Why I Oughta...

Back in April, I posted a 'to-do' reminder to remove the small Bird's Nest Spruce evergreen shrub from inside the nursery container (that was, in-turn, planted directly in the ground) to planting the conifer OUT of the nursery container and into the ground.  Why?  Because, I originally bought it with an eye towards using it as pre-bonsai material, I've now changed my mind and wanted to get it started in a more permanent spot.  I did this same thing with another pre-bonsai shrub - a Juniper Pfitzeriana Aurea - in a different spot a couple weeks ago .   Here, below, is the Bird's Nest Spruce after being planted and having suffered some rabbit damage this Winter: And, here, below is the container it was in with the label.   I'm hoping now that this has roots down in the native soil, we'll see it establish itself a little bit this season and will put on some new growth.  I'll be sure to protect it from the rabbits next Winter so it won't get saw'd

In the photo above, you can peep a bunch of things;  a few of the Everillo Sedges on the bottom right.  A couple of small Hicks upright Yew in the middle left.  The Chocoholic Snakeroot in the top right.   But, the focus of the photo here in the [garden diary] is the three ruffled hostas planted on a diagonal.  They are Waterslide hostas and they're looking really great.  I first planted one in fall of 2020 that I bought at the Morton Arboretum Fall Plant Sale .  I (now) know that buying one of anything is a mistake.  So, in Spring of 2021, I remedied that mistake and brought home Waterslide Hostas that I found at Home Depot .   The one closest to the back (by the fence) is the oldest and the two one-year-old versions are closer to the front of the bed.   They're a cool blue/green color and the ruffled foliage provides a nice contrast to this area that features the sedges and yews.   I mentioned then - and it still holds true - that I'm drawn to ruffled foliage on these hos

Last Summer, one of my big-box-nursery white whales was the Crested Surf Japanese Painted Fern.  I saw them a few times, but always wanted to wait until they went on sale.  Then they started to disappear from the shelves and I figured it wasn't meant to be for our garden.  Right after the 4th of July, I found three of them on sale and decided to plant them in the little Japanese garden-inspired section on the south side of our backyard .  Two of them seemed to be fine, but one suffered.  I watered them and watered them.  And they still went into decline.  That first year is always tough.  I figured I lost one or two of them.   And, so imagine my delight when Spring comes around and all three of them have fronds that begin to unfurl.  You can see them in the photo below, planted in a triangular shape around a hosta: I really like these double-tipped ferns, so my plan is to give them as much water as they need this Spring/Summer.  My experience is that if I can get a Japanese Painted

Last Spring, I planted a bunch of bare root hostas in a few spots around our backyard that Nat brought home from Costco.  I'll get to the Frances Williams Hostas in another post, but this one is about the Bressingham Blue bare root hostas from Longfield Gardens .   I planted eight in what - at that time - I called the 'focal curve' .  And six back by the Yew Hedge . Two by the downspout around the Screened Porch .   That's only 16, so I'm not sure if I planted 18 of them (sometimes...these bare root hostas are so tiny that I plant two in one spot).   I covered some of these last year showing their first year growth.  By June, I was seeing some of them emerge from the mulch .  And by August, it looked like seven of the eight in the focal curve had made it .  I don't seem to have documented in the [garden diary] the ones back by the Yews, nor the ones by the downspout.   So...one year after planting bare root hostas, how are we doing?  First, it seems the two by t

Every year, we go on a little vacation to Wisconsin or somewhere else where we find ourselves away from our house for a number of weeks in a row.  Each year, I try to set up an irrigation system that provides enough water to allow for the plants, shrubs and trees - as well as the grass - to simply survive.  In most years, we usually get a LITTLE lucky and get a rain event once or twice while we're gone and most everything survives.   Last year, we went on vacation in the middle of the Summer and weren't lucky enough to have that rain event.  Couple that with a REALLY dry Spring (Drought) and my sprinkler setup not covering EVERYTHING and we have things die out.   One of the specimens who suffered last year was the Weeping White Spruce columnar tree that is planted on the southside of our beds, near the Lindens that are espalier'd.  By mid-July last year, it was showing a bunch of needle drop - when we came back from vacation .  And by September, it had gotten worse.  Dead b

I've covered a bunch of the shrubs ( hydrangeas ) and perennials ( Ivory Prince Hellebores ) that I brought home from the Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale already here on the blog.  But, we also bought a tree from that same sale.  I've bought a tree each of the years that I've attended the sale including this Emperor 1 Japanese Maple tree last year .  And this Red Fox Katsura tree from 2020 .   This year, I've prioritized shrubs in the landscape, but I included a couple of tree items on my 2022 to-d list .  #7 was to plant more trees (and measuring them), so this new tree checks that box.   I keep thinking about that advice I came across in April of 2019 related to planting trees .  The proverb is below : That means planting small trees that - over time - can grow into something meaningful.  I've done this recently with a Ginkgo tree (well...two of them, but one snapped in half ), so I figured another Ginkgo would be interesting.   I brought the Babe to the sa

We've had a pair of Rhododendrons that flank the sides of our back stoop since our first year here in Downers Grove.  They've been a mixed bag - evergreen is nice, but they've under performed and have gotten a little leggy in some years.  They're there because that's what our plan called for, but would I plant something else there if I could do it all over again?  Probably.   On one side, I've had some ground cover take root in the shape of a volunteer sedum and that's a nice addition (by accident).  You can see both one of the rhododendrons and the Lemon Coral Sedum at the base in the photo below.   Taking a look back, it seems these bloomed in mid-June last year .  I gave both of these flowering shrubs a bit of a prune last year after they flowered and I'll do the same this year.   I've mentioned trying to use tropicals (and sub-tropicals) in the garden more this year and that is one of the reasons why I *want* these to work so much:  they lend a