Why I Oughta...

I've planted a few different sedges in our garden in the past few years as I've become more aware of them and how they can work in various spots in the garden.  I have a few Everillo Sedges planted in a little colony and some OG's of the Sedge world: C arex Pensylvanica planted as a test .  There doesn't seem to be a bigger booster of Sedges in the gardening world than Roy Diblik from Northwind Perennial Farm.  He's actually where I've 'gotten to know' anything about sedges.  From his YouTube videos.  He posted a short video where he named his '3 favorite Carex' (embeded below), where he detailed what he likes about all three - bromoides, muehlenbergii & muskingumensis. Well...that means I have to try ALL of them, right?  I'm starting with one of them:   .  Below is the sign from Roy's nursery. The description on the sign reads:  Too nice, a good looking soft foliage grass-like plant that adds contrast to all types of shade plantings

The colonies of Summer Beauty Ornamental Onion - Allium - are looking full and happy in the various spots of our garden.  All of them are showing a series of buds that are - right now - downward-facing - and ready to explode with Summer color.   Last year, these were further along with their white flowers extending upwards by mid-July.   So, these are a bit behind.   I should use these in a few more spots, so I'll put that on my 2023 to-do list (along with groundcover).

There's a flowering perennial that I've been thinking about and chasing ever since we moved out of our house in Elmhurst.  Actually, there are a bunch of them.  But, one that I think about often:  Anemones.  Nat had them in her wedding day bouquet and her Mom bought us a plant back in 2010 and I just stuck it in the front yard garden.  It bloomed and grew .  And then we moved out. I've admired an Anemone in one of our neighborhood gardens and always thought that I needed to plant some in our backyard garden.  The moment finally arrived when I was looking at the nursery tables at North Wind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin recently.  That's when I came across the sign you see above.  For Anemone 'Lucky Charm'. The description reads - in part:  "Here's an anemone that welcomes the beginning of Spring with beautiful, dark purple foliage and ends the season with engaging dark pink flowers, touched with gold.  And, during the middle of Summer, your garden is

I just put down some of this Vigoro granular Rose Food around the base of all three of our Floribunda Roses - Disneyland Roses - that are on the south side of our house in the sideyard.  The package that I'm using can be seen in the photo below: This is the third application of this same Rose Food this season. On May 24th, I gave them their initial application of Rose fertilizer . On June 25th, I gave them their second dose of Rose fertilizer .  I also feed a few other things with iron. #10 on my 2022 to-do list was to continue with some seasonal projects - like feeding roses.  I feel pretty good about the feeding part of that item. 

Last year, I planted a bunch of Drumstick Allium in different spots around the garden .  Some in front, some on the side, some in back.  Timing-wise, these are the *latest* blooming Allium that we have now.  All of other varieties have come and gone.  But these?  They're in bloom RIGHT NOW - mid-July.   I'm sure what I expected, but these are really lovely looking flowers.  Small.  MUCH smaller than a globemaster or Purple Sensation.  And, really tall.  Like, a lollipop.  I'm talking 30" super thin stems with a golf-ball-sized bloom on the tip.  That SUPER THIN stem plus the golf-ball-sized bloom means that these things are swooping.  They don't stand up straight.  They're swoopers.  I kinda like them that way and it is something that I can keep playing with planting-wise.  They're VERY informal, so not what I normally see when I see alliums popping up. Below, you can see a few of them 'swooping' across the All Gold Japanese Forest grasses - mixed i

Last year, I planed my first three Toad Lilies.  Gilt Edge variety .   I didn't think much about them last year, but they seemed to do just fine.  Then... the dang rabbits started to eat them .  This year, they seem to have come back. Mostly.  There are three clumps of them.  Not all the same size.   First...the photo at the top shows one of those 'clumps'.  And some of that rabbit damage that is back this year.  Jerks. Below, you can see all three clumps - if you look hard.  Stretched out from top to bottom with the 'best clump' being at the top.  The second 'best' at the bottom.  And some small, emerging tips in the middle. Ground cover is one of the big needs in my garden and something that I'm pretty sure will be a key focus in 2023.  I'd like to buy more of these and plant them in different spots to fill in some gaps.  I'll need to protect them this Summer and Fall from the dang rabbits, but that should be doable with chicken wire.  

Back at the beginning of the month, I posted some details and photos of our front yard annual plantings including their inspiration from Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.  At the time, I planted (only) a series of Dusty Miller white annuals and talked about how I'd fill them out with a few other colors and flowers.  After doing a little bit of hemming and hawing, I decided to just see what struck me at the big box garden center.  I ended up coming home with purple and yellows.   Purple petunias.  24 of them.  And Yellow Zinnias.  18 of those.  I planted the purple petunias in between each pair of the Dusty Millers.  And planted the Zinnias in a row *behind* those - closer to the house/boxwoods.  Below, you can see what they look like right now, immediately after planting.   Here's a look at the yellow, flowering annual zinnias: And, here below, is the purple petunia: I'm hopeful that they'll fill-in and what I call 'get bushy'.  I'll monitor these across the bala