But that’s OK, I’ve matured over time and will stay far from the ledge. I chalk it up to a learning experience and it makes for an interesting blog topic, so it’s all good. It’s not like I threw a shovel like a javelin or kicked the wheelbarrow over. Who would be so juvenile and do that? Onward:            

I was thrilled to see that the Hibiscus ‘Kopper King’ had finally emerged, but the deer were apparently thrilled as well:

This Heuchera ‘Blackout’ is covered with some white/gray substance and I cannot identify what it is. It isn’t bleaching from the sun and I don’t think it is botrytis based on the color of the spots. I’ll have to let it play out:

I planted another Heuchera a few weeks ago and it looked great for a while but now it is “crisping up”, as you can see in the “before” and “after” photos below. The culprit – I haven’t kept up with the watering during our recent heat wave.

We just had a week of 90 degree weather and heavy humidity and that is a recipe for powdery mildew. This fungal disease typically hits plants in shade while it is humid and is most common amongst plants that do not have enough space between them so there is minimal air circulation. My Hypericum ‘Albury Purple’ got hit:

As did a few of the Hydrangea ‘Endless Summer’:

In the past, I’ve been good at keeping the proper amount of space between plants so they “can breathe” but with the heavy foliage growth this year, I’m realizing I failed quite a bit. Oh well, lesson learned.

Here is another problem that I can’t clearly identify. Doesn’t look like like powdery mildew or leaf spot so I’ll have to give it time to figure out what is wrong with the Lobelia Siphilitica (Blue Cardinal Flower):    

Um, I should probably get to weeding this bed soon:

A plea for help. What kind of weed is this? It is EVERYWHERE this year and I need to understand why it is thriving:

And last but not least, this Arborvitae ‘Emerald’ is clearly leaning after getting the snot beat out of it by the winter winds. There is another one of these on the other side of the steps. I can’t just remove it and to dig it up and replant it would be a gargantuan task that I am not up for right now. But the leaning SOB is friggin killing me!

Thanks for making it through and I would love any feedback you have on any of my misfortunes.

John

With the busy Memorial Day weekend, there wasn’t a lot of time to get up close and personal and catch up with my plant family. I had a chance to reconnect this morning and here is what I found:

All of the Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’ are in full bloom:  

The Spirea ‘Snow Storm’ bloom has peaked and has started the inevitable decline:

To say the Physocarpus (Ninebark) ‘Summer Wine’ is “in bloom” is a slight understatement:

All of the Spirea ‘Goldmound’ look better than they ever have before. Must be my mad skills or maybe it just took time to get established. Yeah, it’s the latter.

I feel like I owe all of you an apology. I did an entire post dedicated to Sedum ‘Red Carpet’ indicating how much I liked the fact that the red foliage stood out and worked well with yellow foliage. Well, the “red” foliage has disappeared and has been replaced with a greenish/red color. The before and after below:

I love my Yucca ‘Golden Sword’ but don’t think I’m a big fan of the bloom. We’ll see soon enough:

The first bloom on the Geranium ‘Brookside’, the hot mess is not far behind:

My vow to stay on top of all pruning duties is off to a good start. I cut back the Iberis (Candytuft) immediately after blooming like a good gardener should:  

The foliage on the Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) ‘Chocolate’ looks magically delicious:

Digging the catkins on the Betula Nigra (River Birch) trees:

And finally, the blooms of the Campanula ‘Joan Elliot’ and Peony ‘Bowl of Beauty’ keep on keeping on:

Not all babies are cute.

They’re really not.

But if that child is your own, you love them to death and believe they are the most beautiful thing on the planet.

As the child gets older, he or she (mostly he) will go through a number of awkward phases where again, you’ll see them as handsome and attractive, but to everyone else, they will be “kinda funny looking.” Trust me, this is coming from the King of Awkwardness at age 13. Braces, legs too long for my frame, head to big and just plain old socially inept. Of course, I eventually got straightened out, the women fell at my feet and I became a dashing young man (if you believe that, you don’t know me very well).        

My point for today – as I ogled all of the blooms on my peonies, irises, ninebarks, campanulas, etc, I also took notice of the true anchors of my landscape – the ornamental grasses. While the blooms are the cool, good looking kids, the OG’s of May 27th represent the pubescent boy. Little odd, but you can see the potential of what is to come.

So today, I honor the ornamental grasses and want to let them know they will always be wonderful to me no matter what stage they are in with their development. Your time to shine is not that far off, but I still dig you even today:    

Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) ‘El Dorado’

Panicum (Switch Grass) ‘Rotstrahlbusch’

Miscanthus (Maiden Grass) ‘Variegatus’

Miscanthus (Maiden Grass’) ‘Gracillimus’

Calamagrostis (Feather Reed Grass) ‘Karl Foerster’

Miscanthus (Maiden Grass) ‘Morning Light’

Yesterday, we said goodbye to those plants that are quickly fading into the background. They served me well but I’m over it already. Time to move on.

Here are those perennials and shrubs that are next in line and ready to take center stage. They’ve put in the time and effort over the past year, determined to show us their worth. Without further ado:

The Siberian Iris ‘Snow Queen’ have absolutely exploded in year 3 and the big show is just about ready to start. One of the few the deer will leave alone:

As is always the case, I turn my head and the Nepeta (Catmint) ‘Walker’s Low’ go OFF. The most consistent performer I own and lucky for me, they line the path of my front walkway. The “hum” of the bees will be here soon; music to my ears:

Spirea ‘Snowstorm’ is looking good with more blooms than ever before:

The Physocarpus (Ninebark) ‘Summer Wine’ has become a beast and is definitely due for a hard prune next spring. It is covered in blooms and will put on quite a show within the week:

A teaser for the soon to be blooming ‘Bowl of Beauty’ peonies. They will definitely be worthy of their own post and maybe even a haiku or limerick. Hell, I’ll team up with Kanye and write a song about them. It will be hot:  

The wet weather is heaven for the Astilbes ‘Deutchsland’ and they will be showing their gratitude with abundant blooms in the near future:

Spirea ‘Goldmound’ looks fantastic and is also about to majestically bloom:

Amsonia (eastern bluestar) is in bloom and while I wouldn’t call the blooms their best feature (clearly it’s the yellow fall color) it still is a nice color blue this time of year. They also have been deer free for two years now which is a bonus:  

There is so much going on in the garden this time of year and I couldn’t be more pumped up. In fact, I have to run and see what’s progressed since yesterday.

Ciao

Every gardener desires to have some level of interest in their gardens at all times of the year. Be it blooms, or interesting foliage, the challenge is to “always have something going on”.

On a personal level, it is what drives me mad as I think about my own garden design. If some day you find me face down in the mulch, shaking uncontrollably, just know that this is what caused it. I am in a constant state of tweaking and moving this plant or adding this plant. It is virtually impossible to get it just right; but I’ll die trying.

As I was out in the gardens this past weekend, I noticed a definite shift in what was emerging and what was receding (or dying) into the background. Last week’s heroes, which were in all their blooming glory, were now an afterthought, or a nasty, mushy pile of ugly foliage. I started to feel bad for these “has-beens” and decided to give them one last shout-out before they disappear into the night, or hopefully, neatly tucked behind new perennial growth.                    

Won’t you join me in saluting their efforts? Here we go:

The daffodils are tired and ready to hibernate for the next 11 months:

But let’s not forget how they lit up the gray skies this spring:

The Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft) are respectfully calling it quits:

But what a show they put on as they stole the spotlight for two weeks:

The Leucojum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) bow their heads in shame and now look like this:

But we won’t forget what an inspiration they were, especially for me as they have been one of the few reliable spring bulbs in my nasty wet clay soil:

The Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ have thrown in the towel and are now laying down as they cannot go on any longer:

We all understand their struggle, they put on a bloom for the ages and you can only keep that up for so long:

The Camassia blooms are valiantly trying to hold on as long as they can:

It’s OK buddy, give into it and we’ll remember you like this:

Same goes for you nodding Campanula (Bellflower); lay down and go into the night in peace:

You rocked it for a while and we’re still smiling as a result: