Why I Oughta...

A week or so ago, right when they were putting on a bunch of their new growth, I applied the first treatment of fertilizer on our three Disneyland Roses that are planted on the south side of our house.  This is the second year that I've done a feeding program for them and something I mentioned I wanted to keep doing on my 2022 to-do list (#10) .   Last year, I used a granular product from Jobe's , but this year when I went to the orange Big Box Nursery, all I could find was this Vigoro granular.  I figured it was fine since the N-P-K were just about the same. I feed in early May, so this particular bag says that the next time I should feed them is two-to-three months from now, which would mean sometime in July.  And, then again sometime in September.   One of the other things that I need to remind myself is around companions for these Disneyland Roses.  I covered some ideas last year, when I mentioned Alliums and Nepeta as potential options .  I put down some Allium bulbs, but

I was doing a little garden walk this past week when I noticed something new poking thru the bottom of the fence.  It was tall and had blue flowers at the top of the flower stalk.  Could it be? Might it be?  Sure enough....have a look at the photo below and let's talk about what this flower is via our neighbor's garden: That's a little naturalized Virginia Bluebell that has crept over (under) the fenceline.  I wrote about these Spring Ephemerals back in September here and included them in my 2022 plant wish list.    And, #2 on my 2022 to-do list was to plant perennials that work across four-seasons where I mentioned the idea of a Spring Ephemeral like Virginia Bluebells .   This feels like a gift, right? A little colony of Mertensia virginica that exists next door has drifted over the past few years, but I've always removed it. Why? Because I didn't 'get to know' this plant until last year. So, this year? I'm encouraging it to stay here and maybe e

We moved lilacs this Spring from here ...to here .  We have NEVER witnessed even ONE Lilac flower in all the years in Downers Grove.  Now...with the transplant, guess what?  They flowered!?!?  Yeah.  First time ever.  Perhaps due to the transplant stress?  Or in spite of it?  See below for a photo of the first-of-their-kind blooms on our recently-transplanted Lilac flowering shrubs that we moved to the north side.  These will be something that we'll have to watch this year and next Spring to see how they managed the transplant.  

By last September, they were leaf'd out and looking good .  Before the frost arrived, I decided to dig them into the landscape and let them try to overwinter outside .  I covered them with mulch and surrounded them with chicken wire to keep the rabbits out.   Well...much to my surprise, these have come back.  In that September post, I talked about how there were ten Kentucky Coffee tree seedlings and one small Maple tree seedling .  I dug these up and moved them to our raised bed by the patio.  Here, below, is what they look like after a long winter's nap: By my count, there are nine (maybe ten) KCT seedlings and that one Maple that have made it.  Pretty good.   #7 on 2022 to-do list was (in part) to continue to work the seedlings . Next up on my list is to try to germinate these Honey Locust seeds .  

Earlier this week, I showed off the new haircut that I gave to the pair of crabapple trees in our sideyard and talked about my plan for shaping them into a Palmette Verrier form along the side of our house . I thought it would be wise to document my other (or...as the kids say:  OG) espalier:  the pair of Greenspire Linden trees that are shaped into a four-tiered horizontal cordon. The last time that I showed these trees was in early April when they had NO leaves on them .  I mentioned last week that they had broken bud (very pretty buds, btw) and were leaf'ing out.   What do they look like this week?  Really lovely set of espalier - with four tiers.  Well...almost four.  See below: On the left, the bottom tier is done on the left, but needs some help going right.   On the tree on the right, the bottom tier needs some help extending both ways.   I'm thinking those will get done this growing season.   #6 on my 2022 to-do list was to continue to work the Lindens (these have bee

Earlier this week, I showed off a couple of photos that featured the pair of Sugar Tyme Crabapple trees that were in (what I then called) a pre-espalier form .  These were planted last Fall along the southside of our house, in front of our gate.   Since they had already bloomed, I thought it was time to take out the pruners and remove all the non-necessary limbs to allow the trees to focus growth on the limbs that I cared most about.  I started with a top haircut - pruning off the apical meristem or leader on both.  That usually has a strong impact on the tree where it signals a bunch of NEW growth.  I used the siding boards to get them the same height.  From there, I went two siding boards down and removed all the little, starting limbs in between those two segments.  Then, again two boards down.  And so forth.   I still am not sure what form these will take, but - for now - I'm training them horizontally.  See below for what are (now) four-level horizontal cordon espaliered craba

Most all of our other grasses have woken up already.  But, up until the last few days, I was worried that we had lost the one Prairie Winds Totem Pole Switchgrass that we have planted in our front yard.  It is kind of 'behind' the Norway Maple.  I bought it from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale last Spring .   By early August, it was putting on some growth, but certainly didn't live up to its billing:  super tall .   Later in the month, it was able to withstand the heat of August and be in fine shape .   But, all Spring, there was NO Activity.  Not a single blade.  And then...we had a heat wave.  Last week, the temperatures were in the 90's all week.  And guess what?  That pushed everything along.  Including this Totem Pole Switchgrass.  See below for how it looks in mid-May: Oh...and see that Lemon Coral Sedum?  It is back for another season.  Groundcover is on my 2022 list , so I should think about more of this, right?