Chicago Rosy

As you have probably noticed, I have several dayliles that have Chicago in their name.  I have a favorite Chicago daylily and it is Chicago Rosy.  It is tall, it is large and it blooms for a long period of time.  I don't enjoy dividing daylilies every year, like Stella D'Oro, so I appreciate it when maybe every three or four years I can share my daylilies.

Chicago Rosy is probably a four or five year division candidate, but it is a great performer during this time of multiplying.  The flower is large, orange-red in color and has strong scapes that show in all directions.  It grows 25 - 30 " with 6.5" flowers.  http://seasidedaylily.com/ I have ordered from them several times.

My Love Affair With Heucheras

Coral Bells, does anyone even remember this name?  As far as I am concerned I am glad it is gone.  I can't tell you how many coral bell plants I purchased only to see them disappear or pop out of the ground during our harsh winters.  The delicate little leaves, spindly flowers and lack of vigor stopped me from using them in my landscape many years ago.

Voila!  The heucheras came into being with an explosion of large leafed villosa hybrids that withstand our winters, take a good amount of sun and delight us with their unusual colors.  I know there are some who do not like the carmels, citronelles, chocolates, mochas and so on.  But, I for one, say hurrah!  We finally have heucheras that blend into our environments, with bright green groundcovers, tan grasses, prairies, fall leaf colors, etc.

Around The Garden

I can always count on my daylilies!  I have not noticed any damage from earwigs, japanese beetles or the rabbits.  Even though many of my perennials have grown out of bounds this year, the daylilies seem to stay within range and bloom at the appropriate time.

Several of my clematis have gone crazy needing more support than usual to stay upright.  Interesting that Heliopsis Lemon Queen, which is usually quite tall by now, seems shorter than ever. Maybe, it didn't like all of that rain!

The vegetable garden is giant, if a small garden can be giant, some curl on the tomato leaves, but not too bad.  We have already had some of the Burpee peppers that I ordered, supposedly mild - whew quite hot.  I am really liking the idea of planting some flowers on the edges of this garden.

A Collectors Garden

I took a little field trip today to my sister-in-law's garden, not leaving my brother out, but it is her garden!  She is a collector as long as I have known her which is about forty years.  Her garden is not only a personal reflection of who she is but a creative endeavor that displays all of her interests and talents.

This is an example of a completely renovated garden over a period of a quarter of a century.  The home was built in 1925, and many improvements have been made on the house and the garden.  The pond was original and made of cement, not a preformed plastic.  It is stocked with goldfish, lilies, water hyacinths and some pond grasses. 

There are rememberance gardens for our family members who are no longer in our lives, one for her mother, father and my mother.  They are genuine with my mother's favorite saying on a plaque, her fathers work boots planted with flowers and plants that have her mother's name, her mom's birdhouses and fountain.

Please enjoy the photos of Barb's wonderful garden!

A Blank Slate

I don't know which is worse, starting with a worn out garden or beginning with nothing at all.  I have done both, and I think the most difficult is rejuvenating an old garden - what to keep, what to discard is the continual question.  Most likely one is stuck with established shade trees (unless expense is not a problem) and huge evergreens, shrubs and low growing evergreens being easier to take out.

I will use my daughter's home as an example of long past their prime plantings.  Slowly, as her funds allow, I do a plan for each area, replanting the  gardens with plants that are easier to maintain and have great eye appeal. 

In the large perennial garden bed, we removed just about everything except some daylilies and the Sweet Autumn Clematis along the back fence (now being cut to the ground each year - see how large it gets with yearly cutting).  The garden has just begun and constantly changes, many types of daylilies and phlox, pink and red double knockouts, shasta daisies, gaillardia, rozanne geranium, may night salvia, russian sage, and autumn joy sedum.  The four rose bushes are the backbone of this garden and are blooming until the snow flies.  In the spring is is filled with hundreds of daffodils of many varieties - hardest part waiting for the tops to die down without pulling them or cutting them down.

Along her front porch and the front of the home were fifty year old yews that have been removed and replaced with Endless Summer Hydrangeas and Chicagoland Boxwoods, a new magnolia, Blue Dart Myrtle groundcover, Blushing Bride Hydrangeas, hostas, ferns and some saved astilbes that were on another part of the property.  Most of the plants were found at Home Depot at very reasonable prices

A large area along the side of the home has just been cleared of pachysandra, tree roots and overgrown shrubs.  I have done a plan for this area which will take awhile to complete because of the expense.  All that is there now are some new Green Velvet Boxwoods and a Limelight Hydrangea (they may be moved eventually).  I am going to really have to rack my brain to come up with a cover for those heating exhaust pipes!  Plantings have to be four feet away - any ideas?

At my stage, I want everything to be instant but a little bit done each year with planning and using the correct plant materials, becomes a very satisfying accomplishment.