Why I Oughta...

With two Pooh Collarette Dahlia plants growing in our garden, I was able to clip-off seven-or-eight blooms and put them in a vase this week.  The Pooh Dahlia in our backyard is more productive than the one in our sideyard garden, despite it growing in poor-er soil conditions.  The backyard tuber was planted in the new (this year) Pizza Oven bed that is full of clay.  The sideyard Pooh Dahlia is planted in a bed that is rich with loam and municipal biosolids.   But...the sideyard plant has been UNDER ASSAULT by Spider Mites the past month.  Since we came back from Ireland, the plant has struggled.  I think I've finally gotten on top of the pest problem and I'm seeing some fresh, new green growth.  So, I'm hoping it will keep producing over the next six-weeks-or-so. Below is a photo of the all (only) Pooh Collarette Dahlia arrangement.  In a vase.  No foliage or filler plants.  Just the red and yellow blooms.   The Pooh Coll...

One of the shade-tolerant foliage shrubs (is it a shrub?) that continues to be a standout in our backyard is Japanese Golden Spikenard - also called Sun King Aralia.  I have a drift of them in the far back 'nook' behind the small Weeping Nootka Cypress tree.  And this year, I planted three more on the other side of the garden - in hopes of bringing some of that sweet 'garden repetition' to the backyard .   I called them 'foliage' plants because that's what they're grown for:  bright green, almost-tropical-looking foliage that thrives in low-light conditions.  But, for the first time...I now have discovered that they also FLOWER.   See below for the little cluster of flowers that has appeared out the top of the canopy:  That's new (to me).  But, wait...there's more (than flowers).  Via the Missouri Botanical Garden listing : Sun King’ is a golden-leaved cultivar that features a large rounded clump of golden yellow compound leaves whi...

Cut-and-come-again season is upon us in the garden.   Specifically for dahlias.  When I look back at last year's photos, this post from October 1st shows what I called "Pop'ing off" of dahlia blooms that happens as the weather cools down.   The Melina Fleur Dahlia shown in this post is LOADED with blooms .  In preparation (and hopefully) to stimulate that behavior to return in the coming weeks, I've been busy cutting blooms regularly. Below is a small dahlia-only arrangement that I made on a recent evening.  Thanks to the re-used salsa jar, this burst of petals was gifted to our neighbor.  It is full of large Melina Fleur blooms as well as the group that I've been using regularly:   Mystery Fox, Wizard of Oz and this dark purple ball dahlia that is of an unknown variety .   What's NOT in this arrangement (above) is any Sweet Nathalie dahlias .  Why?  Because they haven't quite thrived.  But, we're this/close to ...

2025 is the year of the massive hydrangea flop in our garden.  All of our hydrangeas (panicle ones) are flopping more significantly than they've ever flopped before.  Historically, the Vanilla Strawberry Panicle hydrangea out front of our porch 'flop' most years.  But, I can string them up and keep them (mostly) off the boxwoods.   The Limelight Hydrangeas on the side of our house have NEVER flopped.  But, this year?  Big time floppers. And, even weirder...the Little Lime (dwarf) hydrangeas in our backyard ?  They're FLOPPING this year, too.  See below for a look at the Little Lime hydrangeas flopping over with big flower heads: I'm not sure what the reason is for this:  a wet spring?  A colder Spring?  Something happened to create more leggy (and less supportive) stems so much so that EVERY HYDRANGEA (not Oakleaf) is flopping this season.  

I planted some small pot-grown Wichita Blue (upright) Junipers in our backyard in early May .  Today, four-months-later, all three of them seem to have handled the heat of the Summer and aren't in distress.  That's good.  I watered them pretty heavily this Summer and they're (partially) protected from the Sun - being planted under the tree swing Northern Red Oak.   They get shade in the morning and late afternoon.  But, are full Sun in the middle of the day.   That seems (*knock on wood*) to be working for them as there is little brown'ing-out happening with the needles.  See below for what these three look like after being planted for four months in our garden: To date, I haven't planted the rest of the bed around them, but this is my inspiration :  using Stachys Hummelo in a mass planting.   Maybe that'll be a #Fall2025 project.  Or, something for next year. 

Earlier this season, I planted three small Inferno Coleus plants in the small bed that sits at the corner of our back patio .  I had grown Inferno in the front yard last year and wanted to grow it again.  Have a look at the photo below - showing the late-Summer view of what started as three small plants.  I wanted to grow more coleus as bedding annuals in the beds , so I'd call this a success.  (#6 on my 2025 to-do list this year .) I'll grow Inferno again next year.  Maybe in multiple spots - as a form of 'repetition' to help improve 'legibility' with some colorful annuals.   Last Fall, I expanded this bed a bit.  I'll look to grow it even more this Fall with my 'lazy bed' method using cardboard, compost and municipal biosolids.  

There is a season for every bloom and with our small drift of Lucky Charm Anemone, that season is "late Summer".  Here it is (below) in very late August when the first blooms are just coming on and opening up.  This will be an explosion of color for the next month - all the way right up until the first frost.  I'm not sure which I like more:  the open blooms or the closed, grey/purple-grey closed ball-like buds before they open up.