Why I Oughta...

So far, so good with the Disneyland Roses.  In an attempt to 'do better' than last year with the Floribunda roses, I've been paying a little closer attention to them - with watering, feeding and treating them - proactively. That started a month ago with the first application of a systemic all-in-one "rose care" granular that includes fertilizer, pesticide and fungicide .  It also means spraying them with fungicide and Neem Oil every-few-weeks.  And, being deliberate to water the crowns, not the foliage. With the calendar turning to June, it was time to apply the second monthly feeding.  I put down the same all-in-one granular at the crowns of each of the five Disneyland Roses.  See below for that feeding:  These Disneyland Roses produce blooms in successive 'flushes' - with blooms appearing about a month-or-so apart from each other.  The first flush of blooms is arriving this past week and we're seeing some blooms on all five plants (the three old ones...

This four-plant Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia just jumped right off the nursery tables at The Growing Place on my last visit.  It was tall, full of blooms and the colors were just in my wheel-house:  salmon, peachy.  See below for the as-bought state of this colorful cut-flower annual: Floret describes the Oklahoma Salmon Zinnia in a way that made me want to buy even more : This gorgeous novelty is one of the most prolifically blooming zinnias I’ve ever grown. Its petite, double blooms are a warm mix of salmon and peach and combine well with anything. Long, strong stems and small flower size make them a winning summer crop and wonderful bouquet addition. After bringing it home (only one, because that's all they had), I wanted those 'prolific blooms', so I knew that I had to cut it back.  Or...pinch it back - as some people say. This has four stems that were shooting way-up.  I counted up three full-sets of leaves and lop'd off the tops.  Below is a before-and-afte...

I've made it clear that Autumn Ferns are near the top of my list for favorite perennial in the garden.   Having fallen in love with ferns via the Ostrich Fern, I've come to understand that there are other varieties that perform better - at least for me.  When I talk about performance, I'm talking about full, four-season interest.  Ostrich Ferns - which...naturalize....look great for a season-and-a-half.  They're great in Spring and most of Summer, but they begin to brown out in the heat of August.   Autumn Ferns put on a show all year long - and are....semi-evergreen.   I've been on a multi-year journey that I call my 'hosta replacement' program - that includes upgrading some of our borers from being hosta-centric to include other, more-preferred plants like Hakonechloa Macra grasse and....Autumn Ferns. At Menards, I found a pair of Autumn Ferns for just $3.99 each.  They were in quart-sized containers and were hanging-on (as stuff does...

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos of a pair of Silver Swirl Dusty Millers and talked about how I was using them to fill up some space in the new pizza oven bed.  Today, I'm showing a few more annuals-as-groundcover plants:  three Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime Sweet Potato Vine plants.  Below are a few photos showing these 'accent plants' that normally are sold for the 'spill' in your containers:  Here's what Proven Winners says about them : Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime boasts brilliant lime green, heart-shaped leaves that bring a refreshing pop of color to any garden. This heat-tolerant beauty requires no deadheading, making it a low-maintenance addition to your landscape. It excels as a ground cover, spreading quickly to fill in spaces, and also works wonderfully as a foliage component in mixed plant combinations. Sounds perfect, right? Fills up a space. Just what I need.  I spread out three of them in a triangle and got busy planting them.  I'm ...

Silver foliage strikes again.  I've said it before, but I'm totally taken with the silver (or white) foliage trend that is popping up in garden centers.  And, when you combine that color with the idea that something can be grown as an annual and be 'Fantastic in flower arrangements', I'm sold.   That's how these Silver Swirl Snowflake Dusty Millers were listed at The Growing Place.  Here's their sign:  They had them in small quart containers - here's a couple of photos showing the plant and container: The new pizza oven bed is wide open and needs to be filled.  My plan includes running a border of Hakonechloa macra grasses around the edge, but I don't have them yet.  So, this year, these two Dusty Millers are going in instead: These will fill up this space and - once dahlia season is here - I'll start cutting the foliage to use in arrangements.  

I've failed to post the installation of much of what we brought home from the Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale this year.  I posted this 'highlights' of the sale post at the beginning of May, between then and now, I've planted a number of things that we bought at the sale.  The first set of plants are these three Godzilla Japanese Painted Ferns.   Athyrium 'Godzilla' Ferns.   Here's the sign from the sale that describes this fern as having 'epic proportions'.  How epic?  It says it can spread between four-and-six-feet.  That's B I G.    Also...note the 'rabbit resistant' listing on the sign.  I'm all for that feature in EVERYTHING we plant. I bought three of them and they looked good in their nursery containers: In the back, on the southside, I have three " Crested Surf" ferns that were planted in/around a Japanese Flowering Cherry Tree.  That tree...died, but the Crested Surf Japanese Painted Ferns - after getting e...

I can't come across a silver foliage plant and not fall in love.  That's what happened at the orange Big Box store recently when I saw a rack of these things on the table: They look like a silver-colored rosemary plant.  But, when I looked at the label....it sure isn't rosemary.  Rather, it is something called an Icicles accent plant from Proven Winners - where they label it as a "licorice" plant .   I only bought one, but I should have bought even more.  So, this first one (for now), is headed into the large patio container along with the CrazyTunia.  See below for the early start to the container: I can see these as a bedding plant - in a lot of places.    Ground cover via annuals.