8 Point Buck Sneaks Through Yard

Lover Boy is lucky I  wasn't a bow hunter!

It's that time of year again when Wisconsin's whitetails start thinking about love.  One amorous boy wandered through our yard yesterday at lunch.  He was so busy sniffing out fellow deer on the trail that he didn't notice me sneak out onto the deck and get video and pix of him.  He's lucky I wasn't a hunter!

Purple Smokebush in fall color mode

Although most of the trees have lots their leaves, some shrubs and the buckthorn are still green.  Shrubs that still have their leaves are the elderberries, diervilla, kerria, itea and my oakleaf hydrangea.  I made sure to spray my japanese maples, arborvitae and others that the deer seem to enjoy munching on.  I also sprayed some oak seedlings.  I'm so happy to see the oak seedlings, by the way.  It means that I'm making progress in clearing out the woods to a healthier tree density.  Oh crud!  I just realized I forgot to spray the pine seedling I got from my youngest for mother's day!  Oops!  I know what I need to do this morning!

Still haven't planted my fall bulbs or dug up my cannas but it's gotten cold enough finally to get them going.  It's supposed to rain and snow today but I think I can sneak in some digging this morning before it does.

I've still got a few things blooming in my garden-some fleabane, salvia and goldenrod and of course, the longest blooming plant in my yard, lamium 'Pink Pewter.'  The flowers are small but 'Pink Pewter' gets going right away in the spring, rests once I stop watering it in the summer and then blooms all fall until covered with snow.

My potted asters didn't fare well with the heavy rains
 we got a couple of weeks ago

I haven't done much in the yard the last couple of months because our basement remodel has consumed our every waking moment lately.  I did get one item off my to-do list: chopped down a yew that had outgrown its space and just looked awful.  I was ok with it not coming back but I'm reading on the 'net that it'll probably return and actually look good in a couple of years.  We'll see.  Either way is fine with me.

Get out and vote today if you haven't already and good luck with your late fall gardening chores.  My list is long and my motivation short but I feel confident I'll at least get a few things done before the ground freezes solid.

Aster and Goldenrod in the Fall_Pretty!

A Flock A Day

This woodpecker appreciates my twig tuteur,
checking it every couple of days for yummy bugs

And suddenly it's Fall.   As soon as the first cold snap hit, my quiet summer yard turned into a raucous bird party.  A large flock of cedar waxwings paid its annual visit to my cedar, stripping it of berries.  (It's so fun watching their antics.) Yesterday, a flock of robins came through, taking over the bird bath for several hours.  Flickers and robins and gray squirrels have been out in force inspecting the newly turned earth where I planted my recently purchased plant bargains.

Carrionflower vine berries

I'm always amazed at how much attention my gardening activities receive from the resident wildlife-usually when I'm outside there'll be at least one curious chickadee or wren hanging out in the trees, commenting on what I'm doing, or maybe a ticked-off red squirrel hollering at me from above. Robins and chipmunks tend to check out any ground I've dug up, sometimes so impatient they don't even wait for me to leave.

I recently moved some phlox to a different bed and as I was digging the new hole I was thinking about the hummingbirds who come to the phlox every day, wondering how long it would take for them to find the new location.  I needn't have worried-I didn't even get the plant in the hole when I heard the heavy buzz of hummingbird wings and looked up to see one just above my shoulder, chirping and eyeing the proceedings intently.

Probably should have waited until spring to move the phlox but I decided to chance it.  Besides the phlox, I've been trying to fix some design flaws, transplanting shrubs as well as perennials.  And with all the bargains I've gotten on plants this fall, I've had plenty of new stuff to plant too.  I even scored a nice-sized 'Golden Shadows' pagoda dogwood for $30!   It was on my want list this past spring but I couldn't bring myself to pay $120 for a plant that is only marginally hardy here and well-loved by deer.  You just know it's not going to live long.

Just love Laura phlox!

Thankfully, we've finally had some rain the last couple of weeks.  Here in Waukesha County we are still under drought conditions and I'm worried that next year will be the same.  Despite the awful growing season we had, there were still some new plants I found in the yard.  One handsome specimen turned out to be a native pokeberry.  It's berries were gone the day after they ripened so I guess something is immune to its poison.  Another turned out to be white snakeroot, also poisonous.  (Why are all my woodland natives poisonous?) This is listed as invasive but native, and I guess I don't mind it going nuts in the far back of the yard where it can battle things out with woodbine, solomon's plume and sweet cicely.  Those are all native thugs too.  I hope I haven't made a mistake letting it survive.

One of my favorite Fall combos-goldenrod and aster

Another garden surprise was a phlox that just popped up in a completely different bed than where I have my original stands of phlox.  It has white blooms with a small pink eye ring and looks gorgeous paired with my Autumn Joy sedum.  That's actually why I decided to move my phlox in the Fall while there were still some blooms.  When we moved here there were two large clumps of tall phlox-one was white with a large pink eye ring and one was pink with a large white eye ring.  This year I noticed 2 others-one short and purpley-pink, and one like the new one that just turned up.  Are they remnants of plants that were planted too close together?  Are they seedlings that didn't come true? (That would explain the new phlox plant I found)  I'll be curious to see what kind of phlox I get next year now that I've "separated" out the various colors.

All my asters are looking good but I'm disappointed with the colors of Farmington, Wood's Pink and Wood's Purple-all are very pastel and I was hoping for something brighter, like the native asters I see in the prairie planting across the road.  Now that is the perfect Fall combo!  Magenta and bluish-purple asters paired with goldenrod when the sun is low in the western sky-Yowza!

One of the native asters in my yard-I think this is Calico Aster

Drought? What Drought?

Surprise!  This onion has gorgeous blooms that
bloomed for weeks longer than my  ornamental alliums.

Hi, all!  It's been quite a while since I last posted; it's been too depressing.  This has been a rotten spring and summer for my garden and yard.  Once again, there's no rain in the forecast and even mature trees and weeds are struggling.  I have lost most of my vegetable garden and many of the small shrubs I planted this spring.  My poor veggies never stood a chance-even with watering, the heat was just too much for those tender little seedlings.

So, why am I posting now?  Well, I realized that there are some plants that are doing just fine despite the drought.  I thought I'd share with you what's doing ok in my garden, with only the barest of supplemental watering, and in some cases, no watering at all.

We are on well water so I try not to water unless it's really needed.  I've let my lawn go dormant and am basically just hand-watering anything that's wilting.

Butterflyweed

My established hostas and daylilies are surprisingly well.  So is my bergenia and buglossoides.  In fact, the buglossoides are looking pretty happy at the moment, although they didn't bloom for long this spring.

Strangely, my lamb's ear and rudbeckia, both of which I thought were drought-tolerant, have been wilting badly and needing extra water.  Also strange, my 'Sem' spirea, which I thought was not drought tolerant, is not only doing fine but starting to sucker a bit.  (Off-track I know, but 'Sem' does sucker.  It's advertised that it doesn't.  Same is true for 'Tiger Eyes' sumac, also advertised as non-suckering.  Mine suckers like crazy.)

Tiger's Eye Sumac seems to be happier in the
heat than its native sibling, staghorn sumac

Let's see...some woodland natives that seem to not be affected yet include solomon's seal, columbine, solomon's plume, hairy mountain mint, carrionflower, all the goldenrods, baptisia, virginia creeper and sweet woodruff.  Some natives that aren't quite as forgiving: wild ginger, ferns (with the exception of my male fern), avens and sweet cicely.  

Of course, there's the native prairie plants and well-known drought-tolerant domestics that I expected to do well and they are: yarrow, rudbeckia, grasses, butterflyweed, smokebush.  (My smokebush looks really good at the moment-the ninebarks not so much.)

All of the viburnums (nannyberry, highbush cranberry, arrowwood) are wilting and losing leaves.  My peach tree is struggling as well but that's to be expected because it's new.  I've had to water the arborvitae, spruces, spirea, and surprisingly, my diervilla, even the native ones.

Yesterday it was only in the 80s so I finished
the path through my meadow garden.

Oh yeah, another plant that is doing great is sumac.  Not the native staghorn; their new growth is being killed off.  But 'Tiger Eyes' is practically hopping and skipping in excitement over all the heat and is using its summer vacation to take over the hillside I planted it on.  And I've never seen 'Gro-Low' looking so healthy and happy.  I haven't given these two a drop of supplemental water and they are on a steep, blazing hot slope.

(Another off-track thought: I really like 'Tiger Eyes' paired with dark-leaved canna.  Very tropical looking.)

Is this summer a hint at the future of Wisconsin weather?  I think it might be and so I'm going to start looking at adding more drought-tolerant, native plants to the yard and also try to find a spot where I can put in rain barrels for my veggie garden.   Two things I should have done as soon as we bought this place.

One last thought: There's been no mosquitoes.  Yay!  Gotta have moisture for mosquitoes.

Recycling Concrete

I love finding ways to use stuff
that would normally end up in the trash

As part of our basement remodel we had to remove some of our concrete pad.  Some of the chunks I used in our retaining wall for drainage.  Some of the chunks I used to hold soil to level out my gazebo.  And today I used the remaining chunks for my dry "stream" bed and some steps.  

We have some french drains and some pipes from the house that drain daily down a slope.  No vegetation will grow there so the soil was washing away.  I started putting down gravel and rocks to try and direct the flow and stop the erosion.  The little chunks of concrete work just fine for this.

Also I had a couple of big chunks with some smooth edges and tops.  I dug those into the slope to use as steps.  They seem solid and stable. Now I'll have a short cut down to the garden beds from our patio.

In the future I'd like to put down a liner and get some big fieldstone in there, with river pebbles and a water fountain at the top.  It's a really low priority project but if it gets done, I think it'll add some real pizazz to the back yard.

Our dry "stream" bed is a work in progress.

Ville de Lyon Clematis

Ville de Lyon

My new Ville de Lyon Clematis bloomed for the first time a few days ago.  It doesn't have many blooms because it's not well established and it's in shade, but it's so beautiful!   Even from the house I could see those big bright blooms down at the bottom of the hill!

Henryi

Its blooms aren't quite as big though as my Henryi Clematis, which is also a lovely clematis. It's also new to my yard-I have that one on my lamppost and I love that one too!

A home-made tuteur from scraps

Had some fun yesterday making a tutuer for a clematis I transplanted to my front foundation.  I had some really nice mulberry branches that were begging to be used and not tossed in the burn pile.  I tied the branches together with some bits of copper wire left over from our basement remodel and wrapped a grapevine around. Fresh grapevine is so pliable and easy to use.  Dried grapevine needs a soaking before you can bend it into a circle.

The bees and butterflies approve of my allium addiction

Oh, and there's so many butterflies!  I saw whites, monarchs, swallowtails, admirals, an angle-wing, a dark-winged butterfly I haven't seen before, and a hackberry butterfly.  I wonder if this butterfly party is courtesy of home gardeners and their penchant for lots of different plants?

All my columbines are in bloom now

Those were the only good gardening events yesterday.  The rest of my day sucked.  I found out that I have a massive common asparagus beetle infestation on my asparagus.  Every spear is just loaded with eggs!  Now I'll have to spend my afternoons squashing the adults and larvae.   

I also found out that there's some patches of poison ivy in my woods.  Normally I avoid herbicides and pesticides but not for poison ivy.  It's getting the brush killer treatment!  Luckily, I was able to rinse off in cold water right away so the oil wouldn't seep into my skin.  Thank heavens for that!

Finally, I found out something shocking.  There's a big patch of bishop's weed  that I've was planning on pulling out in the future but wasn't in a hurry to do so.  Everything changed yesterday--while working in my asparagus patch I noticed a bunch of seedlings I didn't recognize...hundreds, maybe thousands of little sprouts, every inch of open ground was covered.  I took a closer look and realized they are bishop's weed.  It self-sows!  I had no idea that stuff could set viable seed; I thought it was listed as invasive because it's such an aggressive groundcover.   

Not sure how long this tuteur
will last but it was fun to make!

Well, you can imagine that my plan for the day was immediately revised.   The mature plants are just starting to flower so I had to do something quick.  I've had some success with digging out the roots but this time I'm going to try smothering the patch with black plastic film first.  I've heard that smothering doesn't work but this patch is on a super steep slope and the plants are so tall it's hard to tell where the ground is. I don't need to plant this bed anytime soon so I can wait out those little monsters and once the foliage withers, I can dig out the roots easily.  (At least that's how I'm hoping it's going to work!)

Hope you enjoy your day!

My Not-So-Sunny Garden of Eatin'

My Garden of Eatin' is a work in progress-currants, cherry, peach,
raspberries, strawberries, chives, onions and herbs-
but is there enough sun for veggies?

Worked hard the last two days to get the veggie garden ready for planting.  I call it my ‘Garden of Eatin.’  It’s the only place in my yard with full sun other than right outside my front door.  (OK, full sun is a stretch.)  I’m worried tomatoes, squash and peppers won’t do well there.  I’d hate to limit my veggie production to beans, peas, and leafy greens.
 

Future veggie garden-no herb bed and an ugly compost pile with no bin

When we moved here this section of the property was just a bunch of buckthorn, garlic mustard and Virginia creeper.  We cleared that out and I put in some raised beds. (OK, my raised beds were just some mismatched logs from the woods, with no rhyme or reason to their placement.)   Now I’m trying to make it look more domesticated and have started replacing the log beds with more orderly-looking cedar boards.  In true Cary style I planted fruit trees and bushes before coming up with a real plan so I can’t make it as symmetrical as I’d like.  Sigh.  I guess this particular garden area will be a genuine reflection of who I am…haphazard.

Right now it's a bit busy-looking but
once there are plants in the pots, it'll look better

Anyhow, to get to the meat of this blog post, while trying to scare up some full-sun space to use for growing veggies, I ended up clearing out the section behind a rotting tool shed.   Sounds simple right?  Well, it turned into quite the project.  I had to shore up the steep slope behind the shed to control soil erosion, even out the ground, re-lay some flagstone that was under several inches of dirt from years of neglect, and finally, remove all the garbage the previous owners had piled back there, including a corroded metal garbage can.  Turned out there was just enough space to put a compost bin and some containers for plants.

I initially planned to take the garbage can to a metal recycling place but on a whim, I put it over my well instead, using the garbage can’s strangely pristine lid to cover up the rotted can bottom.  Surprisingly, I really like the rusty metal and have decided to keep it there for the year.  It can go to the recycling place next year when I hopefully either have some money to buy a nice trellis or the time to build one.  I’m thinking some kind of edible vine, like a maypop, might be nice there-hiding the well from view and providing yummy treats too!

Same spot as above, a year ago-I was using a plastic rock to
cover my well but it took up a lot of space

I've started putting in cedar board beds (top left) to
replace the old beds made from logs
and split-rail fencing I found in the woods (middle)

The compost bin is also temporary-- old metal wire--rusted, twisted, and UGLY (years ago I accidentally melted all its plastic fasteners).  Its purpose is to buy me time to come up with something more ascetically pleasing.  See, behind the shed is a great location-easy for me to get to from the house, hard for the neighbor’s dog to get to, and away from my oak trees.  (I think I mentioned in a previous post that spoiled fruit attracts picnic beetles which are a vector for oak wilt disease.)   The only down side is that it’s in full view of my neighbor’s kitchen window, so to hide my ugly bin I also made a “decorative” screen out of landscape fabric and a pallet that our new shower stall came in (we’re redoing our basement so that’s why there’s no extra cash for fun garden stuff).    My neighbor will only see the screen and some cannas I planted in front of it.  I, however, will have full access to the bin from my side.

So, to sum up, I’m worried about my lack of sun, feeling happy about reusing crap I found laying around, excited about how much better my veggie garden is looking now, and hopeful that I’ll have a successful harvest this year.   Worry, happiness, excitement and hopefulness-gardening is just so emotional!

Rainy Days

I love the papery texture of tree peony blooms

Another gloomy gray day-thunder is rumbling and there’s a bit of lightning too.  I hear we’re going to get buckets of rain this time.  I’m happy for the soaking-even the nearby ponds were drying up, but it’s made my yard work extra stressful because I'm running out of time.  I’ve been pretty busy trying to get the remnants of my garlic mustard and dandelions before they set seed, and hauling cut-up buckthorn and honeysuckle to the curb for next week’s brush pickup. I don't like wrecking the soil by walking on it when it's wet but we haven't had many dry days recently and these chores won't wait.

The garlic mustard is a particular challenge.  Now that I’ve got most of it out of my yard, there’s just the occasional plant that was missed, sometimes only a few inches tall.  It’s easier to spot these little monsters when they are blooming because their white flowers stand out amidst all the other green plants.  Because of our weird spring, my garlic mustard is already going to seed so I’m in a big rush to find them all before they stop blooming. 

Buglossoides with Goldmound spirea in the background

I tried to get a bit of weeding in this morning before it rained.  It was rather challenging.  The wind was blowing tiny white petals from our black cherry trees all over, making the garlic mustard flowers harder to see.  It’s pretty though, seeing the ground covered with delicate flowers. 

The rainy weather really makes white stand out but also all my chartreuse foliaged plants like ‘Gold Heart’ bleeding heart and  my spireas look awesome on a gray day.  That yellowy-green really pops in the gloom.  I planted two more spirea in front of my stand of spruce.  All that dark brooding green needed a transition to the lawn and I’m pretty pleased with the color combo.  It’ll look great once the shrubs get some size to them.  Also, it turns out the intense blue of the  buglossoides and ‘Caitlin’s Giant’ ajuga look lovely paired with the spireas.  I wish I could say I planned it all, but it was just a bit of serendipity.

Wishing you some sweet serendipity too.

It's March, April and May All At Once!

Mrs. Moon-March 2012

Roy Davidson-March 2012

Our crazy spring weather has got my garden all confuzzled.  May and April bloomers flowering alongside the March bloomers.  Only my oaks, hickories and japanese maples seem to be on their regular schedule.  One of the currently confused is Pulmonaria (Lungwort).

Pulmonaria isn't a plant I'd call pretty but it is distinctive.  I grow three cultivars: Mrs. Moon, Roy Davidson and Diane Claire.  Mrs. Moon has white-spotted foliage, pink buds and blue flowers.  Roy Davidson also has white-spotted foliage, pink buds and blue flowers but the flowers are paler in color.  Diane Claire has mottled silver foliage with bigger, brighter-colored flowers than the first two.  The flowers are magenta and purple. 

Diane Claire-March 2012

Diane Claire-June 2011

For spring, I like Roy Davidson the best of my pulmonarias; its small, pale blooms look at home in a naturalized setting.  Diane Claire is my least favorite in spring; I find its intense colors jarring next to more delicate natives.  However, once summer rolls around, Diane Claire really shines in the shade garden and looks wonderful with blue hostas.  I just need to find something to pair it with in the spring that looks good so I can enjoy this plant completely.

I find it strange but our native Virginia Bluebells bloom in similar colors as most Pulmonarias: pink buds and blue flowers. Quite unexpected since most other native Winsconsin spring ephemerals bloom white.

The nice thing about Pulmonarias is that they aren't ephemerals; they stick around throughout the growing season.  Once they are done blooming, their beautiful leaves elongate and the plants get a bit of size to them. They usually look pretty good through late fall.

Virginia Bluebells-a native ephemeral

Another nice thing about Pulmonarias is that they are supposed to be deer/rabbit resistant.  That was true for me until last fall when something seriously chowed on them, multiple times.  I'm probably the only gardener in the state who gets their Lungworts eaten by critters.

Dainty Beauty Makes a Surprise Appearance

Pretty sure this is a corydalis...what strange little flowers!

One of my favorite events in gardening happened today...a new plant showed up in my yard.  Not sure where it came from, but I walked out my front door this morning to find a dainty little plant with delicate foliage and pretty white snap-dragonish flowers blooming under the big cedar.

At first I was really pumped because I thought it was perhaps a native but after digging through my wildflower books, I realized it was a non-native corydalis.  But that's ok because even though it would have been cool if it was maybe a dutchman's breeches or a toothwort, at least it wasn't an invasive weed, right?

I spent the afternoon working in the front yard and I found 2 other plants about the same size in the vicinity of the first one.  Maybe they were always there but were hidden by all the weeds I worked so hard to get rid of last year?  Or maybe they are a present left after a bird took its potty break?  However it got here, it was an exciting start to my day.

The more I see these 'Ivory Prince' hellebore, the more I like them!

Where the heck did this guy get a walnut?  I don't have any walnut trees...

Mrs. Moon pulmonaria...more funky little flowers

Spring has sprung-Snowdrops in bloom

I wasn’t ready for the change of seasons but spring couldn’t wait. Cheery little snowdrops are leading the way and the hellebores aren’t far behind.  Their bright white flowers really stand out in the post-winter garden.  I was extra happy because last year I had to move a clump while the foliage was still green, and the shock looked like it was too much for the little cutie, yet it showed up this spring looking strong and healthy.

That was the good news that greeted me yesterday.  The bad news was that there are still patches of garlic mustard in the yard, which was terribly disappointing.  I was sure I had finally slain that beast.  So, I spent a couple of hours weeding it out of the “hidden garden,” a spot in the yard that you can’t really see from the street or house.  Today I will work on the second driveway-there’s a thick patch there too.  Did you know I’ve been weeding out garlic mustard since the summer of 2009?  Ugh.

Another bit of bad news was that our neighborhood deer gang stopped by again and must have been very hungry.  I found that they chewed down one of my kerrias and ate some pulmonaria and epimedium, all things they aren’t supposed to eat.  Now the only plants in my yard that have remained completely untouched this winter are my hellebores. 

Amaryllis blooms again 2 years later

Nice waking up to this!

What a fab start to the day!  Woke up to find that my Amaryllis bloomed today. Yay!

It last bloomed in either January of 2009 or 2010, when I bought it on clearance at Target.   Instead of throwing it out when it was done blooming, I kept it, putting it outside in the summer and bringing it in for the winter.  It's been mostly neglected except for repotting it when it grew a bulblet. 


It wanted to bloom last winter but my youngest child and the cat did a number on it, breaking its stalk and damaging the leaves.  I figured that would kill it but it survived.

This was a photo from the first year it bloomed for us

Several weeks ago it sent up a large 2-foot stalk.  (It's not supposed to be that tall but there's not much light in the winter here, even with a grow light.)

Today it bloomed, just as pretty as the first time.  Surprisingly, it seems like it's just as big too.  I guess that year or two off gave it time to build up some energy.

The kids and I (and even my husband) enjoyed watching the bud over the last few days as it swelled and colored.  The bulblet I removed has two healthy leaves this year but no stalk.  I guess Amaryllis put up their flowering stalk first before their leaves.  Wouldn't that be wonderful if next year I have two that flower?

Bud three days ago

Bud two days ago

The bud yesterday-I noticed my youngest pointing it out to her friend and explaining about how it changed each day.  The excitement it brings my kids-that's a big reason I like gardening!

Bugged by Beggarticks

Beggarticks (Bidens)

Annoying natives.  Yes, they exist.  Anyone who’s ever tromped through woods and emerged covered in sticky seedpods knows they are out there lurking, waiting for you or your pet to walk by.  Who are these woodland natives that use passersby to spread their progeny far and wide?  Well, there are several that call my back yard home and two are really, really annoying.

I’ll start with the ones that are more charming than irritating.  Sweet Cicely is a pretty enough plant, with small white flowers and ferny foliage but can be pretty aggressive if it gets enough sunlight.  One of the benefits of having this plant is that it seems to put up a good fight with garlic mustard.  (I like that in a plant!)  However, these plants produce sharp, needle-like seedpods that while aren't that hard to get out of your clothes, they hurt like the dickens if the pointy ends jab your skin. 

Sweet Cicely smells like aniseed but that doesn't
stop critters from munching on them in the spring.

Tick Trefoil (Desmodium) has flattish triangular seedpods that stick like Velcro.  They don’t hurt like Sweet Cicely’s seed pods but it can take a while to get them off your clothes.  The flowers are pink and airy and I don’t mind the plant either, which doesn't seem to reseed aggressively.

Beggarticks (Bidens) is one of the natives that I’ve seriously considered eliminating from my yard.  It has rectangular seeds with pointy “horns.”  If you wander into a stand of these in the fall, you will emerge covered in tons of their seeds.  They can be a challenge to get out of clothing but aren’t as bad as the seeds of Beggar’s Lice and  Enchanter’s Nightshade.  Beggarticks reseed aggressively and can grow so tall that they don’t play nice with other plants.  Last year some in my back yard were almost 4’ tall.

Another native I’d rather not have in the yard is Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea).  It has a round Velcro-like seedpod that is completely miserable to try and get out of pet fur or clothing.  I can’t believe I ever thought their little white flowers were pretty and delicate!  These seem to reseed with abandon and I devoted several afternoons last summer trying to eradicate them from an small island bed in my front yard where they were taking over.  Every time I thought I had gotten them all...POP!  There they were again!

Enchanter's Nightshade peeking out from Virginia Creeper

Beggar’s Lice (Hackelia) has round seeds that look like bigger versions of Enchanter’s Nightshade seeds and just the slightest brush past will fill up your pant leg or arm full of the little horrors.  I thought I didn't have many of these in the yard and so didn't have to worry about them but this year I realized that this biennial’s first year basal rosettes were all over the back yard and that I seriously underestimated this plant’s ability to reseed. 

There is really only one plant that I feel has nastier seeds than Enchanter’s Nightshade.  That plant is non-native Burdock and it is definitely not welcome on my property.  Anyone who has run into a patch of these knows how awful their burrs are, especially when the balled burr dissolves in your clothing and you have to pick it out strand by strand.  Ugh!

With the exception of the Burdock, it took me a while to figure out what the rest of these plants were. Because they are natives, I just want to control them, not eliminate them.  There’s a wild part of my yard that has no particular use other than feeding and sheltering birds, bugs and squirrels.  I figure these plants can do their thing there as long as they stay on their side of the 2^nd driveway.  We'll see.

I should be shoveling but...

White skies today.  Haven't seen that in a while and I'm glad we're getting some snow now.  Watching the flakes swirl past my window is strangely relaxing as I am hunched over my computer and working over the hot chocolate I shouldn't be having but am.

Native Tradescantia, probably Ohio Spiderwort

Yep, the snow we had in January didn't last long at all.  Two weeks of weirdly warm, dry weather really did a number on the snow cover.  I've been so worried about all the perennials and shrubs I planted this past fall. I have been watering some of them.  Will spring be drought-y too?  

Anyhow, although I need to go out and shovel, instead I've been working up a garden to-do list and tidying up my disorganized garden planner.  Among my notes I found multiple reminders to get more of a certain plant that I haven't spent much thought on...spiderwort.

Even when it's not in bloom Sweet Kate's foliage looks good

I have two kinds in my garden.  A native that just showed up one year and a cultivar with chartreuse foliage, "Sweet Kate."  Both bloomed well for me this past year.

I'm assuming the native is Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis).  It has a long bloom season but the flowers close up on hot, sunny days.  It doesn't get supplemental watering but seems to be happy anyway and I've noticed some new plants starting to spring up around the bed.  I like this plant because although it reseeds itself it doesn't go crazy.  Also there doesn't seem to be pest or disease issues to worry about.

'Sweet Kate' Spiderwort

'Sweet Kate' also doesn't seem to have any big issues.  When I first saw it in the garden catalogues I thought it was very garish and ugly.  But knowing how easy these plants are, I decided to give it a try when I found a nice specimen on clearance at the garden center.

In my front shrub border, in a dark spot made darker by a couple of mature spruce trees, the chartreuse foliage of 'Sweet Kate' is lovely, not garish.  I have it paired with 'Wide Brim' and 'Sum and Substance' hostas.  I like the contrast of the hosta and spiderwort foliage.

It's curious, though.  Searching the 'net for info on spiderwort cultivars I noticed that often culture is listed as full sun and moist soil but my native plant tends to reseed where there's part shade.  And, it didn't seem to care that I wasn't watering it over the summer despite it having thirsty mature spruces as companions. Maybe the cultivated varieties are pickier?

I don't do any maintenance on mine but I read that cutting them back after a big bloom helps them rebloom and that they can get messy when it's really hot out.  I haven't noticed that myself but maybe summers here just aren't enough to make spiderworts miserable.

So, bottom line is I like spiderwort and I want more of them in my garden.  There are more cultivars on the market every year, including a couple with bi-colored foliage but I think I'll stick to the two I have.  Do you believe me?

Winter's Here

Still have our Christmas lights up;
sometimes I turn them on in the morning
so the kids can see them as they head out to school

The snow and cold are finally here.  So are the first of the gardening catalogs.  


Guess it was kind of silly to be so worried about a too-warm and snow-less winter back in December.  Now there's enough for the kids to make snowmen and I even saw a couple of snowmobilers out on the trails a few days ago.

Snow cover is a good thing so I'm pretty happy we've finally got some.  Also, fluffy white snow is just SO pretty, even when you are out shoveling before the sun is up.

I bought some Gnatrol for my fungus gnat infection but I'm nervous to use it.  The list of instructions and warnings seems awfully long for an organic product.  After all, it's just Bt.  I keep my houseplants pretty dry so the gnats have dwindled on their own.

I've started putting together a list of plants I want to get this year.  The viburnum from my front foundation planting that I chopped down to the ground last year did not return, so I've got a hole to fill there.  I love the planning part of gardening best of all.