Assessment

This is the time of year that I begin to decide what has been worth growing for the following year and the plants that I will give another year to prove themselves!

Pagoda Dogwood

Definitely a winner of a small tree, I keep it pruned up so that I can grow plants under it.  It likes an acid fertilizer and tolerates moisture.

 

Azalea Karen

This is a wonderful addition to a garden, evergreen, tolerates the cold more than most azaleas

 

Amsonia Northwind Select

The jury is still out on this one as it is not on the market and grown by Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin.  It is larger this year than ever and I will cut it to about six inches when done flowering.  We will see how it fills out and turns that wonderful yellow color in the fall.

 

 Hycinthnoides Hispanica Excelsior

 

Brunnera Angel Wings

I didn't like this one at first but have come to appreciate its very large size and multitude of flowers.

 

Brunnera Jack Frost

This is one that lasts the whole summer with large leaves and color, blue flowers in the spring.

 

Variegated Solomon's Seal

This is a real winner, lasts all season into the fall with yellow color at the end of the season.

 

Hosta Patriot

A wonderful medium sized hosta with thicker leaves that repel the slugs and will grow in part sun and add a vibrancy to a shady area.

 

Hosta Paul's Glory

I love the way this hosta changes colors as it goes through the seasons.

 

Heucherella Stoplight

Heat tolerant, striking in the garden and will take quite a bit of sun

 

Dicentra Spectablis with Jack Frost Brunnera

 

Heuchera Southern Comfort

One of my favorite Heucheras, a multitude of colors throughout the season

 

 

Have A Heart

When spring is late like it is for us in the Midwest, the Bleeding Heart is such a welcome sight in the garden.  It just lingers until the weather becomes so hot it can't stand it anymore!

Dicentra Spectablis Golden Heart

This is a favorite, so striking in the garden!

 

Spectablis does not bloom for the entire season but they are required to die down naturally in order to bloom the following year.

 

Spectablis Red Valentine

I have this one growing along the north side coming up through the pachysandra.

 

 

Dicentra Spectablis

 

This is just the more common Bleeding Heart, beautiful but not forever.  They do die away at some point so if you divide it will prolong their life in other areas.

 

Dicentra  Spectablis Alba

This white form of the common Bleeding Heart is later blooming and not as floriforus.

 

Luxuriant Pacific Bleeding Heart

Blooms all spring and summer

Dicentra Eximia
Blooms all summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Debut

Spring is really trying and I must admit I am enjoying the extended blooms on many of the bulbs.  The past few years they have bloomed and fizzled in the heat.

Daffodil Thalia

I don't know why I do not plant more of this daffodil, consistently comes back and multiplies each year.  I must put more of these on my list for next year!

 

Thalia can be formal or casual as they are around the Chanticleer Pear.

 

Chanticleer Pear

 

I love when plants peek out from all directions as these Rhodies do from behind the stone wall.

 

Also visible as you walk along the north side path

 

The tulips are lovely but I always plant them as annuals because for me they never come back with the same vigor or size.  This is a layered area and underneath will surface Hyacinthnoides and Amsonia Blue Ice.

 

 

 

Daffodil Spellbinder

 

Daffodil Itzim

Interplanted With Hydrangea Starlight

 

As the daffodils die down the hydrangeas fill out to cover the stems and foliage.

 

 Layering along the south border with grasses, daylilies, perennials and groundcovers all ready to emerge.

 

 

 

Looking through Limelight Hydrangea which is just beginning to bud.

 

South Border Front

 

 

Lots coming up, Daylilies, Heucheras, Groundcover, etc.

 

The groundcover acts as a background for blooming plants and as a cover for when those plants decline.

 

More layering, Allium of different varieties coming up through the groundcover and daylilies.

 

 

 

 

Around The Garden

It hasn't been much fun walking around the garden lately, so little to see for most of the spring, but I am inspired by the blooms over the past week and hope that warmer weather will come soon.

 

 

Forsythia Bronxensis Greensteem

This is a smaller lemon yellow variety.

 

 

Daffodil Sagitta

 

Daffodil Marieke

 

Daffodil Itzim

Very early and lasts longer than Tete-A-Tete

 

Daffodil Spellbinder

 

Daffodil Fortissimo 

 

 

Front South Border

The containers haven't really taken off yet, daffodils coming up in middle.  It will be time to plant for summer before anything happens here!

 

This is the time of year I enjoy the groundcover Myrtle Blue Dart, adds an extra blooming dimension to the garden.  Be careful with the types of groundcover you choose or you will be tearing it and your hair out if it begins to overtake your garden.  Blue Dart is one that is a little dificult to plant through but is not invasive like other myrtles.

 

Hyacinth Blue Delft

These come up each year under the Itea and I hate to move them, they look so natural.

 

Hyacinth Pink Pearl

When Hyacinths look natural and a little floppy they are at their best, not soldiers anymore but dancers in the garden.

 

Daffodil Ice Follies

 

I am waiting for lots of blooms to open this coming week with our warmer weather.

 

 

 

 

Things To Do When Spring Has Not Sprung

We are playing a waiting game, but there are many tasks we can do while waiting for the weather to catch up with the calendar.

Prune the roses and feed them.

Lay the mulch and cut down all of the dead foliage.

Feed the acid loving plants and sprinkle a general fertilizer throughout the rest of the garden.  I have found that this doesn't have to be a major chore, I just pretend I am feeding the chickens!  For specific acid loving plants and my clematis I work a small amount into the soil around the roots.

Clematis and grape hyacinth against south side

 

Clematis Bourbon (type 2) that you don't cut down, trim lightly

Turn over the vegetable garden, work in a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote and plant the cool weather veggies, like lettuce, radishes spinach, onions, etc.

Trim the hydrangeas that bloom on old and new wood in the shape of an ice cream cone for overall blooms from bottom to top.  I have learned to leave Endless Summer alone, no trimming except what is dead when it begins to leaf out and fertilize very sparingly because it is nitrogen sensitive.  Too much nitrogen and it will produce more leaves than flowers.

Hydrangea Limelight

 

The grasses can be trimmed to about six inches high, do not shave them or the crown can be damaged.  I have learned not to fertilize grasses as they tend to grow excessively and become floppy.

 

 

Heucheras can look pretty bad this time of year.  Trim off all of the shriveled leaves and make sure the roots have not heaved out of the ground, gently push back down if this has happened.

Get the containers ready, replace potting soil where necessary, add water crystals towards the bottom of the pots.  I had a great suggestion from a fellow blogger to line hayracks with plastic bags and put holes all around one inch down from the top for excess water.  I am definitely going to try this for the summer as my baskets always dry out quickly.