Why I Oughta...

Back in 2019, I transplanted a dark read Coral Bell perennial that I had in our urn container into the bed on the side of the garage and didn't think much about it.  It survived that first Winter and grew to a nice size.  Last Spring, I decided to divide it up into three plants.  This is an area of deep shade, so after dividing them, I didn't water them too much.  But, by Fall all three of them had survived .  Fast forward to this Spring and all three are showing new, dark red (maroon) foliage in the long, linear bed along the garage.  You can see them below: This photo - while posted in early June - was actually take in early May before I mulched the beds.  One of my 2022 to-do items (#16) was to design with dark foliage .  These certainly count as dark foliage.  Another item (#12) continue to divide plants.  These are too small (right now) to think about dividing them, but I'm thinking they'll go on a two or three-year schedule.   2019: Planted in container. Transpl

Yesterday, I showed a photo of a series of Ostrich Ferns that have worked a little and naturalized along the long, linear mulch bed that runs between our garage and the Bluestone chip gravel path that leads to our backyard.  After planting one (or maybe two) transplants, we now have eight Ostrich ferns of different sizes that have begun to fill the area in.  In that post, I mentioned that I also planted some bare root Ostrich Ferns a little further back along the garage (behind the fence gate) .  Here's what those ferns now look like clustered close to the little stoop outside our sidedoor.  Below you can see the ferns that have unfurled in this little, narrow bed: In this post in 2018, I said that I planted three bare root Ostrich Ferns here , but thanks to them spreading a little bit, we now have nine ferns of varying maturity.  See below for an annotated version of the same photo/area showing the nine now in orange circles: There's also some Creeping Jenny Moneywort on the

Over on the side of the garage - in the long, linear bed that is sandwiched between the house and the gravel path, there are a few different plants that I've tucked in here and mostly left alone.   I talked about this area earlier this Spring when I talked about (potentially) planting some trees that I can espalier against the house to kind-of 'break up' the large mass of wall .  When I posted that photo in mid-April, none of the perennials had emerged just yet, but with Spring turning to Summer around here, this spot has started to come alive.  And, what's showing up strong?  Ostrich Ferns.  See below for a photo showing some of the Ostrich Ferns that have spread and naturalized in this area: Here, below, is an annotated photo showing the location of eight Ostrich Ferns - some tiny and some more mature.  Based in the location, the larger stand of fern fronds that are just above the large rock were the ones that I originally planted and the rest have spread via rhizomes

Yesterday, I showed the backyard location of one of our two Prairie Dropseed native grasses that we bought at the Morton Arboretum Annual Plant Sale.  Today, (below) is a photo of the location of the other one:  IB2DWs.  Prairie Dropseed - Sporobolus heterolepis - is a 'tough' native grass and ground cover.  That means that this planting works two-ways on my 2022 to-do list .  #4 on the list was to 'enhance the IB2DWs strip' and #5 was to 'fall in love with ground cover'.   This grass (planted as a single grass for now) is close to the driveway and the bluestone chip gravel path: A few things to note about the photo:  first...the seeds from trees (those yellow things) are flush this season.  Also, if you look closely at the area where the Prairie Dropseed was planted, you'll see A LOT of clay soil.  Related to that clay, if you look at the top left of the photo, you'll see the Chanticleer Pear tree that was replaced and is living in a clay bowl.  This

Back in late April, I brought home two Prairie Dropseeds - a native grass - from the Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale.  I first 'got to know' Prairie Dropseed from Roy Diblik's YouTube videos where he calls it both by the trade name (Prairie Dropseed) but also the formal name of Sporobolus heterolepis.  I decided to NOT plant the two grasses together - despite knowing that's one of the 'gardening mistakes' that I've made over time.  I decided to stick one in the front yard (more on that later) and one in the backyard bed that you can see below.  I planted it between the border and the urn in a spot that is mostly bare right now. I'd like to plant MORE of these in a little colony here, but my thought is to try with one, see how it responds to this bed this Spring/early Summer and then buy more (hopefully...in plug form) up at Northwind this Summer.   I'm considering this as a version of groundcover, so that helps me continue to check the box on

Yesterday, I showed a couple of photos showing three new Green Velvet Boxwoods that I bought and planted IB2DWs - right by the gravel path.  In that post, I ran through the 'shrub math' and compared my initial priority list with what I've done (so far).   Here, below, is the initial list with annotations on what has been done so far.   5 Oakleaf Hydrangeas.   Planted and done.  8 Viburnum.  4 treeform bought.  3 planted in back.  1 in front.  Call it 5 remaining. 3 Little Lime Hydrangeas.   3 Tardiva Hydrangeas 1 Panicle Hydrangea.   Planted one of the Doublefile Viburnum here.   6-8 upright evergreens   Planted six Green Giant Thujas in two spots. 6-8 boxwoods and/or Yews - 3 Green Velvet planted IB2DW .  (at least) 3 left.  This post is about how I found and brought home three Little Lime Hydrangeas.  Here, below, is what the three of these 2# Little Lime Hydrangeas at the big box nursery. These were $29.98 each and were on a lower rack, kind of tucked-away so they seem

Back a couple of weeks ago, I scrambled a bit to buy and plant some shrubs ahead of a professional cleanup and mulch job that we had going on in our yard and garden.  As I've said a few times in the past few months, shrubs are where my focus has been this planting and growing season.  In this post back in early March, I outlined a series of garden 'slices' and how I needed to prioritize the planting of shrubs to both provide the necessary structure and (in some cases) four-season interest.  To that end, #1 on my 2022 to-do list was to "Focus on Shrubs" .  And, over the past few weeks, I've tried to pay that goal off.   The most recent shrub-related post was about the pair of Ruby Slippers Oakleaf Hydrangeas that I planted from the Morton Arboretum Spring sale .  In that post, I ran through a mini-inventory of what I've added including 9 new flowering shrubs and six upright evergreens.  Full list: Six upright evergreens - Green Giant Thujas. Technically t