Why I Oughta...

Beginning in Spring 2022, I have talked about installing a second yard hydrant in our backyard featuring a self-rewinding hose reel.  I included it on my 2022 to-do list and failed to install the post and reel in 2022.   I carried that task over to our 2023 list and put it at #5:  install a second hose reel .  I had the hose reel for more than a year, so it was simply a matter of installing the post to hold the reel. This is the third of these reels that I have at the house - the first one is in the garage .  The second one is about half-way back attached to our fence .  This third one is planned for close to the spigot.  I have historically used a loose hose to water the patio containers.  I thought this upgrade would keep things a bit more tidy.   Ahead of digging the hole, I called J.U.L.I.E. and had them mark any underground utilities.  In the photo below, you can see the red line for electrical underground.  And the orange stake is where I wanted to dig the post.  All clear.  I c

The way that I think about gardening is that you have to have a systemic approach to planning and planting that is paired with a secondary, supplemental approach to zhuzh'ing things during the growing season.  That systemic approach means trees and shrubs and even perennials.  (I need to do more evergreen shrubs....just a self-reminder.) But that supplemental zhuzh'ing is something that I've mostly done through division and some bulbs.   I suppose that's the difference between a landscaper and a gardener, right?  A landscape gets it all planted and is satisfied.  A gardener will work the garden all year long.  A plantsman?  That's for another post. One of the things that I've talked about over the years is how to use annuals in the landscape.  The only place that I've successfully planted them is out front in the porch beds.  In the back?  Nothing. Last year, I included the idea of using shade annuals and dark foliage .  But, I really didn't move on it. 

Listed at number 3 on my 2023 to-do list , figuring out the newly configured front porch bed is a pretty significant planting priority for me, but one that I've done the least posting about in the garden diary.  That lack of posting on a 'plan' for the bed, doesn't mean that I haven't been busy working the bed already by moving some things around, adding some things and thinking a lot about what we want up there. The season started with some vertical mulching of biosolids to try to improve the soil overall - that was after some topdressing of biosolids last Fall around the hydrangeas.   Then, just recently, I did three things:  first... I dug-up and transplanted the Green Velvet Boxwood that was left orphaned once we planted the Triumph Elm tree.   I moved around three Karl Foerster Grasses (see below for placement) and then just this past week, I planted three bareroot Disneyland Roses in the bed where the old Norway Maple tree was situated.    The other thing t

Every gardener wants things in their garden that are unique.  Plants that their neighbors don't have.  Plants that you can't find at the big box store.  Epimedium is a plant that fits those three things.  I posted last week about the Orange Queen Epimedium that we brought home from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale .  And talked about how I bought another variety.  This post is about that *other* variety:  Spine Tingler Barrenwort.   At the sale, this spine-y foliage certainly caught my eye.  I knew these were going to find a home in my garden out back: Back in 2021, I came across Sandy Claws Epimedium at The Growing Place and talked about how I liked it .    This Spine Tingler variety sure looks A LOT like Sandy Claws, doesn't it? I planted the three plants right behind my existing Epimedium - Amber Queen - on the north side in the understory bed.   In the photo below, you can see the three new Spine Tinglers in back and the Amber Queen in front .   (note...we have some spr

Over the years, we have SLOWLY added to our Hellebores collection.  This year, at the Morton Arboretum Sale, I found a new (to me) variety and brought home two nursery pots and decided to add them to the small cluster of Hellebores that already exist in our backyard.  My journey with Lenten Roses or Hellebores starts with our plan that was developed in 2017.    I first started planning for these evergreen(ish) early bloomers in 2020 with this post showing that the plan calls for 10 Hellebores .   I bought our first one - Sally's Shell - in 2020 during a drive-thru visit (curing COVID) to The Growing Place .   Then, last year at the 2022 Morton Sale, we bought three more - Ivory Prince .  Those four all came back this Spring.  When I was at the sale this year, I saw these flowers (below) and read the sign that these were outward-facing blooms.  Lovely, right? They're named MERLIN Hellebores.  Here below, is the tag that came with these:  HGC Merlin - COSEH 810.   That "HGC&

This second post featuring a new (to me) plant (in this case...a hosta) from the Morton Arboretum 2023 Plant Sale:  An Island Breeze Hosta.  The sign from the sale is below - and this one came in at $16.95...which is more than I'd normally pay for a more-common hosta.  This one is unique and one of the kids liked it, so we bought just one.  My rule of buying more than one is easy to break with hostas - because I know that with a little bit of patience, I'll be able to divide them in a couple of growing seasons.   This is the child of the child of Fire Island Hosta.  According to Walters Garden, at least : First came ‘Fire Island’ which was followed by its variegated progeny ‘Paradise Island’. Now there is ‘Island Breeze’ which is the third member of this “tropical” family and a sport of ‘Paradise Island’. The improvements in this cultivar include more impressive variegation due to its wider margins, thicker leaf substance, and a strong growth rate. More impressive variegation,

Last week, we popped into the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale and picked up a few new (to us) perennials and some vegetables and herbs that I'll be posting over the coming days/weeks as I get each of them in the ground.  My plan is to plant as much as possible while the temps are low and before our mulch arrives.   The first plant in was bought as a solo container.  I know, I know.  That's a big gardening mistake that I actively try to avoid, but from time-to-time I buy a single - mostly with the kids.  This is one of those cases - as the KotBTs picked this one out and planted it in 'his garden' in the backyard.  I have a small colony of existing Epimedium - Amber Queen - that I planted on the north side bed under some trees.  Those, too, were brought home from the Morton Sale back in 2020 .  It is a slow-to-establish plant for me - and that's part of the reputation.  And, it spreads by rhizomes (which...I think I'm seeing my first new plant that p