Last year I planted a European Cranberrybush Viburnum grafted tree.
It’s suppose to bloom in the spring…which it did….and then follow up with some nice red fall color. However, I saw something today….mind you….it’s July 27th.
Was that suppose to happen? Am I suppose to have blooms in the middle of the summer? It’s okay..I’ll take them….but I’m just kinda curious…is this right?
kk
The Armeria packed a hellova punch this year.
just setting buds
in full flower power glory
This year the flowers lasted at least a month! Couldn’t believe it! There are a couple different varieties of Armeria but they are a great addition to any bed edge border.
But once the flowers are spent…what’s a girl to do?
blah
Usually I tell people not to bother with trimming the dead blooms…I’ve got too much other stuff to do. But since I’ve got such a mass grouping of them, the front landscape would look much better without the spent buds.
Do you deadhead your perennials?
Once clipped (with no rhyme or reason)…they resemble a lil grass tuff…and I kinda think that’s cute.
Happy Planting!
kk
Every winter the cabin fever comes quicker, the tedious 8-5 runs longer, and the snow gets colder in anticipation of spring.
It’s the awakening of a new year.
The scent of a new era.
Spring is my favorite season.
But she’s got me in a choke hold, sucking all the life out of my creative cavity. I can’t think past 10 minutes ago. Where does a Garden Grunt go for inspiration? Where do you go? Sometimes I go to my google reader…and this is how she helps me……..Studio G
Rochelle always finds the coolest garden trinkets. I anxiously anticipate her blog posts…always something to learn…always something to inspire you.
Go over and check out her blog…you’re going to feel inspired….I promise.
Happy Planting
kk
Today I got to take a trip to Napa Valley. Not the Napa Valley that’s making your mouth salivating right now….not the Napa Valley that offers “grape punch” beyond your taste buds’ dreams. No, I’m talking about the Napa Valley located just south of Waukee, nestled in a little piece of Iowa’s heaven. These people got it growing on! Here’s just a sample of the spring awakening in their landscapes:
Gro-Low Sumac underlying the Crabapple and amplifying the bed's edge
Gro-Low Sumac underlying Staghorn Sumac at the same residence
Giant patch of Ligularia basking in its shady glory
Ligularia patch on the opposite side of the drive
Pathway thru Dwarf Korean Lilacs and Ajuga
Mass plantings of Ajuga and Japanese Painted Fern
And finally..the one piece of Napa Valley that made me stop dead in my rubber tracks was this lil hut. Too bad I couldn’t get a closer look
Lil garden hut...at least that's what I'm imagining.....Happy Planting!
Have you smelled what’s floating through the air lately? No..I’m not talking about that occasional rancid odor that burns your nose hairs throughout the streets of downtown Des Moines. I’m talking about the flower packed Crabapples peppered throughout this city.
This is one smell I’d be glad to have my sniffer stuck in at any time.
And with any luck, I can convince Jay to plant one in our garden. I’m hoping for a Royal Raindrops Crabapple.
Go out and plant yourself a Crabapple! You won’t be sorry!
Happy Planting!
Katie
Last week Jay and I hired our employer TimberPine to help get our Fort Knox off to a good start. We really wanted large specimen trees that could create the barrier we were craving. That being said, they were so large that we couldn’t handle them without a machine. We were blessed to have gotten foreman Leroy Hall and his crew to plant our Autumn Brilliance Serviceberries.
Here’s how TimberPine does it:
A tracked skidloader augers the hole
Omar ensures the hole is dug to the depth of the tree's rootball
Leroy transports the tree from the truck to the hole
Omar looks for guidance from me to ensure he's got the right "face" forward
The crew works the same scenario for the remaining two trees and then return to each to backfill.
And water them in.
A look back at all three trees
And finally, an overview of phase one to our Fort Knox:
Previously I wrote about the initial steps I took to plan out these planting beds. The Autumn Brilliance Serviceberries will plat a BIG role in Fort Knox. We chose them for a couple reasons:
I’m anxious to start filling in the gaps. I believe the next insert will be some Flame Grass. Any other suggestions?
Happy Planting!
kk
I fell in love with Bergenia last spring I believe. And this year, I found one more reason to drool.
This is how my Winterglow Bergenia looked after being buried under 5-6ft of snow for the better half of the winter.
BLAH.
You’ll notice their fall color remained. And it’s hard to miss the pancaked foliage. I thought for sure I’d have to cut them back and start all over. Thankfully I was lazy long enough to see this last week:
The foliage just bounced right back into place. Didn’t have to do a thing.
Never mind the rough looking foliage…that’s as a result of the long winter. New growth is already sprouting in good form.
AND! AND! Their buds are almost ready to burst! They’re packing quite the punch this year.
The real reason I overuse the Bergenia is for it’s awesome fall color…..
Bergenia just setting on its fall color
the large, textured leaves and the petite little stature it retains. This one is great for the border of any planting bed~AND works the best in the shade! You can’t beat that.
Have you used Bergenia yet? Might want to think about it…..just saying.
Happy Planting!
Katie
Spring seems to have come a little early this year? I mean 70s in April? We sure deserve it after the winter we struggled through. So it’s Maintenance Time boys!
I suggest you do most if not ALL your trimming/pruning in the spring. Most plants prefer a spring trim and in fact, if you cut back on plants such as roses, you may do worse by them.
Follow along as I make Jay get down and dirty in the garden…..while I film….him trimming back our ornamental grasses
and diagnosing what’s still alive after the rabbits had their way with the shrub roses.
If you have any specific questions about what to cut….what not to cut (the lilacs by the way…leave them alone until they bloom) just spill em! I’ll let you know what to take the pruners to!
Happy Planting!
I’m not sure how you garden, but I grunt a lot. Not because the load is heavy, or I’m having a hard time getting down in the dirt (although that sometimes is the case), my grunts generally come subconsciously while I’m contemplating my next garden move.
Sometimes I’ve gotta get down and dirty to figure it out…sometimes I just have to sit back and ponder, visualize. But whatever the task…whatever the garden…I’m happy to be doing the grunt work to make it pop.
Through this grunting, I hope to enlighten you with tidbits of garden inspiration, what NOT to do based on my struggles and possibility some general, useless information~
Thank you for the read and may your gardening journeys be filled with plenty of gruntin!
Happy Planting
Katie
