Plant fever

I was rather smug about my self-control over ordering plants from catalogs - just a few cup plants and a dozen common milkweed. But then I made in-person visits to two nurseries and came home with more than I intended. At one nursery, it was not crowded and I spent too much time wandering the aisles. At the other nursery, I felt rushed and grabbed plants without thinking. I'll list them all in a later post, as I'm a bit tired today from trying to get most of them planted.

Here is an example of an impulse purchase. I am not a fan of geraniums in general, BUT. Sometimes I find the intense color of their blossoms irresistable. This one caught my eye and followed me home.

And here is an example of what I planned to purchase: some coleus for the front porch planter. This is a "sun coleus" - the porch gets rather intense morning sun.

Last year I tried to grow ornamental sweet potato in hanging baskets with limited success. In fact, the success was limited to this planter on the north side of the shed. This year I decided to try "wave" petunias there instead. The vertical fish is a ceramic piece I made as a watering aid - water goes in the mouth and out some holes at the bottom.

And a few pix of some current blooms in the yard:

Columbine - up close and personal

Dame's rocket

I just read that there is a work day planned at a local preserve where they plan to eradicate dame's rocket. Of all the invasive plants to target, this one seems rather innocuous. Better to tackle ornamental pears and garlic mustard.

In the past few years, I have tried to grow perennials in containers, with some success. But I'm tired of having to water the containers and store the containers in the garage in the winter. And the plastic containers are starting to fall apart. Last summer I transplanted some penstemon, and it is doing quite well. Today I transplanted some catmint from one container into the coneflower bed where there was a bit of a gap. I also transplanted a miniature butterfly bush into the same bed where there was another gap. Interestingly, the root systems of these plants were not very developed. The remaining dirt in the pots went onto low spots in the lawn where water puddles after a rain.

I think I heard baby bird cheeps from the bluebird house today. While I have let all the other bird feeders run dry, I had planned to keep putting out mealworms for the bluebirds... until I saw that the sparrows are eating the mealworms. They don't usually do that, are probably gathering food for their young, but hey. Not allowed.

Rain garden or vernal pond?

We received another inch of rain last night, so now the rain garden is full. Again. When the last rainfall finally drained away, I had to reseat several plants; I think one of the dogs got in there, so I also reinforced the fencing around it as well. Now I'm hoping they all survive a second dunking. More rain is forecast this week. I'm wondering if my rain garden is going to be more of a vernal pond.

Despite the rainy, cold weather earlier this week, I visited two local nurseries. I purchased two bleeding heart plants from Arbor Farms on Monday. Tuesday I hit up Stuckeys for sweet potato vine, black eyed Susan vine, a couple of tomato plants, some basil, coleus, and rudbekia. Yesteday two honeysuckle vines arrived from Brushwood Nursery. Last summer I purchased just a handful of plants because of the redo of the landscaping, and late, so there wasn't much to choose from. I didn't want that to happen this year. I should be all set.

The weather has improved now, so I planted grass seed in the area north of the house where nothing but plantain has grown for years. With the arborvitae gone, sunshine will reach that area, at least part of the day. All this rainy weather means I won't have to water it so often.

Sparrows have been sneaking into the mealworm feeder, so I purchased a cylinder of "nesting" food to lure them away. That disappeared in a matter of days, thanks to the starlings. If I buy another cylinder, I am going to also purchase a starling-proof cage to put around that feeder.

A bluebird was trying to get into the wren house. After mentioning that to my son, he gifted me with a bluebird box (early Mother's Day gift). He selected one that is supposed to be sparrow-resistant. Today's chore will be to install it in the backyard. I hope it is not too late. (A wren is now building a nest in its house, and singing up a storm.)

In the middle of the afternoon this past week, I saw a raccoon climbing the corner of a neighbor's shed. I tried to get a photo, but the rascal slipped inside the shed through a hole under the eaves. I take the mealworm feeder in most nights because of raccoons, but I think this one has been cleaning out the feeder I have for the squirrels.

Do you think I need signs everywhere in my yard? THIS food is for bluebirds, THIS feeder is for the squirrels, THIS box is for the wrens, DON'T knock over the bird bath, etc.

Now for some eye candy.

'Prairie Fire' crabapple

Volunteer violets

Wild geranium blossom

Blue star blossoms

Blue star

Chokeberry blossoms

I am loving the golden ragwort in the front of the house. It is not even one year old yet, but going to town. It blooms about the same time as daffodils, but lasts so much longer. Next year, those beds will be absolutely packed.

When the bloom is done, I'll prune back the flower stems.

I think our last frost date is past, so it's time to transplant some of those plants I mentioned above, except for the tomatoes and sweet potato vine. I knew to keep the tomatoes inside for a while, but unthinkingly left the sweet potato vines on the deck. They were not happy, but they perked up after a few hours under a grow light. I'll hold back on transplanting them for another week or so.

Broken record

Sometimes, just for fun, I take a gander at old blog posts, to see what's changed over the years. One thing that has not changed is my complaining about the weather in February. So let's skip that part this time and look forward to spring.

Another newcomer to the front yard will be prairie alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii). I've grown a few heuchera plants with spotty success. This plant should act as a ground cover while flowering in spring on stalks that are 1-2' tall. It is beneficial to both butteflies and hummingbirds.

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) likes shade and that is what it will get, tucked behind the Japanese maple and in a corner near the front porch. It spreads by rhizomes but is not aggressive. If I take the trouble to deadhead the flowers, the plants should bloom from spring into early summer. Mourning doves like them, as do deer, but if I see a deer that up close and personal, I will be surprised.

Winter is a good time to repot houseplants, but the bag of potting soil is in the garden shed, frozen solid. The backyard has been too treacherous to try lugging it anywhere warmer, so the houseplants will have to wait. Well, all but the xmas cactus. I have a small bag of cactus and citrus potting soil inside, only because it never made it back to the shed. So one houseplant down, at least five or six to go.

Let's try Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

I've seen others post as part of the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and decided to give it a try. I would not describe my yard as being colorful right now, but there actually are a lot of plants in flower or just starting their bloom period.

First up are the Early Wave 'Velour Red' petunias among the sweet potato vines, high in the sky on the pergola. Last year's candidates for these planters were a FAIL. I think the petunias will not be returning, as I have to climb a ladder in order to dead head them.

The 'Betty Corning' clematis are hitting their stride. Next year, the trellis supports will be replaced with 72" tall, 24" wide tuteurs (recently purchased, on sale at Gardeners Supply). Also, I may limit the number of vines growing up from the base - these plants get HUGE.

Most gardeners may consider fleabane to be a weed, but I have come to appreciate it in limited quantities. It is a native, blooms all summer long, and comes back on its own.

I truly love the coral color of the 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle vine. Unfortunately, it is rather hidden from general view. Currently, the vine is climbing right over the privacy fence. I'd like to train it to stay on this side.

Catmint is a reliable summer bloomer. This is 'Walkers Low'. Bees love it.

The newbie 'Miss Violet' butterfly bush is "sleeping" (first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap) as it develops a healthy root system. But it still produces blooms despite its youth.

For some reason, the raspberry patch is full of four-foot-tall red clover. Despite my cleaning up this patch every year, all kinds of stuff competes with the brambles, to the point I am abandoning it after this year's harvest.

This it the second year for the lanceleaf coreopsis. It survived attacks by rabbits and woodchucks and is now blooming semi-profusely. Love seeing that cheery yellow.

The tiger lilies are just starting; this might be 'Orange Star'. At one point, I moved them all to one bed, more as a survival strategy than a design technique. Now I would like to scatter them around the yard.

I've had this 'Avant-Garde' clematis for a long time. In previous years, I let it flop over the garden gate, but that garden gate is gone now. It too will get a tuteur next year, a little smaller than Betty's.

After the tulip fiasco, I planted sweet alyssum in containers and added a pink geranium for a burst of color. The geranium is not working out as I had hoped, so I may add some zinnias.

The pink geraniums and petunias on the front porch are doing fine, though. I used to concentrate on yellows in the front yard, to contrast with all the purple-leaved plants, shrubs, and trees, but this year I discovered pink works well, too.

The 'Zagreb' coreopsis is just starting. Not only is this the most resilient coreopsis I have ever grown, the clumps are now spreading.

The 'Route 66' coreopsis seems to have disappeared, but there is still one clump of 'Tequila Sunrise'.

This is a migrant yucca, able to leap broad sidewalks in a single bound. It gets more sun than its parent clump. It is also destined to be removed - naughty plant has boundary issues.

This might be 'Francis Williams', the first hosta to bloom this year. Last summer I tried to identify all the hostas in my yard, but many remain a mystery.

Once upon a time, I had 12 (TWELVE) Stella d'Oro daylilies in my front yard. I gave away most of them, but a few clumps remain. Now I am feeling more kindly toward them, plan to divide and spread them around again, as they are a great source of yellow.

Gout weed is not a flashy bloomer; I'm just glad five of the six plants I planted under the 'Limelight' hydrangea survived. The goal is for these survivors to spread all around the hydrangea but go no farther. Lots a luck, right?

Today I purchased a few more plants in bloom, some marigolds in pots to go under the purple smoke bush, as the little zinnias there are not thriving, and a shasta daisy to replace the one that did not survive being transplanted last year.

And that's about it for now. How is your garden blooming?

Calliope

I'm not a geranium person, but I purchased one last spring because I loved the color of the flowers. As long as I remembered to water it, this Calliope hybrid continued to bloom all summer long. Once freezing weather threatened, I decided to bring it inside, to see if I could keep it alive until next year (not always a sure thing in my household).

Not only is it alive, it is blooming. Nice!