Hosta Shuffling, Turkeys and Limelights!

Well- here we are in the late summer heading for fall very quickly!  The impatiens have really spread out and until we have a frost they'll stay about like this.  Our evenings have been cooling into the mid 50's so we're already having those crisp mornings!  

I guess I should say I am never done with projects.  I bought a few more hostas (yes I did!) and decided I needed to make a change with some of the ones I have.  I dug from this area and moved a group of hostas to the other side and also relocated a few in this area.

Not a great picture but you can see the ferns on the right side earlier this summer.  They are a pretty accent.

Unfortunately the ferns are on the decline at this time of year and I decided that I needed to reduce how many I have especially since each year they are traveling into more territory and now infringing on the hostas to the left..  I dug out all of them in this 6 ft. wide section which was no joy.  It took a lot of digging because they have runners that can go quite a ways and pop up.  Just about when you think you are done there's more!

I took several hostas from that area I first showed and added them to this curved wall area.  Sorry it's so messy but that's how it goes.

On this side I put in a new one- the taller dark green one that is just about centered here is called "Hump Back Whale" and it's going to be quite a big one when it matures.

Here's a close up.  I found it at a garden center that was offering 40% off and it was a huge plant already so I'm tickled about that.

I dug up a few more of the hostas and set them in a row so they'll make a nice display next year.

These are the other two I bought on the discount.  They are called "Albiqua Drinking Gourd" I really ravaged the area.  Stepping on the ground cover and digging.  It'll all be good next year!

I bought some mums a couple of weeks ago.  We've had so much rain and little sun so they're just now starting to show their colors.  I bought them purposely with no open flowers to get the most time out of them.  There's an orange toned one, lavender, deep burgundy and yellow.

The wild turkey's have been visiting a lot lately.  I snapped these pics from the bedroom window so they're not real high quality.

I always think of that movie "Field of Dreams" when the baseball players come out of the corn field and then when they go back in they disappear.  These guys do that too!  All of a sudden one comes walking out and then more follow.  You just don't see them until that moment and when they go back in they seemingly disappear!  

I came out to get the mail and had to snap a picture of this Limelight shrub.  It always performs so well and doesn't mind our harsh winters.  

Glorious!

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Dishing It & Digging It

Oops I did it again!

I said in a recent post I was done with projects and it was time to kick back and relax but I found yet another project to do!

Out back is a large clump maple tree.  It has a fast sloping side down to a flat area that we travel through frequently.  We've kept it covered with mulch for years and i recently decided to add hostas to it.

I added more hostas and then even more!

My design idea is that the smaller ones below will create a ribbon like border below the larger hostas above.  In time this will be quite full and the hostas will be large enough to all touch each other.

Centered is an Autumn Frost hosta (white edged) framed with two Stained Glass Hostas (bright lime green) and just above them are some real tall ones called Angels that have a green edge and white center.  The bottom row are called Bedazzled.  I found them in little pots for around $5 at a garden center.  I'm tempted to go lower with more but I should be patient and see how this looks next year!

The big cement leaf (up on the right) was a gift from Dan's sister.  She molded a leaf in sand with cement and made them.  I usually have some water sitting in it and it gets emptied frequently.  There is a hemlock to the far right that will be moved this fall.  It started all by itself (likely from a pine cone in our mulch) and Dan insisted on keeping it not knowing what it was.  It will become way too large to stay there so it has to get transplanted.

I brought in a long hose that sprinkles the area.  It's not working out all that well but it helps.  This is an evening shot when a the sun hits it for a little while.

  

So Ooops I did it again!  

All Dressed In white

I was visiting Kris @ Junk Chic Cottage the other day and enjoying her review of previous garden posts and it got me thinking that I could put together a little cottage white vignette!  I got Dan to bring out one of my tall white planters from the deck to help me with my design.  

This is an old cast iron white garden bench we had re-finished last year.  If you'd like you can visit the post where I introduced it "here".

Miss Kitty presides over the area keeping the mice under control (well not really but it's a good thought). 😊

This white dove statue has been with me for a good while.  I bought it from Pier 1 in 2010 and it was finished with the strangest two tone finish that looked like camouflage (what were they thinking) so I knew I was going to paint it as soon as I bought it.  I first made it look like it was more of a bronze finish then updated it to white later on.  Take a look at it "here" in it's original form-  you'll probably agree- what were they thinking!

This is that planter on the deck.   The white wax begonia's have really taken off- so much so that I'm going to give them a trim job but I love how summery this looks! 

Along the pathway I'm so happy that this "Sunny Azores" oriental lil is blooming.  I was thrilled that the voles didn't eat it (like the one before it) and how nicely it's blooming.  Last year it looked like it was genetically defective!  I did fertilize it a few times so I'm sure that helped.  

These are really pretty showy flowers.  

On the patio are a pair of big cement urns that I filled with a New Guinea Impatiens and surrounded it with "Snow Princess" white alyssum.  Its finally looking like what I imagined.  

These hostas (called Minuteman) have a sharp white margin and a pretty green center.  They are listed as "slug resistent" which really has to do with the thick corrugated texture of the leaf.  

The Annabelle's are a favorite.  They're actually starting to turn green at this point but to keep this post white I used this photo from 2 weeks ago. 

The White Chips Campanula and white Cranesbill  (perennial geranium) have merged together here.  

The white Shasta Daisies have been blooming for a couple of weeks and I've enjoyed seeing them.  Something about Daisies always seems so happy. 

My Pinky Winky hydrangea looks the best ever.  It seems like some hydrangeas take years to get established.  I nearly gave up on it and dug it out last year. 

It's starting to turn pink and will eventually get a nearly maroon color to the base area. 

Lastly again the white planters on the deck.  It was a beautiful morning and I noticed the sun shining on the purple fountain grass so I had to capture a picture!

I hope you enjoyed my "All Dressed In White" post!

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Watering and Fertilizing

I have my garden sprinkler running before the sun is on the plants out back (it's down the path on a green tripod) I feel the plants get a better watering when I do it this way vs. me trying to hand do it all.  I let the sprinkler go for at least an hour so it saturates the soil nicely. 

I'm excited about this product this year.  This is a liquid fertilizer by Espoma and all you do is turn the bottle over, let it empty one dose or two depending on the size of your watering can and add water.  2 doses is recommended for a one gallon watering can.  No fussing with scoops or measuring. 

I took a snapshot of their video showing how to use is.  You don't even squeeze- it falls out in a pre-selected amount once you turn it over.  I couldn't find it locally so I ordered it on Amazon.

(I am not compensated- just sharing my favorite fertilizer brands)

Their granular fertilizer is great.  If you only wanted to buy one product I would buy this one.  I fertilize my perennials with it.

If you have hollys, hydrangeas, rhodendrons or camellias that are acid loving plants this is a great fertilizer too.  This one won't adjust the color to go blue like the one below will though.

I use this one on my Endless Summer hydrangeas to richen up the color and for the chance to turn the flowers more blue.  I seem to get a light purple and pink most of the time.  We have a very alkaline soil so it takes a bit of work to keep mine from being all pink!

This is great for the perennials that flower.  All of these products stay with the plant a lot longer than the liquid versions to so you don't have to fertilize repeatedly. 

I give my one and only rose a good dose of this and keep it well watered.  Roses love water!  Keeping plants healthy with some kind of fertilizing helps them resist disease and they produce a lot more plant and flower.  I also put in a slow release fertilizer in the soil when I plant my annuals but annuals love love love to be fertilized.  

If you hate being bothered fertilizing- at least add this to your soil or any other brand you can find.  I know the potting sole often comes with fertilizer but it's really not enough to last the summer and this is a good alternative.

A few people have asked me about how I get my hostas to do so well.  I've been incredibly lucky with them even as far as slugs go (that's what usually eats holes in them).  After reading up on it- it turns out slugs don't like alkaline soil which is what I have.  If you have a more acidic solid you are likely to have a lot more problems with slugs.   I have been adding hardwood mulch to my beds for many years and it has broken down and created a rich organic soil which they love.  

I found this article by another blogger (Kevin Lee Jacobs-A Garden For the House-A Garden For the House) that you can read "How to keep slugs and snails away".  

Per his advice (inexpensive way to deal with this problem) is to get a bag of lime and make circles around the plants.  The slugs won't cross it.  (I copied this picture from the article I mentioned above) You can even put it around tomatoes and other veges. that you might be struggling with.  After I showed Dan this article he remembered his dad doing this on the farm with their vegetable garden many years ago.  Some people go out in the evening and hand picked the slugs off but that could be difficult especially when you have as many hostas as I do.  The best way to deal with them is to prevent them from getting on the plants in the first place.

Well it was sunny but now it's darkened outside since we're about to get rained on!  Wouldn't you know I just watered my flowers!

Whatever brand you choose make sure you fertilize your annuals with something- it really does make a difference!  Remember how fantastic they look when you bring them home- they didn't get that way with just water!

Happy fertilizing and watering!

A walk through the backyard...ready for Memorial Day

Hello everyone! 

Are you ready for this upcoming long holiday weekend (those of us in the U.S. that is)?

I'm ready to putter around the gardens and have some grilled food and relax. 

 I've been running some sprinklers since it's been so dry lately.  We finally got some rain last night.  The hostas are filling out fast.  

The Jack Frost Brunnera have gotten a lot larger but aren't covered in as many blooms as they usually are.  I've always enjoyed this plant because it continues to grow larger and bloom for about a month.   

These are already getting larger .  The patio is messy- well everything is.  The trees have been dropping their seeds and there's pollen on everything.  We should be getting more rain on and off over the next few days so perhaps it will wash away the pollen.

The turkeys have been fun to watch but have been destructive.  I picked up a cheap roll of wire fencing and Dan and I made sort of a random pattern around these hostas.  They've been clawing so much they've sort of shredded these hostas.    I'm going to have to be less welcoming to them from now on.  

Look closely at the bird bath-  they dirty it up the something awful- even leaving feces!  Yuck... I took this before I got my planters filled last weekend. 

This lemon yellow Lantana is great for attracting butterflies.  I found this German Ivy at the store and decided to try it.  It's already grown a lot so I think it will be an easy one to take care of.  

Further back you can see the "Hosta hill" has really taken off.   The Sweet Woodruff is blooming like crazy.

 I took this late in the day yesterday.  That's a Sum and Substance Hosta in the forefront, an On Stage hosta on the left with the yellow and green mix, and at the back is the Empress Wu that keeps getting larger each year. These are my largest hostas.

I planted this red/white star impatiens along the border.  They had gotten a little leggy and are just starting to bloom again.  I'm looking forward to seeing them take off and start blooming like crazy!

This miniature iris seems to have a mind of it's own.  It's moved up the hill as the years have gone by.  The Creeping Jenny has moved in all over the place.

I made a path for the garden cart to wheel in and out of several years ago and I lined the one side with a bunch of these "June" hostas that I had found super cheap at Home Depot.  They've continued to do well and have gotten larger.  The Sweet Woodruff has moved in along the path- I just pull the cart right over it and it doesn't seem to care. If I was a perfectionist I'd be yanking it out...but I'm not.  I love to see things naturalize a space.

Looking over towards the fountain.  I think we can finally turn it on because I believe the trees are done dropping their seeds.  We'll get to it this weekend.

I took these pictures early this morning- aren't the ferns pretty!  I love how they've spread on their own. Every so often I have to remove some but it's not hard.

I found another coleus I mixed in the center of my big dairy planter.  It's so interesting how many varieties there are of coleus.  

 I showed this the other day.  Dan is going to clean up the 2nd plant stand I have and I already filled another copper planter so it's ready to pop in it when he's done.

This one will sit by the house where it will get party sun/shade.

Last December when my brother in-law passed away I brought home this planter from the funeral which had some household plants in it.  They were doing pretty well but it was always my intention to re-plant it and have it outdoors.  I think it's sweet.  There is a blue ageratum in the center, with some violas along the side and this Wojo's Jem vinca vine.    I think of Jim each time I look at it.

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Have a great weekend and take time to remember those who sacrificed the ultimate for our country.

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