We came, we saw, we bought... plants

My daughter and I took a trip to Hicksville, OH, to check out the plants at Strait Gate Greenhouses. Rumor has it that their prices are better than around here; see comments below. They had a LOT to choose from, too.

I have not been happy with the aster by the front walk, wanted to replace it with something. I considered a fancy redbud, but visually another tree does not fit there. Then I got hot 'n bothered to put a Rose of Sharon there ('Aphrodite' which does not reseed itself), but I think something yellow would work better. And voila - a 'Lemony Lace' elderberry came home with me.

Sambucus racemosa 'Lemony Lace' (cultivar SMNSRD4)

Some of you may remember that I planted one of these in front of the picture window back in 2017. It's a good plant, but it was a bad location. And most plants deserve a second chance. (I notice that the price on this specimen is less than the price of the one in 2017. Score!)

Some plants deserve a third chance, like the ninebark. Instead of trying to find the same variety, I went with two of these 'Ginger Wine' ones. The price is less than half of what I paid for the 'Amber Jubilee' they are replacing. Another score!

Physocarpus opulifolius 'Ginger Wine'

One plant that has had its second chance is a Canadian hemlock that has been replaced once. In its place will go this 'Fluffy' western arborvitae. I had planned to find another big gold mop like I had in the front yard, but I think this one will do nicely. I might have found it cheaper elsewhere.

Thuja plicata 'SMNTPGF' 

I keep trying to find something that will thrive on the trellis by the front porch, despite the lack of sun in that location. Against my better judgment, I selected this 'Happy Jack' purple clematis. We shall see. Another bargain.

Clematis 'Zojapur'

I have tried petunias and sweet potato vine in the hanging basket on the shed in the past, decided to try something different, like these portulacas. It's a tough location, on the north side of the building, but midsummer sun still reaches it. We'll see how well they do.

Portulaca grandiflora

Coleus for the planter on the front porch has been an annual success story, so why mess with what works. This is ChargedUp Campfire.

Coleus scutellarioides

I've seen lantana growing in containers here and there and admired it. Now I have one, 'Hot Blooded Red'.

Lantana camara 'Hot Blooded'

An impulse purchase was a trailing snapdragon, something I had never seen. I considered putting it in the flamingo planter, but decided I still want to try a tuberous begonia there. The snapdragon will summer on the deck instead.

Asarina procumbens

And that's all for now. My schedule this week is tight, but maybe I can get a few plants in the ground each day. Step by step, hole by hole, slow and steady, etc. If it weren't for gardening, how would we make it through the winter?

I frequently hear bird strikes against my windows but rarely find any dead birds in the yard. Sadly, a white crown sparrow met its demise last week. I thought the mallards in this pic were dead, but they were just keeping a low profile.

My daughter, son, and daughter-in-law all have birthdays this month. We will celebrate with birthday pie tomorrow. Rhubarb, of course.

Have a happy Mother's Day!

Plant fever

I was rather smug about my self-control over ordering plants from catalogs - just a few cup plants and a dozen common milkweed. But then I made in-person visits to two nurseries and came home with more than I intended. At one nursery, it was not crowded and I spent too much time wandering the aisles. At the other nursery, I felt rushed and grabbed plants without thinking. I'll list them all in a later post, as I'm a bit tired today from trying to get most of them planted.

Here is an example of an impulse purchase. I am not a fan of geraniums in general, BUT. Sometimes I find the intense color of their blossoms irresistable. This one caught my eye and followed me home.

And here is an example of what I planned to purchase: some coleus for the front porch planter. This is a "sun coleus" - the porch gets rather intense morning sun.

Last year I tried to grow ornamental sweet potato in hanging baskets with limited success. In fact, the success was limited to this planter on the north side of the shed. This year I decided to try "wave" petunias there instead. The vertical fish is a ceramic piece I made as a watering aid - water goes in the mouth and out some holes at the bottom.

And a few pix of some current blooms in the yard:

Columbine - up close and personal

Dame's rocket

I just read that there is a work day planned at a local preserve where they plan to eradicate dame's rocket. Of all the invasive plants to target, this one seems rather innocuous. Better to tackle ornamental pears and garlic mustard.

In the past few years, I have tried to grow perennials in containers, with some success. But I'm tired of having to water the containers and store the containers in the garage in the winter. And the plastic containers are starting to fall apart. Last summer I transplanted some penstemon, and it is doing quite well. Today I transplanted some catmint from one container into the coneflower bed where there was a bit of a gap. I also transplanted a miniature butterfly bush into the same bed where there was another gap. Interestingly, the root systems of these plants were not very developed. The remaining dirt in the pots went onto low spots in the lawn where water puddles after a rain.

I think I heard baby bird cheeps from the bluebird house today. While I have let all the other bird feeders run dry, I had planned to keep putting out mealworms for the bluebirds... until I saw that the sparrows are eating the mealworms. They don't usually do that, are probably gathering food for their young, but hey. Not allowed.

Yarden every darn day

That's been my motto lately, as I hustle to get all the plants I purchased installed in the yard. I'm not done yet, but getting there.

Sunday: planted bleeding heart and porch plants (coleus and black-eyed susan vine); cut back most of the daffodils; installed bluebird box; put zinnias on deck to harden off; set up latest addition to my flamingo collection.

Old-fashioned bleeding heart

Thunbergia 'Sunny Susy Amber Stripe' aka black-eyed Susan vine

Unknown coleus

Unknown coleus, leaf detail

Bluebird box installed (before baffle added)

It's a planter!

Monday: spotted the first catbird of the season; making clay toad houses and designing Beau-proof vases; purchased a cage for the "nesting" cylinder bird feeder to keep the starlings out (unfortunately, keeps the blue jays out as well); purchased a baffle for the bluebird nesting box.

Tuesday: lots of activity at the bluebird house (after I installed the baffle), but no takers so far; bird fight between two male bluebirds; cowbird at the birdbath; added the cage to the feeder with the "nesting" cylinder; after another inch of rain, the rain garden overflowed, which left standing water on the lawn and where I planted grass seed - it needs a berm at the north and northwest ends; mowed and trimmed.

Wednesday: planted the honeysuckle; hung the planters for the sweet potato vine (which involved a 2x4, hand tools and cable ties); sprayed for weeds; found an excuse to buy an Ego trimmer: the area behind the fence (where there is a lot of garlic mustard); I think a raccoon got into the robin nest behind the Japanese maple (found empty egg shell); replanted a brome sedge; positioned the metal heron and two flamingos by the "pond".

Thursday: saw a grackle at the feeders; SO helped me shore up the low end of the rain garden (I think I should have purchased top soil instead of garden soil); mowed because we are expecting days of rain; purchased an Ego trimmer.

Friday: planted catmint around trees in front yard and added some mulch (my aching back!); not much rain, until later - 0.5".

Saturday: finished planting catmint (in a pot); planted zinnias (in pots) - 'Cut and Come Again Mixed Colors'; top dressed containers with Black Kow; I think more of the rain garden needs a berm; pruned butterfly bushes.

Roots on zinnia seedlings

Zinnias, all in a row

I've been cutting back the flower stalks on the golden ragwort, as it is starting to go to seed. Lazy me just threw the stalks behind the blue star where they can decompose. Today, I noticed that all those flower heads turned to seed heads despite being removed from their mother plants. I hope that is not going to be a problem. I like the ragwort, but not *everywhere*.

Blue Star "hedge"

One aim of planting natives is to attract pollinators and their relatives, like this ladybug. Most insects won't stay still long enough for a decent photo, but this bug was very obliging.


Every time I plant a perennial, I think to myself, Hopefully, I won't have to do this again. My shoulders work great, but my back - not so much. I dream of the time when spring means adding a few annuals to the landscape, then enjoying the view from the deck, iced tea in hand.

Much better

Sean from Sanctuary Native Landscapes spent two hours touring my yard while we discussed what was there, what to get rid of, what to keep, etc. In a nutshell, we are simpatico. He confessed that one of his favorite things is eliminating invasives. Good-bye, trumpet vine and pokeweed and Canada thistle and mulberry! He also loves trees, the more the merrier. I'm eager to see what design he comes up with. Then we can start implementing it in phases.

The weather has improved, too, with lower temps and even some rain here and there. The summer perennials are fading, but the annuals and asters keep things colorful. And the coleus.

I'm not really shaped like that!

This county is still on a bird-feeding moratorium. About the only birds I see these days are goldfinch and hummingbirds. The latter will be heading south soon.

There is an interesting article by Margaret Roach in the New York Times about ecological horticulture and how fall planting works within that mode. At Brooklyn Bridge Park, they have eliminated almost all spring planting in favor of fall planting, which not only favors the plants, soil, and animals, but is also labor- and water-saving. I hope you are able to view those articles - I'm not sure if they are behind a paywall - because they are eye-opening.

Any colder and it would be snowing

Around here, Mother's Day seems to be designated as Visit Local Nurseries Day, but I wonder how many families are out in the cold, windy, rainy weather. Personally, I would opt for a cuddle on the couch and a good movie.

My SO and I stopped at Menards the other day. I've been on the lookout for a decent water fountain. The one I have is not well designed and dribbles. All I bought in the garden department was a package of coleus for the front porch. Last year's variety was HUGE, so I'm opting for something smaller this year: Wizard Scarlet. I still have the mother plant from last year, plus a couple of starts off that; they will go into pots.

This past week, the Lawnganics people treated the front lawn again. I don't know specifically what they use, but the dandelions are now drooping. I think the clover and wild strawberry will survive, though, which is what I was hoping for. The grass itself looks very healthy, but then it usually does in the spring. So far, I'm pleased. After edging and mulching the beds around the trees in the front yard, I'm thinking maybe I will outsource that labor as well.

Fit to be bit

I purchased a new Fitbit, the Charge 4, to replace the One. The new one has some fancy features, including the ability to determine what kind of activity one is engaged in. If I left the One on while mowing with my riding mower, it counted over a thousand steps. (I don't roll the lawn, so it is rather bumpy.) The Charge 4 counts that time as "outdoor bike riding". That is one slow bike ride!

Several years ago, I purchased an oriole feeder, and just this month set it up with some homemade nectar. Alas, either there are no orioles to lure or else it is too late for nectar. Orioles carb load with nectar while migrating, but during the rest of the season, prefer fruit and mealworms. For those two foods, I will need a different feeder. I'll contemplate that while I set up the hummingbird feeder I found in the back of a kitchen cupboard. I'm sure it was a gift, as it doesn't look like something I would pick out, but I have NO memory of how it came into my hands. Anyway, the hummingbirds should be making an appearance in a couple of weeks. I hung up the wren house and although I have heard wrens nearby, they are snubbing me this year.

Yesterday I did get the new coleus, Solenostemon scutellarioides, planted in the flower box on the front porch. It's been a while since I've purchased coleus at a nursery as I usually keep one as a mother plant for the following year's brood. Apparently, there are coleus varieties for SUN now. The ones I purchased are Proven Winners Colorblaze Golden Dreams, grow 24"-36" tall, in sun to shade. That should be perfect for the front porch, which gets hot sun in the morning, then shade the rest of the day.

The redbud trees and the purple sandcherry are fading while the chokeberry and the blackhaw viburnum are coming on strong, as are the bleeding heart and volunteer columbine. The smokebushes are slow to leaf out, hope they are okay. And the 'Betty Corning' clematis has already gotten away from me.

Not much to report... yet

Spring has sprung, but since I decided to downsize the yardening, my spring activities have been rather curtailed. Last night my SO and I did visit Home Depot and Lowe's, to check out big pots, but so far I have spent very little money on plants and such. That is a BIG difference from previous years.

I also did not start any plants inside, although I kept the seeds and may return to that activity in future years, depending on how the raised beds shake out. The one exception is rooting cuttings from my coleus mother plant. This variety is still my favorite, although I plan to add a yellow one this summer, to accent the purple smoke bush.

(The cuttings are in the dish drainer in the kitchen sink, to protect them from Beau the Feline Destroyer of All Things Nice. This was a lesson learned after finding a broken glass on the kitchen floor one morning.)

There has been some puttering in the yard, though. I am eliminating some plants that just never did well, moving other plants into the subsequent holes, edging this and that, etc. Nothing very exciting.

This afternoon, I decided to mow the yard, as it is looking rather scraggly with its spring growth. But alas, the mower would not start. After spending thousands of dollars on a zero-turn riding mower and hundreds of dollars having it serviced, it won't go. Very aggravating. It's stuff like this that pushes me toward just hiring someone to do the mowing.

Odds and ends

While I have been moving away from growing food, there are still a few food plants in my yard and garden. Despite my attack on the asparagus, it continues to produce, so I am enjoying that, tossed with a little olive oil and roasted in a hot oven for about ten minutes (the asparagus, not me). Then there is the rhubarb patch, which provides pie for me and mordant for dyeing yarn. And there are some pole beans, just about ready to bloom.

I keep contemplating eliminating the "orchard" but it is low on the priority list. The birds usually get the sweet cherries, but leave these North Star tart ones for me. Another pie producing plant. (Can you tell I like pie?)

Instead of dumping out the "mother plant" I use each year to create more coleus for the front porch, I pruned it up a bit and added it to the tableau.

Coleus are such a nice foliage plant and tolerant of shade that I decided to plant some under the purple-leaf smokebush. It is late in the season for purchasing annuals, so there wasn't much selection. 'Pineapple' was close enough. No pic yet.

The common milkweed in the yard is going to town. The neighbor's privet was providing an almost cloying aroma last week, now it is the milkweed, which fortunately is a tiny bit more subtle. I've seen a few random butterflies recently, but no monarchs.

The blossoms of this Hydrangea arborscens, a.k.a. smooth hydrangea, are not very showy. The plant also has a tendency to die back to the ground during the winter. My 'Limelight' takes a heavy pruning and keeps on producing, so I'm assuming once this baby is established, it will fulfill its potential.

And an early appearance by a coneflower.

I am STILL installing transplants, but the end is in sight. Last year I planted some butterfly weed next to the silvergrass; one clump survived, so I tried again, plus added some coneflower and rudbekia. I also put an ornamental fence around the grouping, in hopes of deterring the dogs. I've also been planting a variety of natives in raised beds, theoretically so they can get bigger and stronger before going in their final resting places; they just aren't quite ready to complete.

And I have been weeding, weeding, weeding. More rain is in the forecast, plus higher temps, so I am "making hay while the sun shines". Ooh! I just saw a monarch. Huzzah!

It's hard to keep up

It seems every time I turn around, something else is blooming or about to bloom. Spring feels compressed into less time - today it is in the 80's - so while everything is taking its turn, there seems to be a bit of shoving going on in the line.

The creeping phlox is not only creeping across and down the castle block, it is putting on a nice show. Each year, once the bloom is done, I prune it back a bit. This year I will do that but also let it continue moving down the front of that bed, so that it is draped over all the castle block. It doesn't seem interested in moving under the shrubs there; probably too shady.

I'm very pleased with the 'Perfect Purple' crabapple. It is only one year old but blooming like an old hand. It has two means of support; I'll remove the one along the trunk this year, the rest next year (per the nursery's recommendation).

The apple trees are blooming now. When I planted them, I was all gung ho on growing my own fruit. Almost immediately after, I lost interest. I'll leave them be for now - the apples are quite tasty - but I have a feeling their days are numbered.

I know I posted a pic of the old-fashioned bleeding heart before, but it just keeps getting better and better.

Non-blooming trees and shrubs are leafing out, too. This is the view out my dining room window, where the Japanese maple provides nice dappled shade. The variety is 'Bloodgood'.

For the record, I've started transplanting seedlings. The coleus is in the box on the front porch. To keep my indoor-outdoor cat from using this planter as a litter box, I laid pine cones on the surface. For some reason, cats don't like trying to dig around pine cones.

Today I also transplanted marigolds to the marigold/pole bean raised bed, and started the beans plants in paper cups. I purchased poke milkweed to go where the butterfly bush was, in the milkweed patch, and as soon as I am done here, they will go into the ground.

My ongoing problem (one of several, actually) with the dogs is they trample stuff. I finally decided they could not have the run of the yard, so have been setting up some fencing to limit their turf. To protect the bed on the south side of the house, I moved some fence panels from the removed movable fence. To eliminate their access to the raised beds and the hosta bed, I strung electric fence wire but haven't charged it yet; I'm waiting to see how the configuration works out for my convenience. So far, the dogs seem to understand that the flimsy wire fence is meant for them.

I thought the spice bush was a goner and intended to replace it. However, my source had a similar problem this past winter, so wasn't selling them yet. She showed me how to check the cambium layer for signs of life. I didn't need to, though, as the little stick of a thing is sending out a leaf. We'll see how it fares. The mountain mint might be recovering as well (see trampling dogs above). And the dill reseeded itself, sprouting only *after* I purchased more seed. Of course.

Snow more!

The previous snow melted away. Last night I thought we were supposed to get rain but replacement snow arrived instead. Fortunately, it is nearly gone, again. This weather is positively bipolar.

I first planted this coleus in 2012, in the flower box on the front porch. Since then, each fall I save a "mother plant" to winter over inside and be cloned for the following year's transplants. Unfortunately, I can't find the name of this variety in my blog. I think it is 'Velvet'.

I actually did some yardening yesterday, in a desperate attempt to fight off the late February blahs. All I did was cut down the clematis, slogging around in the mushy top half-inch of lawn. The dogs kept me company, which meant they both needed baths afterwards. Mud season - ugh!

I can't keep up

It has been almost a month since I last posted. Not a lot worth noting happens in the yard in August - bean picking, a bit of watering, mowing - but by September things are starting to fade, including me. Already I can feel myself shifting to indoor hobbies.

The rudbeckia is just about finished for the season.

The heads on the hydrangea are so HUGE this year, they droop.

'Limelight'

The Rose of Sharon is the last to bloom in the spring and one of the last to stop in the fall.

Hibiscus syriacus 'Aphrodite'

I was afraid I had inadvertently pulled up all the volunteer goldenrod, but some persists.

The marigolds are putting on a late show.

Zinnias are one flower you can depend on, all summer long.

'Red Scarlet'

The sunflowers are at various stages, from bloom to droop.

Despite the dogs rampaging through the south bed, some asters are still standing.

This sweet alyssum made a late showing, to provide a lovely contrast to the coleus.

Sedum is another dependable provider of fall color.

'Autumn Joy'

I added some anonymous hardy mums to the big pots. If I had realized how low they would sit, I would have left them in their pots.

The dahlias, planted as a source of dye, continue to pop out one or two blossoms at a time.

'Black Satin'

It's almost time for fall cleanup. It's also almost time for a post mortem, to rehash what went right and what went wrong this year. I'll wait a few months before starting to plan for next year, as that's a good mid-winter project.