State of the Garden

 It's the middle of May, and it's been a fairly chilly May so far. I have plants waiting to be planted out, including a tomato that I've potted up twice and is getting on to 2 feet tall! I guess I started too early.

Tall cherry tomato.

Fuzzy salvia (salvia argentea "Artemis") surrounded by zinnias.

  

I have already planted out some perennials I ordered and I have a few more still to come. I have not shopped for annuals yet, with one exception. I really wanted the Proven Winners Evolvulus "Blue My Mind", and when I found them at a nursery, I snatched two of them up immediately. But I was actually shopping for hanging baskets, to decorate the porch for Emma's wedding on May 9th. I could make room on my light-table for two more annuals, but not for all the things I'll need for pots and raised beds. Tonight it's supposed to dip back down into the 30s, but after that I think our nights will stay 40 or above. I'll likely take a trip to a nursery tomorrow. 

So, to the state of the garden. I only lost one wild petunia plant (Ruellia humilis) over winter. We had some extreme cold periods, but they all coincided with snow cover, so I think the insulation really helped. Everything else has returned.

The newish Dragon garden is beginning to fill in a bit. The mountain mint spread only a tiny bit because I controlled it some in the fall. The obedient plant (in its second spring) came up in a huge clump, which made me happy. I know I'll have to control it in the future, but there is space to fill. The heart-leaved asters have come back, but don't appear to have done any seeding, and I'm happy to see the veronicastrum has three flower stems. I was also pleased to see that the three hoary vervain plants that went in last fall have returned. This is the second planting, since the first didn't make it (I blame the turkeys). 

This is a funny view of the Dragon garden because of the camera angle. I extended the bed a bit, but this makes it look like I extended it a lot. It is really about 3 feet, and I did it to plant an addition I'm excited about --a dwarf gingko tree! It's called Gold Sprite and it's in a cloche to stop the dear from snacking on it.  There is a lilac tree you can see in the photo, but it never grows. I don't know what is wrong with it. I have a clematis planted to the left of it that I'm hoping will scramble up the lilac, but I only planted it last summer, so it'll need time to make some good roots. (The tall 4x4 pole is the mount for the weather station Rob got me for my birthday last summer.)

Gingko in the foreground.

In the photo below you can see why I call this the Dragon garden. You can also see that there is still a lot of empty space for things to seed and bulk up. If I can just stop the turkeys in the fall from digging things up.

 

This photo is looking from the other direction. At the bottom is a cranberry bush viburnum I just planted this spring, and you can see the large spread of the obedient plant in the upper third. Cloches abound because of rabbits, turkeys, and deer. 

Two years ago I started a bed on the south side of the house that is under three mature black walnut trees. The first thing I put in it was a hydrangea that was supposed to tolerate juglone. That was a dud. It didn't make it through the first year.

Weirdly I also planted a tiarella, even after reading they don't tolerate black walnuts (I was desperate for a spot because it was already failing where I'd originally planted it) and it did come back. Luckily there is more information about plants that will grow under black walnut trees now, but it's obviously not always correct. 

I've been trying to add more native plants to my gardens, so I've got some geranium macrorrhizum I planted bare root this spring, and some heuchera villosa "Autumn Bride". But I also have brunnera and hostas in there too. I'm just happy that these things will grow with the black walnut trees. I'd like to add some native bleeding heart and a few more carex albicans this spring.  

Other gardens are doing okay. At least they don't have fewer plants than they did in fall. In general I'm pretty pleased with the state of the garden this spring, especially in comparison to last spring.  

Container Review

 I've had some hits and misses this summer with containers. In some cases the plants have wildly outgrown their container, smothering the companion plants. But in other cases I've ended up with a nice combination.

First off, I have to remember NOT to buy lobelia. It needs sun to bloom well but hates the heat, and that just doesn't work in any places I have pots. It all looked beautiful for about a month, and then left holes in my pots.

In the pot off the mudroom porch I used two of the same plants as last summer: one blue salvia (one of the Rockin' series), and several white alyssum. Last year I had a small "optical" grass which just didn't do anything, but the alyssum did well and spilled out over the pot. This year I added some dichondra silver falls. I don't actually like it much, and it out-competed the alyssum. 

The biggest problem, though, is how brittle the salvia is --I've never had this issue with the salvia before, but heavy rain was enough to break off multiple branches, leaving the plant looking pretty bad. I like this plant because it brings the hummingbirds close to where we sit, so next year I'll have to grow it up through some support so it won't break so easily.

The large pot on the south side of the driveway is one where the "thriller" totally smothered the other plants. I chose one of the newer cleome, and it just became a monster :-) I pruned off side branches to try to give the other plants some light, and then a strong wind sent the cleome into a lean it never recovered from.

My favorite plant in the pot is the Blue My Mind evolvulus, but I kept having to rescue it from the cleome. Next year I'm going to plant that in a smaller pot by itself.

The big pot on the north side of the driveway is also not well balanced, but it's not as bad. As usual, the pot looked too empty when I first planted it up, so I put in more red salvia than I should have. I tip-pruned the flowers, and then it sat there for weeks, growing into a shrub before it finally budded and flowered again. Now it's huge. But it's pretty, with the white Diamond Frost euphorbia. A pretty coral red calibrochoa in the front was smothered, and just isn't very floriferous. I also have a blue angelonia, which has survived but isn't very noticeable. I shouldn't have bothered with it. This is what it looked like at the end of June:

And here's what it looks like in the middle of September:

This next pot is in full sun, and has a jasminoides that I found at one of the nurseries. I put a small trellis in the pot for it to climb, and added blue lobelia around it. It was so very happy that it quickly outgrew the trellis. I starting taking the ends and winding it around itself. Then the lobelia was taken out by the heat. Later I added in some creeping jenny from where I have it growing in a flower bed to fill in the hole. 

Once Rob got this pergola set up, I moved the pot into a corner of it. Unfortunately, it can't seem to grab on to the larger support legs, so I've had to clip it up. If I can find this again, I'll grow it up the pergola, putting string up if I need to. It has a very pretty white flower, and it's very vigorous. The bumblebees seem to like the flowers. 

In growing this next year, I might put a petunia in the pot, to get some color contrast. The original dark blue lobelia was gorgeous with it, but the creeping jenny is basically the same color as the jasmine, so you can't really see it.  

There are some additional smaller pots that have done well. This one, close to the maple tree trunk, is in quite deep shade. The impatiens are not blooming much, but both the coleus and the caladium have done really well.

I have a pot that gets a few hours of morning sun, and then is in shade by about 11 am, and this year I tried begonias and a coleus. I stuck an extra sunflower I'd grown in the back. Then at some point after a heavy rain, I realized the pot was not draining --it had about an inch of standing water on top of the soil! I tilted it to drain the water, and then managed to unstop the drainage hole in the bottom somewhat. It stayed really wet, though, for a long time. The sunflower died quickly from drowning, and the coleus has never looked quite right. The begonias seemed to thrive with the excess water, though. 
 

One more that has been fantastic because of one plant is another full sun pot. It's dominated by the cuphia, which is such a hummingbird magnet! I'll definitely be looking for this plant again. This photo isn't the best because of the bright sun, but those little orange flowers seem to have an infinite amount of nectar. (There is another small bowl shaped pot next to it with a pelargonium and petunia, which has also been very pretty.)

So, for next year I need to remember to check the pot that has drainage issues, and stop overcrowding my bigger pots :-) I also need to buy four more square pots that will go in each corner of the pergola. I'm hoping I can find some January sales.

 

 

July Check-In

It's hard to remember, in winter, just how full the gardens get over the summer. It's truly amazing how fast plants grow.

This summer has had a decent amount of rain, and we've moved from moderate drought to abnormally dry. Supplemented with a (new) good sprinkler, everything is doing a lot better than last year.  

I'm especially pleased with the NW corner garden off the mudroom porch --I'm closest to having only green mulch in that garden. It's smallish, and many of the plants are at least three years in. The lack of earwigs in the early spring (probably because the soil temperatures stayed low) helped seedlings get established earlier too, and gave me a very nice display from the Hudson Blue clematis in this bed. This is its fourth year, and the first year I've had a decent number of pretty blossoms. It's continuing to set buds even now.

I also had some sparkler and drumstick alliums reappear (from seeds from the originals, I assume), and they've added a nice bit of whimsy. I put the  phlox in last fall, and it seems pretty happy. I love the way the blossoms are variations of pink and white. We've just started oriental lily season, and the scent off the porch is wonderful.

The garden around the old woodshed is filling in nicely as well. I started it two years ago with two purple coneflowers on either side of the door. Last year I added spotted bee balm, and it really took off. I'm purposely adding natives in here, because any watering has to be done with a watering can. I'm going to move some of the bearded irises to a different area, and sprinkle some gray-head coneflower seeds here this fall.
 

 

I really love this spotted bee balm (apparently another common name is horsemint). The pollinators just love it, and it attracts so many different kinds of bees, wasps, and butterflies. 

Visiting a Stunning Garden

This week Rob and I drove out to Northwind Perennial Farm, outside of Burlington WI. It's about a 45 minute drive for us, but well worth it.

I'd heard of Northwind through Erin@The Impatient Gardner. I love her garden style and videos, and she gardens in a similar zone, up in Port Washington, WI, just north of Milwaukee. Erin has worked with the garden designer of Northwinds, Roy Diblik, to design a wonderful woodland garden at her home. 

The gardens at Northwind are a combination of woodland and prairie, which is very similar to our property.

 

Best of all, though --they had an entire garden designed under black walnut trees. I have struggled with what to grow under our beautiful black walnuts, so it was really nice to see plants that were thriving in that environment. There is a lot more information about juglone-tolerant plants now than when I started gardening here 25 years ago, which is great. But I still worry about investing in plants in that area, so this was so nice to walk around in, and make some notes. 

And of course I came home with some walnut-tolerant plants to try out :-) It will be fun to make a trip next spring, and see what the gardens look like in that season.

 

Misses

I lost quite a few plants this winter. Lots of people in the area did, apparently --two extended cold periods without any snow, and we went into winter in a drought. Even though it has rained this spring, we are still in a "moderate drought" according to the US Drought Monitor.

Plants lost:

Chamaecyparis "Soft Serve". This was just a quart size when I planted it in Spring 2024, but it grew and looked good through the summer. But I think I just have to give up on evergreens in the areas where I garden --we are very much on the prairie and cold weather comes with strong NW winds. Now I realize that there are sprays you can use, and I should have wrapped it in burlap. But as expensive as evergreen pieces are, I likely won't try again.

Stonecrop Sedum "Blue Spruce". I can't even believe I lost a sedum in a hot sunny location that I was watering, but it just disappeared by the end of the summer.

Hoary Vervain. I love this prairie plant, and planted six 3" pots. Not one of them survived. I will try again with this because I like it so much. 

Canadian Anemone. I planted two of these, bare root, and I've never had much luck with bare root plants. They never showed up this spring. 

Little Bluestem. I planted 3 3" pots in an area near a silver maple. I struggle to grow things here, and I'm hoping that the deep roots might help them compete with the shallow maple roots. One of them didn't return, the other two are tiny, but alive. 

I guess I'm lucky in that everything I lost was something I planted last summer. I didn't lose any established plants. Hopefully the ones that returned from last summer's planting will be established enough to deal with a harsh winter now.

Sunflower Experience, 2025

I ordered three types of sunflower seeds last winter. 

First is Valentine. This is pale yellow, 3-4" blossoms, up to 5 feet tall. 

Second is Holiday. This was supposed to be more traditional in color, although the flower size is still only 3-5", 5-6' tall.

The third is Autumn Beauty. This one has the darker flower, up to 8" across, and can get over 8' tall. 

I started seeds of all three indoors, earlier than I should have. I up-potted them in late April/early May, but it was so cool this spring that I didn't get them in the ground soon enough. 

I have also started all three from seed in a raised bed, in late May.

The shortest variety, Valentine, transplanted just fine. I don't particularly like them, though. You can't see the flowers all that well because of how thick the stems are. Definitely for cut flowers, which I don't really do. I don't think this one has pollen either, another reason I wouldn't plant it again. (Note to self: read descriptions more carefully!)

The middle one, Holiday, does not appear to have transplanted all that well. The flower at the top is very small. It is developing branches down the stalk, but those flowers will likely be even smaller. 

The tall one, Autumn Beauty, also does not appear to have transplanted well. The flower at the top is small. It is developing branches down the stalk, but those flowers will likely be even smaller. 

The flowers I planted in the raised bed are much more vigorous. So obviously transplanting sunflowers is not a great idea. Which is unfortunate, because last year none of my direct seeding worked --between chipmunks and earwigs, I didn't have a single sunflower plant. I did buy some wire cloches last year, for other plants, so maybe next summer I can try to protect the seedlings that way, at least from the chipmunks.

I'll likely come back and edit this post with more information about the flowers after the direct-seeded plants bloom.

 

Lots of Color

The area is getting lots of color now, from tulips, daffodils, redbud trees, fruit trees, etc. It got a bit too warm for a couple of days, but now we have a stretch in the 60s again, so the spring flowers will have a few more days before wilting from heat.

 

Spring has been slow this year, but the plus side to that slow warm up is that blooms on trees and shrubs never got set back by a frost or freeze. We only have a redbud tree, but in the general area I've seen flowering almond, rhododendron, and lots of flowering fruit trees, and they are all really full of flowers.

My favorite daffodils are always the ones with the dark center cup. 

 

The bicolor tulips in front here were added a few years ago, and only have blooms every so often. The tulips in the background are darwin hybrids. They started out as a bulb mix with red, pink, and white. Now, almost 20 years later, they've reverted to mostly yellow, but they are still a cheerful sight.

 

Spring Ephemerals

 We have a few spring flowers showing now. I think everything is going to bloom at once this spring, because of the cooler temperatures holding the earliest flowers back.

 

 

This is my first year with some iris reticulata, and it certainly is a beautiful vibrant purple. 

Snowdrops are finishing. I have some new crocus that still haven't bloomed yet, although the older crocus I have has come and gone already. Scilla and glory-of-the-snow are looking gorgeous right now. Daffodils are showing buds, but only a few are showing yellow yet, and only one flower of my earliest type has bloomed. Bluebells have buds. 

I can see the beginnings of the bleeding hearts, and the species tulips all have leaves up, but no buds yet. 

I have definitely lost some things this winter as well. The garden that the turkeys kept digging up has several dead plants. I planted my first hydrangea last summer, which is supposed to be okay growing with black walnut, and I don't see any budding on it yet. On the plus side, the Sweet William is coming back in both areas where I planted it, and I'm hoping it will take over in those places!

Also, I had to chase my first stupid rabbit out of the garden this morning. So far no obvious damage though.

Spring is getting here :-)

Yesterday I picked up my first load of mulch, along with some mushroom compost and potting soil.

I put the bags of mulch in an area that was the remains of a raised bed that I raked out but never got mulched last fall. It's going to be nice weather the rest of this week, so I'll open and spread them soon. The potting soil is for potting up the annuals I'm growing from seed. I've started some early, so they'll be farther along when they go in the ground, but I'll need to pot them up once before that.

Our soil temps are still pretty low, and not much is even poking up yet. That is likely because of the second blast of polar air we had in February, but it is going to be warmer than average this week so perhaps spring bulbs will start showing tips soon. 

My white hellebore had opening buds in December, but they were killed by the cold temps in January and February. I cut back the old foliage and dead flower buds today, but I don't know if it'll put out any new buds. The pink hellebore has something coming up, but I don't know if it'll be flowers or just leaves (like last year). 

Seedlings of four different salvias and pentas are coming along. This week I'm going to seed zinnias and sunflowers.

 

Returning Light

When I woke up this morning at 7 am, it was completely light out! Such a relief! And hopefully this past week is the last polar lobe we'll have to go through.

The world is in a dark time, but there are still joyful parts, and maybe it's more important now than ever to embrace them.

I've started some seeds: salvia and pentas. The red Summer Jewels sprang right up and already have a set of true leaves. The various blue salvias are proving to be very slow germinaters in comparison, but there are some coming up. 

Pentas are so funny --I have never in my life seen a tinier seedling. They are just microscopic for quite a while. I'm actually leaving them on the heating pad to see if they will grow a bit faster in warm soil. Last year they had hardly any growth by the time I had to get them in the garden.

I've started all of these a bit earlier than in past years, and I'm hoping to pinch and pot up at least the salvias in order to get blooms sooner. Last year's blue salvia didn't start blooming until September. 

I have zinnias, sunflowers, and tomatoes to start in March. Last spring the chipmunks ate all the sunflowers I seeded outside, so this year I'm starting them inside, and then caging them outside until the critters find them unappealing. 

Rob is slowly regaining some strength, and his PSA is holding steady at under one. For now, the hormone treatment is doing its job, and we go in to check numbers every three months.

The Dark Season

 

Today we disconnected, emptied, and put away the hoses. We collected the various garden art and secured it in the shed, and put Rob's gravity lounger in the garage.

Yesterday we were both quite depressed, and spent some time talking about how it feels to be surrounded by people who actively want to vote for someone so dumb and mean-spirited. 

But Rob's stage 4 cancer diagnosis this past spring put life in a different perspective for me. We've made it through 6 cycles of chemo, and are just beginning to move toward a more normal life again. The doctor's prognosis hasn't changed from the beginning: 3 to 12 years. Even though his blood work looks good, they simply can't predict how the remaining cancer cells will evolve. 

You are alive until you die, and I want to make sure we take advantage of that time doing the things he wants to do. Physically, it's a new and different normal for him, and sometimes he gets depressed about this. But I think the more we can be out in nature, exploring, the more he will be able to put the cancer in the background to enjoy his time. 

So we'll snuggle in for the dark season and celebrate the holidays, and then look forward to a new growing season and new places to enjoy.

Last of the Bulbs 2024

The Brecks bulb order arrived a few days ago. Some for me, and some for Emma's garden.

Today I put the crocus in a semicircle around the pink monarda in the third raised bed. I did use cayenne pepper when I planted these, since they are shallow (3") and small.

The honey lily turns out to get 3 to 4 feet tall, so that went in the back of the NW triangle garden.

Then I took a break :-) But the weather was so nice, I went back out. I dug up the great daffodils from the abandoned garden where Emma had marked them for me, and put most of them along the curve of the northeast garden, with a few extras near the entrance walk to the porch. 

Then I had two sets of daffodils from the Breck's order. 

The Original Poet's Daffodil (5 bulbs) went in front of the big pot by the mudroom porch. These are white with orange tipped cups.

The Golden Dawn daffodils I dug into the dragon head garden, around some other perennials that should help to hide the foliage after they bloom. They're near the carex, the plant with the very soft whitish foliage (whose name escapes me at the moment), and the dianthus. These are the same that I have already in the NW triangle bed with multiple flowers per stem.

Planting Bulbs and More

 

I got a set of bulbs from Longfield Gardens: 5 of an orange and dark red Asian lily, 5 of a white allium (Mt. Everest), 6 of the Purple Sensation allium, and about 25 of the little iris. 

I planted one white and three purple alliums to the left of the big pot off the mudroom porch. That is the location where I removed the extremely tall pink and white Asian lilies. Before I planted the bulbs, I added a bunch of compost, and moved the short garden phlox to the area. Then the alliums went in behind it. 

I put the Asian lilies in the NW area around the dragon head. So behind the hoary vervain there, and left of the clematis. I did slice and dig up one of the species tulip bulbs in that area unfortunately, but those are mostly farther to the left. 

I scattered the remaining allium bulbs in the dragon head bed, around other perennials that will hide the foliage of the allium as it dies back. Then the last set of bulbs, the little iris, went around the base of the clethra, where we'll be able to see them from the kitchen window in early spring.

The photo at the top is of the dragon bed, with all the pavers and bird scare tape trying to stop the wild turkeys. I added more scary tape today because it does seem to make a difference, even if it looks ridiculous. (Rob is in the background, cleaning his bike.)

Turkeys, Grrr.

 

The wild turkeys have spent a lot of time digging up the young plants I put in. It has been incredibly frustrating. I have covered most of the ground around the plants with pavers and boards, and finally put up bird-scare ribbon. I actually don't know if the ribbon is working because I haven't seen any turkeys in the yard since I put it up. Replanting and raking out all the mulch was getting very tiring. 

My order of agastache was canceled, along with one of the two groundcover sedums. I did receive one of the groundcover sedums, although I haven't put it in the ground yet. I'm still waiting on Tyler to finish the decking --I really am beginning to wonder if he's going to do the job. 

I did move some of the solidago fireworks from the east bed to the area in front of the hollyhocks and prairie dropseed grass. I also added one to the dragon bed, along the back. 

I am really looking forward to seeing this new bed next summer.

We also had a fiery skipper in the yard for the first time (unfortunately being killed by an ambush bug) --I think they're more common south of here. That's the photo above.

More Planting

With some additional rain in the forecast for today, I needed to get the 10 plants I had on hand in the ground yesterday. It was a nice cool morning for it, but the digging was really hard! Most of these plants went into the outer edge of the Dragon bed, where I pulled up landscaping fabric this spring. The dirt here is still so awful! I added quite a bit of compost with each plant.

Because I double-ordered hoary vervain, I put these two plants in the area behind the dragon head where I had removed some of the Baby Joe pye weed. That was easy digging, because I'd dug it up previously, and it has been mulched for several years. 

All the rest was like digging in dry cement, even after that 3/4" of rain. I actually dragged the hose around and watered the holes I dug for everything else, before putting the compost down and the plants in.

Behind and to the west of the baptisia, I put in the two amsonia plants. Behind and to the east of the baptisia I added the two obedient plants. 

The two heart-leaved asters went a few feet east of the armillary compass. 

Finally, after resting, I got the black cohash and goat's beard planted to the west of the hydrangea.

It has rained all day today, but it's only added up to 1/2". The next few days are sunny again, so I'll have to run the soaker hoses in a day or so. And I do still have Blue Fortune agastache, and two groundcover sedums arriving in mid-October. Plus the bulbs :-)

 

Adding and Editing

Apparently I ordered a lot of plants over the last two months 😆

It has been miserably hot and dry over the last weeks and months. It finally rained last night, and we got just under 3/4 inches. It's enough so that I won't need to water today, but I will again tomorrow.

During the cooler mornings of the past week, I did a lot planting and watering.  

1. Spotted bee balm and blue sage went into the SE corner of the wood shed, with the iris and lambs ear. 
2. Baby Joe pyeweed was transplanted from the back of the dragon head to just behind the dianthus. I left some behind the dragon head, but it doesn't seem happy in that spot --buds don't really bloom. There is red monarda back there which I'm sure will colonize the area.
3. Three aromatic asters and three hoary vervain were planted around the armillary compass, alternately. The vervain is more upright, and blooms in summer. Asters tend to be more airy, and bloom in fall. I'm hoping the combination will work well.

Yesterday I received two black cohash, three obedient plant, and three heart-leaved aster. The black cohash will go near the hydrangea, as they are woodland plants, with tall flower spikes. The aster and obedient plant need more sun, and will be added to the dragon head bed.

Early Fall Editing

This coming week, Tyler is going to redo the deck walk and landing pad to and around the water spigot on the SW corner of the house. I've been working on some stuff in order to get plants out of his way, and just doing some normal fall editing.

This morning was a great morning in the garden. We're in one of our more and more common "flash droughts", so many mornings are cool and not humid, and the mosquitoes have disappeared for now. While I get tired of the watering, I'm grateful for the lack of mosquitoes.

I needed to move some Autumn Joy sedum so it won't get stomped on during the decking project. So I put the hose there on a dribble in order to soften the ground. It was two nice clumps, which would have needed separating soon anyway, so win-win. They are now in pots with some compost to keep till I can replant them in the same area. 

I also have some oriental lily bulbs in that west bed, in front of the prairie dropseed grass and hollyhock. I dug out the shorter ones (again, after soaking the ground). They're so dang deep, it's hard to do with a trowel. These are the yellow set. I removed the oregano in the raised bed, added some compost and planted the bulbs in that location.

I also removed the purple coneflower from the northernmost raised bed, since we've agreed that it would be nice for that bed to have only shorter plants so we can see to the other two beds. I got that transplanted to the back of the dragon bed, where the soil was literally as hard as cement from the lack of water. I do use a soaker hose in that bed, but it goes just along the current plants, so other areas are dry, dry, dry!

I dug out the rest of the iris around the AC unit. Some of them I've put in a pot with some moist compost so I can replant them when Tyler is finished. A few others I've planted around where the mock orange shrub roots are. I used roundup in that area earlier to try to kill back the tree seedlings and the remaining mock orange. It seems to be working, but we still can't mow there because of the stumps. I figure maybe I can just make that an iris bed --it gets more sun since that limb was removed from the silver maple, and the soil is very sandy, so well-drained. Rob has talked about burning out those stumps, and if he gets to that it's fine, but if not then we'll have some iris there.

I still need to cut back the aster that's by the southernmost raised bed before Tyler starts, and I'd like to cut back the dead branches in the mock orange area.

Elderberry Plants

I had received the three elderberry plants from Prairie Moon Nursery (in 3" pots) a few days ago, and today I got them in the ground. They are planted along the chain-link fenced dog run that we use as storage. I caged them so the rabbits won't eat them.

This area gets morning sun, and the soil seemed really nice. There is also a seed stalk from the hollyhock plant that I'm hoping will give me some flowers in a year or so, as the shrubs grow. I also bought wild cucumber seeds to plant there this fall, and if they work they'll climb the fence. I may try some morning glory next spring too. I still need to mulch and fertilize tomorrow, but I ran out of steam this evening.

I also finally got the floppy brown-eyed Susan out of the ground. I soaked the ground and then was able to do it with just a trowel. It's so nice to have that done. I think I'm going to fill that space with a few new sedums (there is already an Autumn Joy there), and then add some groundcover sedums as well. It's a very hot spot with so much afternoon sun. There is prairie dropseed grass and the hollyhock behind, closer to the house. I need to improve the soil and put a layer of mulch on it for winter. 

I brought the fern in for the season --it's getting down to 48 tonight, and we have some predicted low 40s coming up. 

I also did some watering and fertilizing. There is more to do tomorrow.

Picked a beet!

I picked a beet today! Given how neglected they've been, I'm surprised to even get one. The nasturtiums have really taken over the Vego bed, and they look so pretty I don't want to pull them to plant beets. I think next spring I will plant beets around the edges of the raised beds. I need to try to work in some compost this fall, so they are ready. 

I also picked one of the poblano peppers yesterday, for Rob to use in his stuffed potato meal. I ate a bit of it, and it tasted good. I have 5 or 6 that look good right now. I'd really like to make stuffed peppers with them.

I'm still needing to water. We've only gotten 1" of rain in August so far. I really under-watered the hydrangea, but I think I've corrected that now. We've also had some nights down to 50F, and the Purple tomato fruits are looking weirdly blotchy. It's going to warm up again this weekend, and I'm hoping more tomatoes will ripen. Over all we've had a really cool August. It's been delightful weather.

I moved the hostas from the north bed and placed them at the base of the clethra. I hope they'll be okay there --they will definitely get some afternoon sun. But I suppose if they start to burn, I can move them again. 

I received and planted the blue baptisia (false indigo), fairly close to the dragon's head. And the new pink clematis came back! I'm very happy about that. I'll need to protect both clematis from earwigs in the spring, and give them more fertilizer. Actually, I think I need to give everything more fertilizer.

Early August Tasks (Very Dry)

 No photos today, just a note for some things I was doing on this day.

While we had a lot of rain in June, and early July had enough, since the middle of July it's been very dry. There have been isolated storms, but they've missed us.

I've been using the soaker hoses where I have them, but there are always places I don't.

So today I watered the hosta and geranium that I transferred to the East bed. The hosta are doing well, but the geranium has been fairly eaten. But it's a hardy plant, so I'm hoping it will rebound now that the earwig population should decline. 

I watered the few beets that germinated, with the nasturtium in the Vego garden.

I also watered the hydrangea and sweet William under the black walnut. I transferred a heucherella there a month ago because it was being so eaten, but it's being eaten just as much in this new location. I sprinkled some of the Captain Jack's Slug & Bug killer around those plants. 

That stuff seems to be helping where I've used it, and hopefully it is cutting down on the population that will start breeding this fall.

The pot with blue salvia and white allysum next to the mudroom porch is just spectacular right now. I've been giving some Miracle Grow flower boost fertilizer to the pots, and they appear to be responding.

I also did some deadheading --the very pretty and loose pink alliums had finished, so I cut those back. I removed a few more spent daylily stems as well and I harvested a few more tomatoes.

Then I made up some Round-up to take care of the crop of young dandelions that were coming up all over in the mulch. I really need to get the bench area thoroughly mulched next spring.