Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I introduced the Pink Beauty Doublefile Viburnum and showed how I planted the first (of two) flowering shrubs behind the Dawn Redwood in the backyard .  Today, I'm showing the other one.  This one is planted on the southside of the backyard, near the container water feature.   In the original plan, we were looking at a few Tardiva Hydrangeas along the fenceline on the southside .  As part of the "lilac replacement project", we sort-of called an audible and went with some Green Giant Thujas with alternating flowering shrubs in-between.   Earlier this Winter, I mused about adding more Thujas along the fenceline - so I wanted to keep that option open .  So, I chose to plant this a little bit 'up' from the fence.  In what would be an 'in between' spot between those (potentially) future Thujas .   Just like the other one, I pulled back the mulch, dug a 'f ive dollar hole ' and watered it in heavily.  Below are a couple ph...

I've talked about how the (dang) rabbits have destroyed a number of our oakleaf hydrangeas in the backyard.  I *really* like Oakleaf Hydrangeas, but I've mused (post here) if I'm just fighting nature too much and should plant things that can do better.   One of the shrubs that we have growing in the yard is a number of viburnums.  They, too, are flowering shrubs.  And they, too can handle some shade.  We have two different varieties:  doublefile and Chicago Lustre Arrowwood.  They've both done well.  The doublefile are treeform - which I really like as we can plant *under* them .  The Chicago Lustre have done well - despite the rabbit pressure.   There are a couple spots in our backyard that still need screening shrubs, so I always stop by the flowering shrub section of the big box stores to see if there's anything interesting.  I found a pair of these "Pink Beauty" Doublefile Viburnum at Menards.  (The trick to s...

For the past year-or-so, I've been thinking about this inspiration photo that shows a combination of blue-green, upright conifer trees flanked by Stachys Hummelo perennials in a mass planting .   I talked about using it in the front yard, but had not come across Wichita Blue Junipers in the wild, so the idea sort-of just hung on the shelf.   That was...until I went to the big box nursery recently and saw these blue-needle upright conifers in the parking lot amongst the big masses of arborvitae.  These looked interesting.  Upon closer inspection...it turns out...these are what I've been thinking about for the past year:  Wichita Blue Juniper trees.   The Missouri Botanical Garden describes Wichita Blue Junipers thusly: ‘Wichita Blue’ is a compact, conical, male form that grows slowly (6-12” per year) to 10-15’ tall, but may eventually reach 15-30’ tall. As the cultivar name suggests, it is noted for its blue or blue-gray foliage that retains ...

#15 on my 2025 to-do list is to "lean into plants that are working" .   That largely means planting things that have been successful - either by getting established or not being destroyed by drought, rabbits, soil conditions or disease.    In 2022, I planted my first few Nepetas.  Catmint.  Roy Diblik up at Northwind Perennial Farm uses Nepeta in his matrix plantings and after researching a few varieties, I bought Cat's Pajamas and planted it IB2DWs .  Cat's Pajamas has been a good garden plant in both IB2DWs and I also have one in the cut flower garden on the side .  I haven't divided them (yet), but that's probably something I should look at for this year.   I'd put Nepeta into the category of plants that "are working".  With the new (large) pizza oven bed needing to be filled, when I came across a new (to me) variety of Nepeta, I decided to bring home three of them. This chartreuse-colored Nepeta is named "Chartreuse on the Loose...

Back three weeks ago, I posted a photo and wondered if the Sun King Aralias that I planted last year were "back" for their second growing season .  I was concerned because I didn't baby these last year - and neglected them a little bit when it came to watering/irrigation and weeding.  I was so focused on the pizza oven that I fell-down a little bit in terms of garden maintenance.   I posted six (not five like I said in April) Golden Japanese Spikenard 'Sun Kings' in the back yard as part of a [garden edit].  I was seeing *some* growth by the stalks of last year's growth in late April, but today....I'm seeing foliage across all six plants. Here, below, is a photo from this week showing the six chartreuse-colored perennials that are putting on foliage and growing in early May: My plan this year is to pay close attention to these this season - in terms of watering and weeding.  I had them mulched in (professionally), so I'm hoping that will help ease the...

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....

Last year, we had trouble with our Disneyland Roses. Between pests (Sawfly Larvae), diseases (Black Spot and Rust, I think) and drought, the blooms were few and far between. I fed them and treated the foliage with Neem oil, but I'm not sure I was making an impact.  They say that roses are "heavy eaters", so I've been trying to feed them monthly during their growing season the past few years, but I switched over to an "all-in-one" granular product last year.  These "all-in-one" claim to feature three different solutions:  fertilizer, pest control and disease control.    Below is canister of the granular that I recently applied from BioAdvanced named Rose & Flower Care.  The instructions say to use a half-capful of the granular around each rose.  I sprinkled it around the crowns of all five Disneyland roses then used a small rake to work it into the mulch.   Last year, we were showing the first flush of Roses by the end of May .  I'm p...