Dead Aspens-What to Do?

Sometimes it seems like gardening is like politics.  You can be a ruthless dictator and spend your time defending your turf against all manner of fellow creatures, or you can be a compromiser and try to coexist peacefully with others, taking action only when the balance is threatened. Being the latter reduces time on the battle field but makes every decision complicated.

Take a dead tree for example.  We have several snags on our lot.  I recently had an arborist out to quote me for cleaning up our remaining buckthorn and he asked me if I wanted all those snags removed.  Now, if I wasn't concerned about wildlife I'd have had him take them all down, no other thought required.  However, we have a lot of woodpeckers on our little lot, including downy woodpeckers, who happen to live in dead trees.  So I want to be selective in which dead trees to remove.   

I love seeing and hearing the birds in our yard and I know they eat a lot of bugs so it's not just sentiment that makes me want to provide a haven for them.  They are worth it. 

Looks pretty pathetic with no snow...sigh....

So, only one will be coming down-an aspen felled a couple of weeks ago during our last bit of windy weather and snagged in an oak tree that I want to get pruned this winter.

Changing subjects...who would think that in January it'd be too warm to safely prune oaks? You probably already know, but oaks and elms should only be pruned in the winter so disease-carrying beetles don't get them.  I've seen the damage oak wilt can do to a neighborhood-it's scary!

Seriously, I love a 40 or 50 degree winter day as much as the next person but day after day?  It's gotta stop!  Bring on the cold...I've got yard work to do!

Hot Tubs Look Good in the Snow

Staying warm?  I'm trying to; anything below 20 and I avoid going outside if I can.  Guess I shouldn't be living in Wisconsin...

Anyhow, I think I promised to put up a picture of the neighbor's new hot tub, the crowning glory of his back yard landscaping renovation, and it is indeed glorious!  Hot tubs look good in the snow!  Now, I just have to figure out how to get an invite (insert scheming smile here).

Before it snowed I noticed that I have a lot of plants in my yard that haven't gone dormant yet.  And of those plants, a lot of them have purple or burgundy foliage.  I've scattered some pix of them throughout this post.

'Caitlin's Giant' Ajuga-bought some of these on clearance
 to try under my cedar out front; it's a tough spot-
even lamium and lamiustrum didn't care for it

January is starting off pretty quiet.  Not much new happening in my gardening life currently; we finished the retaining wall before the ground froze but not in time to plant the boxwoods I got on clearance late fall.

They are in my basement under a full spectrum lamp, along with some of my less-loved houseplants and outdoor tropicals.  It must be a pretty tortuous environment.  The cilantro plant I bought from the store died immediately after I put it down there.  My coleus starts also died pretty much as soon as I put them there; I guess I should have kept them in water on my kitchen windowsill a bit longer to build up the roots.  Too bad about the coleus, they were very pretty over the summer.

Some type of sundrops/primrose-
I didn't plant these so I don't have a tag for them

As for my Amaryllis; it doesn't want to go dormant this year.  Not sure what that's about. I'm wondering if it will bloom for me this year.  Last year it went dormant first before it put on new leaves and bloomed.

Buglossoides- these kept their color last year until the very end of winter

Other than trying to keep plants alive in the basement (it's cold down there but those plants are just too big and heavy to haul upstairs) I've been reading up on unrefrigerated cold-room food storage.  I think I'm going to dedicate some space in the basement for this purpose and give it a try.

Regular Heartleaf Bergenia-during the
summer I couldn't tell the regular from 'Eroica' (seen below);
however the difference in their fall color is striking

This winter I need to prune out the black knot fungus I found on most of the chokecherries in our side yard.  I also plan on taking down some big buckthorns.  I marked them with string earlier in the fall when they still had leaves.  I'm just not very skilled at winter tree identification.  There's always a winter tree ID class in late winter at the Retzer Nature Center but it's always on a weekend that I am unavailable.  Frustrating!

Other than that I don't have much gardening stuff to do other than drool over catalogues and draw out plans for the spring and summer plantings.  Oh, I even gathered up all my plant tags and sorted them.  They have their very own labeled plastic box now.  Ooh, I feel SO organized!

Well, gotta go and figure out how to get the fungus gnat infection I've got going in the house under control...

'Eroica' Heartleaf Bergenia's fall color

Happy Holidays!

Can you believe it's almost mid-December and I'm still puttering around outside weeding and such?  We've had a couple of decent frosts but the ground isn't frozen yet.  There's still some green foliage in my garden: columbine, bergenia, male fern, hellebore, thyme, lamium, and yes, that awful garlic mustard and motherwort.

Male fern grouped with hosta, false solomon's seal, wild geranium, solomon's seal and enchanter's nightshade this past spring

I am still surprised about how tough male fern has been in my garden; it's weird to see them still green in December.

Actually, they're one of three fern species that have done well for me this year:  Robust male fern, maidenhair fern (a native) and interrupted fern (another native).  All are in soil with an alkaline clay base naturally amended with neutralizing oak leaves, lots of root competition, and part to full shade.

The first ferns I planted were maidenhair, deer and male ferns. The deer fern struggled right from the start and by the second summer I gave up on it. Happily, the maidenhair went ahead and made itself right at home.  What a dainty beauty!

The two male ferns I planted also went ahead and carved out a place for themselves.  They haven't gotten tall but their clumps have expanded, despite no supplemental watering, in soil that isn't always moist.

It's hard to see here but if you look hard you can see the
brown fertile leaflets halfway up the fronds of this interrupted fern

I did not plant my interrupted ferns.   I didn't even know what they were when I found them in my front yard.  (Note:  Ontarioferns.com was the wonderful resource I used to determine what the heck they were)  Perhaps the previous owner planted them or maybe they showed up on their own.  Either way I don't give them much water and they have to compete with a tangled mass of spruce roots.

'Ghost' japanese painted fern and my other athyriums
seemed to need more moisture than my other ferns this year;
they did not like our drought-y fall

Some other ferns I've tried did not make it, maybe because the soil is too dry, or heavy and alkaline: every ostrich fern I tried quickly died.  I've got a cinnamon fern that is struggling along and the jury is out on the japanese ferns and other athyriums I've planted.   I hope these make it in my yard; deer and rabbits leave all my ferns alone (so far) and that is an endearing trait if ever there was one!

Puttering Around In November

Still a bit of color to be found in the November garden: smokebush, spirea, ninebark, daylilies and evergreens

I wasn't planning on blogging today.  I would never waste a warm day inside when its November, painfully aware that the next 4 months are going to be yucky and cold!  So I was out weeding this morning.  Yep, weeding.  (Still working on that garlic mustard and motherwort invasion I've got going on.)  Well, of course it starts raining and although I'm not against getting wet, it's not good to be tromping around on heavy clay soil when it's wet, so here I am, waiting for things to dry out a bit.

Some of my spireas turn reddish; others orange and yellow

There's not much color in my yard at the moment since most of my canopy trees are now leafless.  There are still a few sparks though.  My japanese spireas were looking quite fiery this morning and  I'd say that even my purple smokebush was smoldering a bit (oops, is that a pun?)   Actually the spireas paired with the yews make my front yard look like a tribute to the Packers!

I've got a couple kinds of diervilla scattered around the yard; some have nice fall color and some do not.   Not sure if its the different sun exposures or the varieties that are the cause.  Another bit of unexpected color is coming from my Kerria.  Their stems are a bright apple green.  Wasn't expecting that!

It's hard to believe smokebush is a native

I erected a chicken-wire enclosure around what's left of my oak-leaf hydrangea.  The deer damage looked pretty bad at first but after looking it over closer, it's just the tips and leaves that were eaten and there are still plenty of buds on each branch.  I know it's locking the barn door after the horses took off, but I'm hoping it'll recover if I keep the deer away from it for the rest of the winter.

Chickadees were out in force today but I didn't hear much else chittering in the trees. Haven't seen much squirrel or chipmunk activity either.  That's good because I also planted some bulbs today and I don't want those crafty little beasties watching where I put my Tarda tulips.

I'm trying something new this year: Snowflakes (Leucojum).  I thought I had purchased Snowdrops (Galanthus).  Oops!  That's ok though.  In fact, it might work out really well.  Although it sounds like cold hardiness may be an issue, the info I read on the 'net says they don't mind clay soil and a bit of dampness.  Also they are supposedly deer and rabbit resistant.  If it's true; I've hit the jackpot!  (We'll see what happens, I guess.)  I had been planning on planting daffodils in the woods but then decided they may not look right there.  I've still got time to get them in the ground if I change my mind.

Henry's Garnet Sweetspire can't decide
what fall color it wants to be

Well, the sun's back out; gonna go compost some tomato plants.  Later!

Japanese Maples Set Yard Ablaze

'viridis' cut-leaf japanese maple

We had our first snowflakes for the year today. Sadly, the weather that brought those fluffy flakes also brought strong winds that cleared most of the leaves from the trees in our yard.  It was a real pity because my two japanese maples had just turned color a few days ago, after our first frost.

Most of the fall color in my yard is yellow, with a smattering of red but almost no orange.  Luckily I've got  'Viridis', a cut-leaf japanese maple that turns from yellowy-green to bright orange in the fall-hot, hot, hot!     Not to be outdone, another cut-leaf maple, 'takeyuma' turns from a greenish-red to a red so bright it reminded me of the male cardinal that often comes to my cedar to eat berries.

I feel fortunate to have seen the show, even if only for a few days, because right before the maples changed color, deer came through my yard on a mission of destruction.  They ate my oak leaf hydrangea almost to the ground, reshaped my arborvitae (which they've never touched before) and, worst of all, they ripped apart the weeping mulberry that was my splurge purchase for the year.   These plants weren't on their trail and in a part of the yard that isn't easy to get to, so I was shocked at the damage.  It's a miracle that they didn't go after the maples too, which I had also purposely planted on hilly areas near the house to minimize their accessibility.  Needless to say, I was spraying Liquid Fence like a fiend the next morning.

'takeyuma' doesn't keep it's red color
in the summer shade but I like it anyway

When I was gardening in central Wisconsin, I pined for the chance to grow Japanese maples.  I've heard that they only last a few years before succumbing to the cold but now that I can grow them, I can't imagine not having a couple around.





There's a garden in Rockford, Illinois that is a must-see in October if you like Japanese maples.  Anderson Japanese Garden is a highly-rated Japanese garden that is lovely in the fall.  Once those maples change color,  Wowza!  It's like an electric shock seeing them beauties!

Cut-leaf maple leaves are so feathery!

Puffballs from Mars

My youngest isn't convinced about
this Giant Puffball's tastiness

What a surprise!  A couple of weeks ago (beginning of October) after many days of rain, rain and more rain, strange luminous round things  were found lurking in my woods.  Giant Puffball Mushrooms from Mars!  (At least that's what they looked like...alien beings.)

Turns out Giant Puffballs are found all over southeastern Wisconsin and they are edible!  Well, they are edible when they are firm and solidly white on the inside.  If they are green or yellow on the inside, they are no longer edible.

My parents were visiting at the time and my father came in from the yard all excited, with a white mushroom the size of a volleyball in his arms.  It was the biggest puffball mushroom I had ever seen (turns out that it actually wasn't all that big compared to some of them) and I watched with skepticism as my dad proceeded to slice it up and fry it with some butter in the pan.

Before he was able to eat it, I quickly checked on the 'net to verify his claim that giant puffballs really were edible.  "Dead Dad" wasn't the souvenir I wanted from their weekend visit.  (We've already had the "Mangled Dad Taken To Emergency Room" visit.)

Looks like tofu...

It had the consistency of tofu and a very mild flavor.  We all liked it except my husband.  He ate some of the raw mushroom by mistake and didn't like it.  He didn't care much for the cooked version either.  He's a Morel man through-and-through, I guess.

Anyhow, having another edible mushroom on the property was exciting for all of us.  A nice surprise.

Also a surprise this Fall were some perennials in the yard.  I never noticed this in catalogue descriptions but my "Fireworks" goldenrod turned out to be fragrant.  Not smack-you-upside-the-head fragrant like a lilac, but scented enough that my whole prairie patch smelled faintly like vanilla.  All sorts of insects swarmed its blossoms while it bloomed.  In fact, I'm going to have to move it next spring because it got so tall that you had to move its flowerheads out of the way when walking on the path near it.  A scary proposition when the flowerheads are covered with various bees.

Snakewort: also a woodland native
but this particular plant is a cultivar

It's late October now and my Snakeroot is still in full bloom.  In my shade garden, it's a really late bloomer and I love it's small, fuzzy white flowers.  That's another plant that was literally covered with insects.  I guess they love the flowers too.

My blue-stem goldenrods bloomed very nicely; I tried to bring some into the house for a vase but they didn't work very well.  Better for vase-work were my marigolds and zinnias.  They've been looking amazing this fall.  My nasturtiums are just gorgeous right now too.  Their variegated foliage and yellow, orange and red flowers look wonderful surrounded by falling leaves.

Yummy and beautiful!  What more can you ask for?

I used to grow nasturtiums in Pardeeville, several varieties in fact.  Those flowers tended to have a peppery taste.  The ones I grew this year have a distinct radish-y taste.  They sure look pretty in a salad but, Wow!  Strong!  Unfortunately, these are from seed leftover from years ago and unlabeled so I don't know the variety.  "Alaska" maybe?

Still going strong in the back yard are my maidenhair and robust male ferns, my sweet woodruff (still putting up new leaves, despite some COLD weather) and, strangely, my variegated solomon's seal.  The native solomon's seal are looking ratty and going dormant.  I wonder if it's because the natives set fruit and the variegated kind didn't?

After a week's plus worth of rain, the deer came through and cleared out my hosta, lady's mantle and wild geraniums.  They must have been hungry because they also nibbled my pulmonarias, which surprised me.

Another nasty surprise was how bad my spruces were affected by rhizosphera this year.  I had read somewhere that it would be a bad year for foliar disease due to the cold, rainy spring we had but I was totally unprepared for how much needle loss there was.  I had the kids sweep up as many needles as they could and I limbed up many of the spruces to increase air flow.  Once winter comes, I'll lay down a thick layer of mulch; hopefully that'll help.  I know that the spruces need to go (the wrong trees planted the wrong way in the wrong spot) but so many birds and critters depend on them!

Blue Stem Goldenrod: a woodland native

The same goes for that cedar in my front yard;  the cedar waxwings, robins and yellow-rumped warblers are on the move now and they swarm that tree every year.

The front yard would look better if I took it down but I don't have the heart to do so.  Even though my front walk is covered in little frosty blue berries that stain the cement green.  Even though I have to cover my windows on the outside with papers to keep those stupid waxwings from hitting the glass.

All the other birds can see the window clings that are normally present on our windows (we use the black hawk clings and the clear, frosted clings) but the waxwings obviously don't get it.  They try to fly past them; they do it to the papers too.  We look like a family of pyschos with our windows covered up like that.  I need a better idea; if you have a suggestion I'm all ears...of course, looking like psychos isn't a bad thing with Halloween coming 'round the corner.  Maybe I'll have the kids cut the papers into the shapes of ghosts or something.  Call it my holiday decorating effort!

One of the critters that loves our spruce trees
(uh, that's not a spruce tree in the picture though)

Anyhow, hope you are all done getting ready for winter.  I haven't even planted my fall bulbs yet.  Actually, I haven't even purchased my fall bulbs yet.  Maybe this week...

Kids are back in school and I'm back in the garden!

The gray headed coneflowers
are getting pretty floppy now

Summer vacation may be over but the temps are still pretty steamy around here.  Not really the kind of weather I like for working outside, so I've been cruising the various nurseries looking for bargains on perennials and woodies.  I picked up some nice-sized panicum "Prairie Sky" at Menard's for 50 cents each.  I don't always have luck planting grasses in the fall but figured I'd give 'em a shot since they were crazy cheap.

It blows my mind that more people don't do fall planting.  (About the only stuff I don't fall-plant are plants that are at the edge of hardiness in my zone.)  There are lots of deals out there right now so I've got quite the pile of plants that need to get in the ground as soon as possible.  In the mix are some Kerria shrubs I found at Piala's*.  I'm nervous about planting them now because they are hardy only to zone 5 but I spent all summer trying to find a place that carried them so I am going for it.  Wish me luck!

Despite all the hot and dry weather,
my Diane Claire pulmonaria are still looking great

I sure hope they survive.  The plant man told me that they were all the rage several years ago because Oprah had some. Obviously they didn't retain their popularity.  I'm guessing that people were putting them in full sun and so they didn't do well, or maybe it was their suckering habit.  (I've found some forum threads discussing how aggressive kerria can be.  Since I garden on a hillside and have the space, I don't think I'll mind the suckering.

I'm still pulling new garlic mustard seedlings.  It sucks 'cuz I found several that went to seed over the summer; not sure how I missed them while weeding.  They sure are hard to weed out now.  The stems get really dry and thin above ground once things get drought-y and they tend to break off easily.  Still, I feel like I've made real progress in the back yard. I now even have a planting plan and have a very specific shopping list.  Very happy about that!

My front shrub border a few weeks ago

Saw so many butterflies this summer.  Whites are still checking out my nepeta daily.  It seems to be their fav.  The goldenrods are blooming now; they are so pretty!  I don't know what kind they are because they just sort of showed up in my yard.  They look like fireworks.  Japanese beetles have been awful lately; I've been squishing them with my foot but there are just too many.

The kids went back to school today so I'm hoping for a couple of weeks of awesome gardening weather so I can get the rest of the back yard beds mulched and do some shuffling around with the plants in my front yard. I want to hit the ground running next spring.

Sammy Russell daylilies are almost
done now but they did well this year

*Piala's is just outside Waukesha and had a nice selection of trees and shrubs.  I thought they were a bit pricey but it was still fun looking around.  I was just there earlier in the week and they had peacocks and chickens running around.  The peacocks even had chicks with them.  Cute little fluffballs!