Why I Oughta...

In 2021, I planted two 1# small Hicks (upright) yews in the backyard - sort of near the understory garden on the north side.  I planted them somewhat close together with eyes on (eventually) shaping them up into a 'Block I' Illinois topiary .  Earlier that year, I posted about this University of Auburn topiary frame and dreamed of a 'Block I' .  The two Hicks yews were probably 12" tall in Fall of 2021 .  They've now had three (2022, 2023 and 2024) growing seasons and have put on some size.   Here are the two Hicks Yews - below - after those three growing seasons.  They've grown up (a little bit) are are still mostly columnar. It isn't easy to determine their height, so here below, is a shovel stuck in the ground to provide a height comparison.   I CLEARLY still have time to create the 'Block I' frame out of Chicken Wire, so I'm not concerned about that.  I am, however, concerned about the 'fullness' of these.  Are they going to ge...

The pair of Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas that are planted near the Dawn Redwood tree are in bloom.  Late July.  With long, slender bloom heads that are turning from light green to pink.  Below are a couple of photos that show both of them.  There's also an Alice Oakleaf Hydrangea that I relocated here, but that one isn't as advanced as these two.  Planted in May of 2022, these Ruby Slippers are a dwarf variety of Oakleaf Hydrangea that I bought at the Morton Arboretum annual plant sale .   In the photo above, you also can get a peek at some of the recently-planted Sun King Golden Aralia (Japanese Spikard) that also came from the Morton Arboretum sale .    The last time that I peeked at these in the [garden diary] was about a month ago when I revisited this 'garden edit' .   I feel good about the border and the little slice of the garden that fronts this, the part *behind* the Nootka Cypress - sort-of adjacent to this - is anoth...

Last year (2023), I bought three one-gallon Japanese Maples from Mr. Maple and planted them in mostly-shade spots in our backyard .  Of the three, two of them died back almost all the way to the graft.  One of them had a lot of die-back at the top, but re-emerged this Spring with enough foliage to consider it 'alive'.  That one - that survived the best - is the Firefly Japanese Maple.  Acer plamatum 'Firefly' .   Firefly has what is known as 'reticulated variegation' and that's showing this Spring. See below for a couple of photos: In that second photo, you can see the dead stems that rise above the foliage.  I'd say that more than HALF of the tree died-back, but based on the foliage, this CERTAINLY is NOT the grafted rootstock producing leaves.  This *is* Firefly.   I can't say the same thing for the Seriyu and First Ghost Japanese Maples from Mr. Maple dot com .  Despite giving them 'Five dollar holes', baby'ing them with water a...

Last Fall, I bought and planted two (at that time) new (to me) Heucheras:  Dolce Silver Gumdrops.  They were at Lowe's end-of-the-season sale and I said that I was going to plant them in over by the Guacamole Hostas .  Today, there's just one of them.  And, I don't really see *where* I could have planted the other one as there isn't a ton of empty space around.  But that one?  It is showing up well right now - Late Summer/Early Fall with silver foliage and tiny pink blooms about to arrive.  See below for a photo of the current state of this Silver Gumdrop Coral Bells: I've had mixed results with Heucheras over the years.  Some that I've neglected have done great.  Others that I've baby'd have perished.  This one is small, but that's by design.  The listing talks about this Heuchera's size this way : Silver Gumdrop’ is a smaller scale Heuchera, the perfect size for a container. Growers and gardeners alike will be pleased that it is ...

We have a pair of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs that I planted in the Fall of 2021 .  These were part of the layout of of our original plan - in fact the plan called for even more of these, but I've opted to replace some of them with the Doublefile Viburnum that I found in treeform.   But, back to these.  They were feasted-on by the dang rabbits that first year.  And, they lost ALL of their size.  Last year, I used Chicken Wire rings to protect them.  And, these are the ONLY ones that I've left in the rings.    Without the rabbit pressure, these shrubs have put on some new growth and are looking good.  See below for a photo of their current state in early July 2023:

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 con...

A couple of years back, I submitted some photos of a volunteer plant to the Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic and they came back and said that it was 'likely Wild Geranium'.  I left the plant to just 'be' and it has come back the past few seasons ever since.  This year, however, it is blooming pretty prolifically.  See below for the light-purple blooms that are standing up on tall stalks with green foliage: This small colony of Wild Geranium seems to be thriving along the fence.  The tree trunk in the middle of the photo is a tall/lanky Kentucky Coffee Tree .  And you can see some of the spreading Ostrich Ferns mixed-in there.  

This is the first true Spring for the treeform Doublefile Viburnum shrubs that I planted early last Spring.  I say "first true" Spring because I planted these when they were *mostly* still dormant last year and they leaf'd out post-planting.  I planted four of these and three have made it through the first year.  The best of the bunch is along the northside and that's the one that has been the most prolific early bloomer.  Below are a couple of photos showing the blooms in mid-May.  They're really quite nice as they sit - sort-of - on 'top' of the shrub.   I didn't have treeform on my radar when I bought these, but I'm sure glad that I pulled the trigger and brought these home.  The treeform Viburnum provides two great benefits (for me...at least):  Instant height and maturity coupled with ability to underplant with perennials.  

Every gardener wants things in their garden that are unique.  Plants that their neighbors don't have.  Plants that you can't find at the big box store.  Epimedium is a plant that fits those three things.  I posted last week about the Orange Queen Epimedium that we brought home from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale .  And talked about how I bought another variety.  This post is about that *other* variety:  Spine Tingler Barrenwort.   At the sale, this spine-y foliage certainly caught my eye.  I knew these were going to find a home in my garden out back: Back in 2021, I came across Sandy Claws Epimedium at The Growing Place and talked about how I liked it .    This Spine Tingler variety sure looks A LOT like Sandy Claws, doesn't it? I planted the three plants right behind my existing Epimedium - Amber Queen - on the north side in the understory bed.   In the photo below, you can see the three new Spine Tinglers in back ...

Over the years, we have SLOWLY added to our Hellebores collection.  This year, at the Morton Arboretum Sale, I found a new (to me) variety and brought home two nursery pots and decided to add them to the small cluster of Hellebores that already exist in our backyard.  My journey with Lenten Roses or Hellebores starts with our plan that was developed in 2017.    I first started planning for these evergreen(ish) early bloomers in 2020 with this post showing that the plan calls for 10 Hellebores .   I bought our first one - Sally's Shell - in 2020 during a drive-thru visit (curing COVID) to The Growing Place .   Then, last year at the 2022 Morton Sale, we bought three more - Ivory Prince .  Those four all came back this Spring.  When I was at the sale this year, I saw these flowers (below) and read the sign that these were outward-facing blooms.  Lovely, right? They're named MERLIN Hellebores.  Here below, is the tag that came wit...

This second post featuring a new (to me) plant (in this case...a hosta) from the Morton Arboretum 2023 Plant Sale:  An Island Breeze Hosta.  The sign from the sale is below - and this one came in at $16.95...which is more than I'd normally pay for a more-common hosta.  This one is unique and one of the kids liked it, so we bought just one.  My rule of buying more than one is easy to break with hostas - because I know that with a little bit of patience, I'll be able to divide them in a couple of growing seasons.   This is the child of the child of Fire Island Hosta.  According to Walters Garden, at least : First came ‘Fire Island’ which was followed by its variegated progeny ‘Paradise Island’. Now there is ‘Island Breeze’ which is the third member of this “tropical” family and a sport of ‘Paradise Island’. The improvements in this cultivar include more impressive variegation due to its wider margins, thicker leaf substance, and a strong growth rate. Mo...

Last week, we popped into the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale and picked up a few new (to us) perennials and some vegetables and herbs that I'll be posting over the coming days/weeks as I get each of them in the ground.  My plan is to plant as much as possible while the temps are low and before our mulch arrives.   The first plant in was bought as a solo container.  I know, I know.  That's a big gardening mistake that I actively try to avoid, but from time-to-time I buy a single - mostly with the kids.  This is one of those cases - as the KotBTs picked this one out and planted it in 'his garden' in the backyard.  I have a small colony of existing Epimedium - Amber Queen - that I planted on the north side bed under some trees.  Those, too, were brought home from the Morton Sale back in 2020 .  It is a slow-to-establish plant for me - and that's part of the reputation.  And, it spreads by rhizomes (which...I think I'm seeing ...

Last year, we planted a pair of heart-leaf brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla) from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin and planted them in the understory garden of our backyard.  This is the little section that my middle child has been planting with various low and mid-height perennials.   These managed to avoid the rabbits last Fall and then went dormant.  They've sprung up this year - a bit behind the other cultivars like Jack of Diamonds  and Queen of Hearts - and have their small flowers putting on a little Spring show.   Here, below, are both of them showing up for their first Spring: This one below is interplanted with tulips:

We grabbed a small, quart-sized hosta from Lowes that was on a close-out sale on a total whim. Do we need more hostas? I'm not sure. Can we find a place for an interesting one? Certainly. And, that's what this one is: interesting. Named the Ben Vernooy Hosta, it just stood out on the rack of mostly plain green companions. I had never come across a Ben Vernooy sport before, but I know there are *a lot* of hostas out there. So, not being familiar with this one isn't a surprise. Thus, I did what I always do: whipped out my phone to read about it.  This listing was the one that had me put it in our cart . Here's how it was described: Ben Vernooy boasts an eye-catching colour of blue with broad bands of yellow along each leaf edge. Over time, the margins may change to creamy white, the leaves are still quite colourfast and you'll enjoy their amazing hues throughout the long growing season. Ben Vernooy presents some of the thickest, sturdiest leaves you can find on a host...