Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I showed a photo of the growth that the three Green Gem Boxwoods have put on in the past few years .  I also mentioned that there were a couple of small boulders tucked in-betwix them that started out as a feature but have recently been hidden by the foliage.  I put those three boulders (two round, one more-square) during the Winter of 2023 .  Today, they're covered in this beautiful, soft green moss.  See below: I'd like to move these out from in-betwix the boxwoods, but I don't want to damage this moss.  It sure seems to like to grow here.  This is *exactly* the type of " Garden Personality " that I'm after, but it is being hidden.   The conditions seem to be right with the mix of moisture, shade and surface area.  I'm thinking that I can move these out to a different shade spot and keep them happy. 

Planted in the Fall of 2021, we have a cluster of three Green Gem Boxwoods planted in our backyard.  They're in a transition spot in the beds:  behind what I call the "kitchen curved" bed and in front of the Stumpery.   These were planted for four-season interest and to add some evergreen structure to the bed when it was just being planted.   Green Gem Boxwoods stay small.  This post shows their details, including their 2-to-3 feet size/height .   In their fourth full year of growth in our garden (plus a half-year from Fall planting), they've put on some size, but I don't think they're done growing.   Here's what they looked like after two seasons .  Still LOTS OF SPACE between them.   Below is a look at these three evergreen shrubs.  When I planted them, I stuck some boulders/large rocks in between them .  Back then, the rocks were the feature.  Today...the rocks are almost unseen - due to foliage grow...

About five weeks (or so) ago - in Mid-June - I planted 64 plugs of annual Vinca.  Or, some call it Madigascar Periwinkle .   These were in the newly (as of last Fall) expanded front bed that I call our 'front porch bed'.  I've grown various flowering annuals up there.  To varying degrees of success.  Marigolds have worked .  Dusty Millers went nuts (and came back partially a second season).  One year, I did begonias and sedum.  The sedum looked great, but wasn't hardy .  Petunias failed .  Sun Patients didn't work, either .   I'm NOT EXACTLY sure how I ended up with pink (light purple?) annual vinca, but in one of those garden-center-induced hazes, I found myself sitting in the driveway with a couple of flats of these annuals.  I planted them and hoped for the best.  At first, they were stinkers.  A number of them (maybe 10?) up-and-died.  The rest just sort of were blah.   But then...time wo...

Back earlier this Summer, I planted a small quart-sized plug of Eucalyptus Pulverulenta (Silver Dollar Eucalyptus...or "Florist Eucalyptus" as an accent plant in one of the containers on our back patio.  I found it at the orange Big Box store nursery amongst the other 'accent plants' like Sweet Potato Vine, Spikes and Asparagus Ferns.    Below is a photo from May when I stuck it in the container along with the Crazytunia (purple one) from The Growing Place: Here, below, is the container that it came in - from Vigoro (which...I think is Home Depot's 'house brand', right?). I don't seem to have posted about this when I planted it, but I think that's because I wasn't sure how this would do.  That container chewed through a few things - killing off some spillers/fillers like this Icicles plant .  Perhaps it was a soil or water problem, but whatever it was...this Eucalyptus has overcome them.  So, too, has the green Medusa Sweet Potato vine ...

Late July is the beginning of (at least around here) dahlia season.  We're seeing our first few blooms on the various dahlias around the garden.  We also are seeing our second flush of blooms from the Disneyland Roses on the side of our house.  But, this year it is also something else.  Something that is surprising:  peony season.   Yep.  This is what the flowers on our countertop look like right now:  Sarah Berhardt peonies are opening up in a vase . How is this happening?  Peony season around here in late May to Early June.  We cut peonies as fast as we can and they put on a great show for about ten days.  But, this year, I tried something new:  Storing cut peony stems in the fridge when they were at the 'marshmallow stage' before they opened .  Here's a post showing the full process .   Here, below, is a look at the unwrapping process.   We started with a big collection of wrapped stems in Saran...

Yesterday, I posted an update on the Flame Thrower coleus that is in a container (not-mixed) on our back stoop and provided a peek at something else planted (similarly in a container) next to it.  The red foliage of the coleus contrasted with the bright green of the neighbor.  The bright green (and yellow and orange - if you look closely) are from a Firesticks Cactus.  My Firesticks Cactus is now in "Year Seven".  Below, is a photo that shows the new growth that it has put on this Summer next to the Flame Thrower Coleus: Here's what it looked like when I first planted it in 2018 .  Tiny, and just green.   I moved this Firesticks outside more than a month ago.  It has spent the past 8 months in our basement, on a ledge near one of the windows.  When I introduced it outside, I started it in the full shade, underneath our raised planter box.  And, after a couple of weeks, moved it to part-sun.  Then, most-recently to the full sun loca...

A little over a month ago, I planted a pair of small quart-sized containers of a dark-red coleus named Flame Thrower in a patio container .  I had not grown this variety previously, but I liked the the shape of the foliage and having planted some Inferno coleus in the corner patio bed, I thought this would help with a little bit of 'garden legibility' via repetition.  Of colors and plants.   This container sits on our back stoop and gets full afternoon sun.  Being close to the house, it isn't until about mid-day when the sun arrives, but it sticks around here for just about as long as anywhere else in our backyard.   How is the coleus doing?  Very well, I'd say.  Below is a photo showing the current state of the pot.  A lesson learned for me:  coleus as a monoculture works well in a container like this. See that bright green next to the coleus?  I'll post about that tomorrow.