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!

Desperate times

I have reached the end of my rope regarding the front yard and have called a landscape designer to help me out. He will be here Thursday. I won't be doing the tear out or installation, and I may even turn over the maintenance to them. This decision has brought me a great sense of relief.

Meanwhile, I am identifying what I like and don't like.

• I like the cotoneaster but it needs pruning
• The mugo and elderberry need to go
• I want to keep the gold mop even though it is blocking a walkway. What grows under it - barberry, firebush, POISON IVY - can all go
• I'm meh about the boxwood
• The pampas grass can stay or go
• I love the smoke bush, but wish it were not so close to the house
• Can the rhododendron be rescued?
• No more yucca or false indigo. Both are out of control.
• Open to suggestions for the bed along the front walk
• Eliminate the northern sea oats PLEASE

What was the final straw? I am having the windows replaced in my house. Needless to say, there are plants of one sort or another growing under almost all the windows. The mugo growing in front of the picture window on the east side is the most problematic. My SO and I tried to hack out a path for the installers, but it is still barely passable AND now there is a big hole in the landscaping.

If that were not enough, our pathbreaking behind the mugo revealed some house damage. The picture window resides in a "bumpout" that resembles the bumpouts one sees on some RVs. The house looks less flat-faced with it, but it has been problematic, moreso now.


Repairing this damage will become part of the window replacement project. At one point, I was going to skip replacing the picture window, but now I am glad I included it.

I was hoping once it stopped raining so much, the flopping plants would right themselves a bit, but no. The natives along the fence are so floppy that it is difficult to get the mower through that area. I'm wondering if one problem is I (optimistically) planted them all too close together.


This morning, before the heat drove me inside, I propped most of this mess up with some hardware cloth supported with rebar so I can at least mow along there. This is a perfect example of how things go in my yard. I plant something, it looks like it is going to work, but then my vision eludes me.

August is being August - hot and humid this week, with scattered rain. Before the heat moved in, I managed to clean out most of one raised bed, where I hope to transplant the coneflower and penstemon. The bird feeding ban has been lifted in most of the state, but not this county.

Just can't resist

I haven't been posting many photos of my yard and garden this year, but sometimes one just can't help oneself.

Last summer, my SO and I attempted to shape the purple leaf smokebush. It doesn't get quite enough sun, so looks rather rangy late in the season. Our efforts paid off. This baby looks almost perfect. We will have to keep up the good work.

The Golden Spirit smokebush isn't smoking much yet, but it looks wonderfully lush. It is in a sunnier location than its cousin, so hopefully will not get so gangly.

I know I have already posted a pic of the Lemony Lace elderberry, but I just can't get over how great it looks this year. It's framed by mugo pine and cotoneaster. Some of my neighbors are probably shaking their heads, imagining my shrubbery as the perfect place for a creep to hide. Quite frankly, if someone manages to get into this shrubbery, I doubt he will be able to get out without a lot of thrashing around.

I forgot I had tucked a couple of extra black hollyhock plants next to the climbing rose. One is languishing - not enough sun - the other surprised me with these blooms, earlier than the ones in the garden proper. The rose is not very prolific this year, probably due to that harsh winter we had.

I'm still struggling a bit with my hip. My GP sent me to an osteo surgeon who had only one solution to offer: replacement. Talk about a one-trick pony! Most days I can walk without much pain, so I'm holding off. I'm following Pete Egoscue's skeletal alignment exercises and self-administering trigger point therapy, practicing some yoga poses and physical therapy exercises I've picked up over the years. So far, so good, although there are days when I wonder if I'm being too stubborn.

Yaller

I have never let my rhubarb go to seed, as I was under the suspicion that one should not let one's rhubarb go to seed. This year with the rain and all, I just didn't pay attention to it. So this is what rhubarb looks like when it is allowed to fulfill its genetic destiny:

That is one thing that is going on in the backyard. In the front of the house, the Lemony Lace Elderberry is going to town. Over the winter, it looked dead, dead, dead, with only a few sad looking branches. Once spring (and spring rains) hit, it took off, now overwhelming the mugo pine.

I was recently diagnosed with severe arthritis in one hip, which explains the pain there. I'm talking a prescription strength NSAID now, and wow, do I feel better! I didn't realize how much all over discomfort I was living with until it was gone. Yesterday I went to town with the trimmer, and today my biceps hurt. But it's a good kind of hurt, from labor, not from age. The yardening seems less daunting now.

I turned my back for a few days

This past Saturday was spent mostly doing housework, Sunday was Mother's Day so family came over (hence the reason for the housecleaning), and Monday it poured, so my SO and I left town. Today I was surprised to find *more* flowering going on in the yard. (Please excuse all the weeds!)

Volunteer Canadian columbine are popping up all over the place

Prunifolium viburnum, a.k.a. Blackhaw

Aronia melanocarpa, a.k.a. Chokeberry

Chokeberry, up close

Prairie Fire crabapple, year ONE

Finding blossoms on the stick-like Prairie Fire crab was a delightful surprise. Not all color is from flowers, though. Two shrubs I planted last summer are fulfilling their promise of providing contrast to my mostly-purple-leafed front yard.

Lemony Lace elderberry

Golden Spirit smokebush

Not everything is doing well, though. It looks like the climbing rose bit the dust. Periodically, I would contemplate removing it, only to have it put on a great show. After deciding I would keep it, I planted shasta daisies in front of it for contrast. Now it is dead. At least the hosta bed survived the dog trampling, as has one coral bells plant; the other is questionable, as is the mountain mint.

Palace Purple heuchera

Hosta bed

Big hostas have big impact, but my favorite is this small-leafed Golden Tiara (at least I think that is the variety). The bed also has some volunteer columbine and violets (and dandelion, which I cropped out of the pic).

Golden Tiara hosta

I hope your yard and garden are just as full of surprises!

New kids in the yard

They say the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. I don't let that stop me, especially since removing all the silver maples left my property rather lacking in shade. The newest tree is the Perfect Purple flowering crabapple.

Malus 'Perfect Purple' in situ

The leaves of this beauty remain purple throughout spring and summer, which I why I picked it, then turn red in the fall. The spring flowers are rose, the fruit a deep purple. It should grow to be 20' x 20'.

Malus 'Perfect Purple' leaves

I'm past the point of digging holes for trees, so I had Arbor Farms plant it, but my SO and I were able to handle two new shrubs.

Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot' GOLDEN SPIRIT

After visiting some friends who own a wholesale nursery, I came home with a Golden Spirit smokebush/smoketree. (Tomato, tomahto.) I spotted this plant while on the Garden Bloggers Fling last summer and decided I had to have one, to go with the purple one I already have.

Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot' in situ

I have six purple plants in my front yard - in the photo above you can see (from left to right) the Crimson King maple, a Japanese maple, and a sandcherry - and want some significant yellows/golds for contrast. Right now the smokebush looks like a light is shining on it from above. I'm anxious to see how it looks when it "smokes".

Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot' birds eye view

Smokebushes can get rather large - up to 15' tall and 15' wide'. I planted its purple cousin too close to the house and now that the King Crimson is big enough to cast some shade, it gets leggy from not quite enough light. I gave this yellow one plenty of room and a sunny spot so it will continue to shine.

Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot' up close and personal

Arbor Farms sent me a coupon for $45, which happened to be what a Lemony Lace elderberry cost. I was going to plant it next to the front porch, at it tolerates shade, but I was afraid too much shade would cause its lemon color to turn to green. Instead, the plant is nestled between the mugo pine and cotoneaster, in front of the picture window.

Sambucus racemosa 'SMNSRD4' in situ

I've avoided elderberry in the past because it usually requires wet feet and can spread. This one needs regular watering but is adapted to well drained soils. If it tries to spread, it will be blocked by a ring of edging that came with the house and until recently circled a boxwood.

Sambucus racemosa 'SMNSRD4' birds eye view

This specimen is supposed to grow to be about 5'x5', so I may have to do some judicious pruning to prevent it from blocking the view. But it also can get a bit leggy, and if that means an open habit, it may provide some privacy without too much obstruction. Although developed primarily for its foliage, it does produce white blossoms in the spring which develop into red berries.

Sambucus racemosa 'SMNSRD4' up close and personal

My front yard feels a bit full now, although I would also like to add a Sunkist arborvitae and a few Fire Chief globe arborvitae, maybe planted in a grouping. I'll let these newbies settle in first.