was when I planted it.  The tip of the tree is below the top of the lower fence (and it was when I planted it).   I've documented this tree over the years and we had a pretty significant setback in 2021 - when the drought got to it an I saw quite a bit of needle drop a dead limbs .  The tree had shrunk about half-in-size after losing needles.  But, by Fa

In large April, I planted a small, columnar Scotch Pine tree along the south fence about 1/3rd of the way back.   It was a tree that appears to be field-grown and was sold in a burlap ball that I left in-place.  I used a pair of scissors and cut the burlap that was wrapped/tied around the trunk so the 'top' was sort-of open.  But, I left the burlap in place and planted it that way.  I know there's opinions on which way to go with burlap, but with these small trees, I've found that they come with a big clay clump around their roots and it is best to just leave it as-is to reduce transplant stress. The tree - just one month or so old (in our yard) is already doing some interesting growth/show.  It is putting out quite a few 'candles' on the tips .  Below are a few photos showing these orange and brown and green candles.   In the photo above, you can see the cones of the Scotch Pine forming at the base of the candle. According to this post from the Seattle Japanes

Like they do at the Hollywood Awards shows, I should (if I had more time) make a montage video marking the "In Memoriam" of everything that we've planted and died.  I suppose this post - showing four trees that didn't make it through Winter this year - will have to do (for now). First tree lost:  our first Japanese Maple: Tamukeyama .  Too bad.  I'll try to replace this with another Japanese Maple.  The next two trees (if we're calling them that...) are a two of the three Green Giant Thujas planted back by the Lilacs.  One of them remains, but two of them went orange. I yanked one of them out and put it back by the compost pile.  I'll do the same with the others this weekend when I find the time. The last one, that I don't have a photo of (because...I'm pretty sure the dang rabbits gnaw'd it all the way down to the ground) is the Shagbark Hickory.   It, too, is struck out below.  With this update, I am changing some of the stats.  2023 marks my

Planted in the early Fall of 2021 , this pair of Sugar Tyme Crabapple trees are starting to show a bit of espalier training form with four levels on very young trees.  One year ago ( post here ), all four layers weren't really quite established.  Today?  All of them are *started*, with the inside, bottom layer the smallest.   See below for a photo showing these flowering crabapple trees in mid-May 2023. My plan is to turn the tips up by pruning them off and driving new growth.  The 2nd-for-lowest limbs are probably the closest to being ready for that hard prune.  I recently pruned off the apical meristem in an attempt to drive new, thicker growth down the tree.  I've also left on a trunk-thickener branch at the bottom that I don't intend to train, but am using to thicken-up the trunk. 

The pair of Greenspire Linden trees that are in espalier are putting on a 'bud show' this week as their leaves emerge from these pink-hued bud covers.  These trees are interesting when they're naked and dormant.  When they're covered in green, Summer foliage.  They turn golden yellow as they start to go into dormancy in the Fall .  And...also in Spring when they are colorful like in the photo below.   A little over a month ago, I removed the training posts from these horizontal cordon espaliered trees in our backyard .