Why I Oughta...

With the weather (suddenly) turning quite warm last week, our Saucer Magnolia in the front yard decided to say hello.  One morning, the flowers just started to shoot up and open.  This tree went in by the landscaper who installed the rest of our landscaping before we moved in and is set in a small, circular bed in between our front porch and the sidewalk.  It gets a ton of sun and as it matures is set to be a focal point.  Back in August, I posted a photo of how I 'limbed up' the tree in an attempt to get it to grow more tree-like and less shrub and I'm happy to say that I didn't kill the thing.  Even more, it appears that the clearing of some of the sucker and low limbs have helped allow the tree to provide energy to it's tips.  Just look at this beauty: I call this "Nat's tree" because it was the one thing that she specifically spec'd with the landscaper.  And when we were planting it, I didn't tell her that it was coming and int

The middle of last Summer, we added a Crimson King Red Maple tree to the far flung reach of our backyard.  I actually placed it in a spot around the perimeter that was behind the trampoline.  It isn't too far from this area that I outlined in our landscape plan.   I revisited the tree in late October to document how it was heading into the Winter cold season and all Spring, I've been peeping at it trying to understand how it was doing.  There were buds that were set last fall and for the past month, they started to grow and expand.  And then, suddenly, this happened!  The buds exploded and these crazy stringy what-appear-to-be-flower-pods emerged all over branches.  And the buds created that four-way shape in a beautiful red.  So, I'm thinking we can mark this one down as 'making it' this Winter.  My precious Dawn Redwood on the other hand?  I'm afraid to say it out loud, but it looks like it did not make it through the Winter.  I'm going to give it a

I've been chasing a cast iron urn/planter (or pair of urns/planters) for the better part of six months.  And now, I've acquired one.  This one fit the sweet spot between price and looks and came from a gardener in LaGrange that had upgraded to a different set of planters on either side of her stoop.  This thing is HEAVY and as you can see on the base, it sunk into the ground.  Due to the weight, I'm not sure where, exactly, this is going to end up.  Maybe in front.  Maybe in back.  That's for Nat to direct in terms of where we want it to live.  One thing is certain:  I'll fill it with flowers as soon as I can this Spring. 

Just two days ago, I posted the first of what I'm calling "Earth Day 2018" trees that I planted with the kids in our #newoldbackyard .  Today, the KoTBT is up with his hand-picked tree.  This one, too, came from Home Depot out of their $15 deal for Earth Day.  That's him up there, standing next to his very own tree that he helped plant.   We planted it pretty far back in the yard, pretty close to the rear fence in the area where we've been putting most of our yard waste (leaves, etc) to compost on their own.  You can see the dirt that he's standing on is pretty good dirt, unlike the clay that was used to backfill in around our house and adjacent areas.   This tree is a Red Maple "Sun Valley" and requires "full sun", which it isn't going to get here.  But, I'm thinking that might be fine.  This one is planted about 50 feet or so away from the King Crimson Maple that I planted last summer and that one, too, is listed as

Along with the various other tubers that I've planted (Dahlias, ferns, hostas) this Spring, I also put down our first set of Peonies in our #newoldbackyard out on the north side of our backyard - about halfway between the house and the back fence.  These are of the pink Sarah Bernhardt variety that you can see in the top photo.  They're of the 'double peony' type that Nat adores.  Welp...she actually loves *any* peony, but based on what she cuts and brings in, it is this delicate, double flower kind that I think she loves the most.  And, that's why I bought them:  as a landscape gift to her - the love of my life. At our old place in Elmhurst, we had a series of peonies that we were gifted, bought and took (from a tear down) that bloomed every year.  There was one plant in particular that Nat was given from her Aunt that (I think) was from her Mom's Grandmother's garden.  That's the one that we dug out and transplanted out in Naperville where Nat'

For Earth Day last year, we planted a tree:  our Dawn Redwood .  This was while our #newoldfarmhouse was being built, but we still had access to the backyard.  This year, we planted a couple of trees on Earth Day.  This post chronicles the first one:  a Chanticleer Cleveland Select Flowering Pear tree.  I took the kids to Home Depot on Earth Day and had each of them pick out a small tree.  They were running a sale on tiny trees like the one you see above for $15 each.  This is the one that the Bird picked out and that's here in the photo showing off her new tree after she helped me plant it.  We put it on the south fence line in an open spot.  This was a nice Earth Day activity for me and the kids.  The Bird was so excited to help plant the tree.  She's my gardening buddy, so she knows how to get plants (and trees) out of their pots by beating on the pots and then she also helps rough up the roots to help them get started.  She's also in charge of helping amend the s

Over the weekend, I started to plant the first few pieces of our backyard landscape plan - starting with the rear foundation plantings.  I posted the landscape plan for this area back in October of last year that shows a series of hostas, grasses and boxwoods.  The central area - right underneath our bird feeders - called for five staggered grasses.  Karl Foerster Reed Grasses to be precise.  So, when I came across them at Home Depot, I grabbed up six of them.   Six.  Yeah...because I didn't have the plan in front of me and I thought it called for six.  Turns out, the plan calls for five of them here, but five more in a different spot.   Thus, I ended up planting just one of that other set of five, but will get the other four later this Spring.  The photo you see above shows where I put them in the bed.  That green wire laying around is for our Automower.  His dock is right in front of this bed and that is the excess boundary wire and the lead wire that terminate at the doc