Monday, May 29, 2023

What's Bloomin' in Midwest Gardening 2023

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Good Morning, first hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. We celebrated with family yesterday, and it was lovely in the low 70's and we even roasted marshmallows at dusk. 

But yesterday early, I ran around the yard and took some quick photos...of what is in bloom!


We are just budding out after a very late dreary Spring, and we are already in drought here, but everything is busting out with diligent watering. Portulaca or Moss Roses in a pot. A bit of this and that in the earn. The stars here are the Hosta bursting in this shade bed.


These I grew from rootings from Home depot 2 years ago...they are huge this year.


I had to support all my Iris, with the dry winds, so many tipped over and broke, they are in the house in vases. We will have a few more next week, I personally like the foliage as a great contrast against the brick.  Plant in lower left is a transplanted Phlox grown from a root start. Crossing my fingers. Newly purchased Shasta Daisy is just opening. I had a much lower budget this year, but we lost so many perennials with the freeze and thaw winter. So I moved a lot of things around, and did purchase a couple replacements.



This front bed has several types of Day Lilies, Boxwood and Iris in the back, and Sedums in the front row which are very drought tolerant.


Another gorgeous IRIS, this one soaked up the sun and no adjusting of the photo could bring out the details...so pretty and tall!


These are my favorite, classic Iris, I've long forgotten the varieties. 


Out on the mound near the street, nothing is blooming YET, except these little pom-pom perrennials I just planted. In two weeks there should be several plants flowering. I've given up planting annuals out here as it just bakes in the sun. Perennials have deeper root systems and seem to survive better. I did loose a Hydrangea, a Rose and something else, I have to look at notes here this year, sadly. 


Without our own greenhouse plants this year, I purchased only a few basics. I'm skipping the trailers this year. Hubby had to rebuild this box as another car backed into the structure and really did a number on it. 
No one ever stops, to say they are sorry or help with the damage. That's three times in two years!


I've planted here, but it will take awhile for any really photo worthy shots. I'm trying Dahlias I started in the house, but they were so spindly, I don't know what will come of them.


My big pot by the stairway holds a 4th year Hibiscus (branches) we wintered over in the garage which was kept at a 45 degrees and lights on. The first weekend we brought it out, it got frosted and all the leaves dropped off. I pruned it and watered it, and it's coming back with buds all along the branches...we will see what happens.

I had tried digging it out to pot and bring in the house, but the roots were so massive, we decided to try and keep it wintered in the garage. 


More Iris behind the pond. The rose had significant damage, and this creeping invasive vine...went bonkers this Spring. I have to get in there and hack this down and try some root poison.  (Not a green thing to do--but it clearly is way too happy now.)
It also climbed on our trellis and swallowed our already dying Clematis.


Here is the Rose damage here. It is coming back---I didn't trim it early so I could see what was really dead. Will get to this sometime this week. So much winter damage...the worst we've had--and a very mild winter, also. The yellow Barberry are very happy also...and will need to be thinned drastically--and they are very prickly! 


Happiest plant on our lot...this Viburnum, which we deeply  trimmed from the inside out last year...and it rewarded us with TONS of blooms. A new drain pipe is going into this boxed area and I think that accounts for everything looking better.


The porch is sparse for now---the planter on the table is for my D-inLaws Birthday.
We have two Manilla hanging in pots. I will have to remember to water them. If they don't grow much in a week,  I will move them into the sun.


My porch herbs are happy! All the usual suspects, Cilantro, Thyme, Basil, Rosemary, and Parsley. 


Not a flower...but definitely Bloomin' are our two  Rhubarb plants---I'm thinking Rhubarb jam, rhubarb pie, rhubarb bars, bread, muffins, pudding....etc. NUM!


Not much is blooming---except of course weeds, this of course is Dames Rocket or Silver Dollar plants. I don't mind a few and the flowers are quite pretty and even cut well for bouquets. 


Another plant, Baby Tears...which the mild winter has encouraged. I've been digging  up hunks of this and using in my pots. SO FREE PLANTS! YAY! 
This area had our rain barrel and a bush which was lost last year with all the construction on the roof. I usually have a huge pot of Impatiens and Coleus here,
 but not yet.
I"M SO, so, So, far behind!


I am slowly tying up all the daffodil greens to make room for other plants. Eventually they get cut. The greens need to help and store food to the corms. Of course Daffodils really don't need any help to thrive. Buy them once and you have a gazillion for life!


The Hollyhock bed is coming along. I planted new ones last year and some this year also that are supposed to bloom immediately. YES--that is still the tent full of contents of the basement disaster. 
We are still working on that!



Last place with anything flowering is this small shaded bed next to our storage shed.

I grow root perennials in here, usually. I moved everything out , but these two columbine which are so happy here, and put in lettuce seeds and lettuce plants. This area gets filtered light with some sun...perfect for tender plants and lettuce, oh I did plant some Wasabi Radishes in here, too. We will see, lol.
Oh and it is totally fenced...seems we have bunnies that like to eat everything!



I've totally forgotten what this blue is, but it's happy right here, lol. where nothing is. At one time I had copper leaf and lime Heuchera or Coral Bells here, only one of four have survived over the years.
Crappy soil and tree roots seem to be the blame. 


This Clematis got a new trellis last year, and seems to have survived, despite the new well pump put in a week ago and getting bent and pushed aside.  Honestly another almost 3K...I wish we had moved a couple of years ago, instead of having to replace everything AGAIN!


Yep---stay in your home---and eventually rebuild it. We've put more $$$$ into this house in the last year then we paid for it by almost 50K. Something comes to mind about pouring money into a never-ending hole...
a joke...
NOT REALLY!

Still plugging away here in the Midwest...

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW!?


If you enjoyed
 this post please follow this blog by blogger or FOLLOW IT which you will find in the upper right hand corner of this page. 


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!




All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi





 

Monday, May 15, 2023

Midwest Gardening 2023: Finally getting ready to plant!




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Last Thursday I managed to get the front porch cleaned, all the 'started' plants outside, and the furniture and windows cleaned. 


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I purchased a few plants that I normally start---like herbs and a few flowers.

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Rosemary, Cilantro, Thyme...

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The Liatris bulbs (55) I think all must have sprouted. I put 2-3 in a 4" pot and they certainly have outgrown their containers. With icky weather looming, I chose to harden off these plants on the front porch, back in the shade of the overhang. 
The evening temps have been in the high forties, so that's perfect. Here they are protected from the wind and blazing sun if we have any.


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I did move this broccoli tray to the back porch to wait to go into the Vegetable Garden.

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My Giant Dahlias are almost to big to transplant, I will have to trellis them.

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The Elephant Ears are slowly turning their leaves---that is the last window I have to clean, when the plant gets moved. I really wish it wasn't raining today


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My very limited source of purchased plants. Sadly not using the greenhouse this year, is definitely crimping the budget.

The yard is quickly catching up on the late Spring. 

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Our Viburnum promises to explode as soon as the weather goes back to sun.

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Our Yellow Barberry has exploded---I will have to prune this back. The mild winter has helped some things for sure.

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The Iris are busy making leaves, not too many stalks yet though. 

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I think this is the fourth year for these Hostas, so I may have to divide them this Fall.

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This is our humongous Giant Hosta and it's so beautiful as it unfolds and grows so fast this time of year.

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I love this later variety of tulip that grows in our planter along the steps.

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On the back porch are my coleus which are so slow--planted in early February.


Peppers, Tomatoes and Liatris are ready to go---but the garden isn't tilled yet, 

WE ARE SO FAR BEHIND!

but, gorgeous weather forecasted for Monday planting!

If you enjoyed this post please follow this blog by blogger or FOLLOW IT which you will find in the upper right hand corner of this page. 


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!










All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi








 

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Midwest Gardening 2023: Way Back When...Ivy Tomato Cage Topiary


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Way back when...in 2015, one of my first posts was this how-to make a homemade Ivy topiary. I had roughly 8 inexpensive ivy plants I had put in my floral arrangements that year, and I didn't want to kill them, so I thought what a great idea for a topiary since they had so many long trailers.

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2015, Gosh that was a long time ago in the blog world. Anyway, we are behind in the Spring weather here in Chicagoland, we are having one of those years where we jump from snow last week to the 80's this week. 
Plants and PEOPLE are confused, lol. 
I dread turning on the air conditioning, 
when we have only had a few days of windows open.

Our gardening is way behind, but I had to get the house plants out of my claustrophobic kitchen. Because of our all house mess this Spring, we never got the greenhouse planted, and the weather prohibited taking the fragile  seedlings from the kitchen to the greenhouse.

Anyway...back to the IVY TOPIARY....

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Here it is in 2016...already almost full in the 12" original pot.

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I think this was 2020, thick and full and already on it's 16", third pot.  At this point it was trailing 30" from the bottom of the pot to the ground.

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This year, it was huge, but the pot weighs nothing because the plants have eaten all the dirt...I will have to transplant it to another bigger pot and somehow do an extension? I've done this three other times, and I know the root ball will be all roots and no dirt.

For now, I gave it a huge trim, it was touching the ground when perched on the bar stool. I didn't have my blogger brain on and forgot to take photos today of before...but as you can see all the trailers are cut and on the floor, and I have two glass jars filled with healthy cuttings for rooting.

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It's now in the 16" pot...and it needs to have new dirt in it again, which I will do later when it recovers from the trauma of being chopped.  I clipped anything dead or scraggly off....and it is still so full! 

I'm wondering if I can somehow wire another extension on it. Anyway, it's outside now and will be happy in the corner long as I spray and drown it regularly in water.

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Tools just my scissors. When making cuttings for rooting, make sure you strip all the leaves on the stems below  the water line. I picked only the thick plump stems, and cut off all the woody or thin bits. I had a grocery bag of throwaways, but I think I will have enough new plants for everyone I know for  Christmas.

I'm thinking Holly and Ivy...LOL. 


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Here you can see some of the cuttings that didn't make it...anything that didn't look happy and rich green. The smaller jar is full too.

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I will have my kitchen back...with all the plants wandering to their new locations outside, but these cutting will come inside.
I love my blue jars, this is a two quart Ball jar from upper Wisconsin. I literally got cases of them from my mom-in-law and her friends.

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It was fun to take photos outside, the rich greens and sunlight after such a long dreary Spring.

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The reason these Liatris are on the porch is to harden them off a bit before planting. Inside the house was too warm and not full light, despite our having the huge windows and a fan blowing all the time.

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Broccoli was ready to go into the ground weeks ago--but snow isn't really conducive to planting. Tilling isn't done yet. Hubby has other things he has to work on---we are dealing with construction deadlines, electrical, and plumbing. The all house generator will be installed next week and this week the plumber is coming to check the wall and floor construction for the basement bathroom. 

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That sprawl on the chair is Dahlia bulbs for giant Dahlias? I didn't realize the plants were Giant, I have to figure out a wind safe place to pot these??? 

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The Elephant Ears went bonkers---I have them leaning to the house---but they will shift around with the light...they are like---LIGHT VANES...and sway and grow toward the light. 



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This is my entire collection of other flower/starts..Coleus which are really plants. 
Plantings will be slim this year as I'm used to growing all my own flowers. The budget will be tight. Another project will be these back stairs that need to be replaced with synthetic planking---this area never has sunlight for 9 months of the year and it just is rotting.

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We do have peppers, more Liatris, Japanese Eggplant, Yellow and Red??? not sure, labels got jumbled in the house upset. The Peppers on the left look fab, which is great. Hopefully the Peppermint pots I hid in the compost pile will revive and we won't have to buy any of those. 

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Last look at my Ivy starts, inside my home's color scheme. White clouds, blue sky, green grass and wood tones for the trees.


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Eighty degrees outside today will end our 
Tulips Fast...so they are just saying 
and waving "Goodbye" from 
Midwest Gardening's Spring. 

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW!

If you enjoyed this post please follow this blog by blogger or FOLLOW IT which you will find in the upper right hand corner of this page. 


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!






All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi