Why I Oughta...

Back in mid-May, I replanted our two small, square beds on either side of our back stoop .  I dug out the RJM Rhododendrons that were there since our first Summer and replaced them with a pairing of Brookside Geraniums and a witches broom, dwarf Ginkgo named Spring Grove .  #13 on my 2023 to-do list was to 'fix the back stoop beds' and this swapping out was a big part of that need.   I also took a few plugs of Angelina Sedum from the north bed and transplanted it to the south bed, so they would be mirror-images of each other.   When I planted the Spring Grove Ginkgos, they has leaf'd out, but had suffered a litttle bit of late-frost damage to the tender leaves.  The geraniums were small and just emerging, too.   A little bit over one month later, what do they look like?  The geraniums have grown quite a bit.  And, so too, have the Ginkgos.  See below for (first) the north bed.  And then, below that, the south bed. Spring Grove Ginkgo tree - dwarf Ginkgo in Northern Illinoi

Yesterday, I posted some photos and details of the first of three Japanese Maples that I bought from Mr. Maple - Acer palmatum 'Firefly' .    This post is about the second of three Japanese Maples from Mr. Maple - another Acer palmatum.  This one is part of the 'ghost series' - First Ghost.  This JM is larger than the Firefly tree - although both are in one-gallon containers.   Below are a few photos showing the First Ghost Japanese Maple one-gallon trees: Mr. Maple's description of First Ghost includes these details : 'First Ghost' is the first and one of the best of the Ghost series of Japanese maples. 'First Ghost' leafs out in the early spring with bright white to cream sharply divided leaves which are accented by deep green veining to the leaf on the inside while the outside of the leaf is edged in a red purple. Mid-summer this reticulated variegation on 'First Ghost' may fade to a dark green veining on a lighter green background. For be

A few days ago, I posted some photos showing off three Japanese Maples that I bought from Mr. Maple and they shipped out .  All three are small one-gallon trees and arrived in good shape.  The first one of these three trees that I planted is Acer palmatum 'Firefly'.  Below are some photos showing off the foliage of Firefly and you can quickly tell that this tree is a beauty.  Of note, the rootball wasn't totally filled out in the small one-gallon nursery container, so when I took it out, the soil and roots sort of 'fell part'.  I quickly packed it back together and stuck it in a five-dollar hole. Here's what Mr. Maple has to say about Firefly Japanese Maple : 'Firefly' is a Japanese maple with superb reticulated variegation. The deep lime green veining, along with a brighter fiery red spring color distinguish this variegated selection by Paul Holden of Harstein Island Nursery. The habit is fairly upright , with less spreading than other ghost type varieg

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

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