Why I Oughta...

On one of our Melina Fleur dahlias out in the sideyard, I noticed a portion of the plant was struggling.  I've observed over the past year-or-so that some of my dahlias have adapated to handling the heat of the day by wilting.  They spring back in the evening and look fine.  I initially...thought that was what was happening here.  Part of the plant was showing some new growth and perhaps it was just wilting to survive the heat.   This dahlia had been attacked by rabbits, so I figured the new growth was a reaction to that nibbling at the base.   I recently wrapped this dahlia in chicken wire to keep the rabbit pressure down.  Below is a photo showing the entire plant in the chicken wire.  At the left is the 'wilting' part.  Second photo shows a top-down view: Do you get those giant pumpkin growers on your TikTok FYP?  The guys who set up entire rigs for growing giant pumpkins including shade covers, zip-tie'ing blossoms closed t...

Back in June, I planted three (more) Sun King Aralias in the backyard.  Last year, I planted six of the same plant in the far backyard and they came back and are thriving.  So, at the Morton Arboretum Sale this year, I bought three more for the yard.   I tucked them into the other side of the backyard (southside) about half-way back near the Green Giant Thujas.  This is a spot where I previously had an Oakleaf Hydrangea (rabbits killed it) and these three bright-green perennials check a few boxes:  1.  Repetition.  With this second colony of Sun Kings, we now are starting to show a little bit of the notion of 'repetition'. 2.  Lean into what's working.  With the six (that I ignored last year) coming back, I knew these would work well in our conditions. 3. Japanese-inspired gardening. I mean...the plants are named Sun King Golden Japanese Aralias. 4.  Foliage gardening.  These don't flower.  Or, at least don't flower mean...

Planted in our backyard, in the new pizza oven bed is a dahlia that is new (to me):  Mystery Fox .  It is a Ball Dahlia and it is moving ahead of most of the other dahlias in our garden with the first few blooms opened up and more on their way.   Below is a look at the blooms in stages - closer to being cut vs just opening up.   The bottom photo shows the full plant - staked and filled with yellow-ish buds.  These were part of the Winter order this past off-season and this is the first time I'm growing them.  I've planted two sets of tubers - one in front and one in back.   The 'early blooming' is a (nice) surprise to me, but it shouldn't have been. The description of these dahlias lays it out : Each plant produces blossoms in a range of hues, from terracotta to coral and dusky rose. The 3 to 4" ball-style flowers are incredibly long lasting on the plant as well as in a vase. Zundert Mystery Fox starts blooming early in the season and ...

The Oklahoma Salmon Zinnias are popping off right now.  And, the earliest dahlia - Wizard of Oz - has a few open flowers.  And, the Limelight Hydrangeas are still not-quite-ready to open up their panicles.   Along with a couple of wisps of Garden Ghost Artemesia from the front yard Island Bed, we have another cut flower arrangement.   Below are a couple of photos showing this arrangement off from the front and side.  The Oklahoma Salmon Zinnias are showing up more as 'orange' right now, so do they work with the pink of the Wizard of Oz Dahlia ?  Technically...I'm unsure.  But, for me?  They work together just fine.   Around the edges are a couple of tips from the Limelight Hydrangeas in our garden: Feels like the first of many more to come this Summer.  

Back in June, I p lanted ten (10) small plugs of White Polka Dot Plant Annuals in between the Green Velvet Boxwoods that are planted at the base of the Linden espalier.   I saw these same white ones in the Morton Arboretum Fragrance Garden (the shade part) in 2021 and loved them since back then.   They handle the shade and with their white dots on the foliage, can brighten up some of these darker spaces.  Being planted right under the trees, this area gets no direct sunlight.  It isn't SHADE, but it stays pretty dark and - when watered - damp.   All ten of the annuals have survived and are now putting on some size.  Below is a photo showing them in late July: I'm already thinking about these for cut flowers as accent pieces.  And, for next year - as annuals in the backyard.   One of my goals is to focus (more) on repetition.  These might be the annuals that I can tuck in around the back to help increase the 'legibility' ...

A few days ago, I showed the first cut flower from the set of Pablo Gallery Border dahlias that I put in the garden this year (in the backyard near the patio) and talked about how there were more blooms approaching.   There are five border dahlia tubers in this corner bed that wrap around the corner.  They are sitting on the 'other side' of a trio of Karl Foerster Grasses.    Below is a look at the current state of these five border dahlias.  Four of them have buds with one being a little bit further behind.  Three of them are home to opened-up multi-color dahlias.  These are coral-colored with some reds and yellows in them: The blooms are good-sized.  Below is a photo showing one of them with my hand as a reference for size: Pablo Gallery has won the the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit - so it is a proven and prolific bloomer.  I'm going to keep dead-heading these to see if we can get a bumper crop.  Based on...

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos showing the front porch Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover and talked about how they all had some Winter die-back/decline despite a somewhat mild Winter.  Most of the colonies are back this year up front, but reduced in size. Today, I'm showing part of the front-of-the-border band of Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' that runs in the "Kitchen Curved" bed.  This is the oldest bed and the first one that has fully filled-out with Oakleaf Hydrangeas, Amsonia, various Astilbes, some Japanese Anemone, a Fernleaf Spirea (Matcha Ball) and dotted with a tiny Emperor 1 Japanese Maple tree.   The Ajuga here was first planted in Spring of 2023 .  Here's what they looked like 90 days later - after the heat of August .  They were putting on size with some larger than a grapefruit.   By last Spring, I wrote this 'hits/misses' post showing how some of the Ajuga was working , while other colonies didn't.   Last Fall, as the l...