Why I Oughta...

Just like yesterday's post showing our Indiana Street Iris in bloom, this post uses photos that are about a month old.  Below are some shots showing the Pagoda Dogwood tree (a native dogwood) in bloom.  These are from late May of this year and it was in peak-bloom around May 25, 2025.  We planted this as a tiny tree back in 2021 .  It has grown up and out since then and is now about head-high in terms of height.  It was covered in white blooms this Spring: The past two seasons, I've lightly pruned this tree - to help shorten some of the lower limbs and to help push it taller into more of a tree-form shape.  I'm planning on doing that again this year now that the blooms have passed.  

Despite posting this in mid-June, these photos of what I call the "Indiana Street Iris" or "Wes' Iris" that came via our (temporary) neighbor in Elmhurst are from mid-May.  This was in bloom all the way back on May 17th. Here's a post from May 16, 2024 (a year ago) that shows the same timing as this year .   Below are a couple of photos showing this purple-blooming perennial that seems to tolerate the more-wet conditions on this side of the house.    Based on the first photo, I think we can say that this is a "bearded iris", can't we?  This is a 'later-blog-post' - with photos about a month behind the publication date.  

We're on a streak of posts about annuals as bedding plants in the garden and that continues today showing this small cluster of White Polka Dot annual plants that I planted in between the boxwoods that are living at the base on the Greenspire Linden espaliers.  This is a most-full-shade spot, so Polka Dot plants seemed to be just the thing that could brighten up this spot.   I've used Polka Dot plants before as annuals in the border around the Tree Swing tree .  This time, I bought eight ten (10) white ones.  Below are a couple of photos showing them as they went in the ground: 

Last year, I put in six Sun King Golden Japanese Aralia plants in a 'garden edit' in what I call the 'nook' behind our Weeping Nootka Cypress tree in the backyard .  They're really bright pops of semi-tropical-looking plants that thrive in shade.  And...since we have plenty of shade, these feel like a made-for-us kind of variety.  I bought those original six at the Morton Arboretum plant sale and they did just OK for their first year.  They went dormant early, so I wasn't sure if they'd come back. I saw some new growth in early April, but still wasn't sure .  By early May, I saw all six were back , so that means...(at least to me) that these *work* in our backyard.   #15 on my 2025 to-do list is to 'lean into what is working' - so adding more of these checks that box. #20 on that same list is to focus on 'repetition' vs adding net-new.  So, check number two.  And, finally...#10 is to work on 'legibility'.  These bright chartreuse...

Often called "annual Vinca" or just plain "Periwinkle", you'll often find flats of this flowering annual at big box nurseries marked simply as "Vinca".  They're an affordable way to fill up your beds and borders with a pop of color.  Missouri Botanical Garden describes them as : Catharanthus roseus, commonly called periwinkle, Madagascar periwinkle or annual vinca, is an erect to spreading tender perennial in the dogbane family typically mounding 6-18” (less frequently to 24”) tall and as wide. It produces attractive bushy foliage that is covered by an often profuse bloom of phlox-like flowers from summer to frost. Best flowering is in summer. The NC State Extension listing adds this : It is utilized as an annual ground cover in beds and for bedding and borders in drought-tolerant gardens, butterfly gardens, and recreational play areas. It may also be grown in a container or hanging basket. Ground cover.  That's what I need out here.  Last Fall...

Number 6 on my 2025 to-do list this year was to 'use more coleus as bedding plants'.  That idea was based on the success that I had with some Inferno coleus that I planted in our front yard island bed last season.    Earlier this year, I planted a dozen Crimson Gold Versa coleus (full sun coleus) in the front island bed.  And, a trio of Inferno Coleus that I bought at The Growing Place in the backyard corner patio bed.  I figured I'd try at least one more this year as a bedding plant.  So....when I've been on the look-out for a unique one to try.  I came across a placed called Patyk's Farm up near Richmond .  It is on the south side of Route 173, a few miles out of Richmond as you head towards Woodstock.  It is a medium-sized family farm operation with four-or-five greenhouses and TONS of plants.  I arrived right when they were closing, so I didn't spend too much time there.   I did, however, find this unique coleus and bough...

Last year, I direct-sowed zinnia seeds into the cut flower bed in our sideyard and into the vertical tower on our patio.  And...it...well...worked.  We grew Zinnias.  But, this year I wanted to get them started a little bit earlier (not as early as I should have, though...) and decided to start some seeds indoors.   I showed the three varieties of seeds we bought this year - earlier this winter/spring;  Envy , State Fair and Cut and Come Again.    I had some eight-cell packs on-hand from annuals that I put out front, so I filled those with a potting mix and tucked seeds into each cell.   Pretty quickly, most of them germinated.   I kept the seedlings in the screened porch and they started to grow up and get taller.   In an attempt to keep them from getting too-leggy, I moved them outdoors as often as I could - weather-permitting.  Below is a photo showing the two trays out on the patio - where they live all day...