Midwest Gardening REDO: Departing Lilies

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Midwest Gardening Gardening REDO: Departing Lilies.

    This is definitely and Old,New,Green,REDO post.

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This was last weekend before my surgery. A dear friend gifted me a five gallon bucket of Iris corms/roots from their developments thinning project. I have been having a tough time this summer accomplishing anything while unable to withstand the high temperatures. The garden had to pretty much take care of itself. But I had to take advantage of this great gift.

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I love Iris and have many in the front yard, but none in the back, so I decided to use them in this Well plot.

Right now the center pot sitting on our well pump is bedraggled like everything else. I really needed to get something done, as I knew I wouldn't be doing anything after the surgery on the 15th.

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Last year I had thinned the Tiger Lilies(ditch lilies) in this plot. It's roughly 8x8. But it was overgrown again this year because of all the early rains we had. Our well pump is in the middle, a ramp next to it, a 30 year old Clematis in the lower left corner and trellis but was totally overrun with Tiger Lilies.

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I actually like the lilies in arrangements, but I must confess that they had taken over the entire bed that used to also have room to put annuals, pots and statuary. The roots were starting to go into the lawn and pop up between the wood slats on the porch and ramp. 

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This was one of the first projects we did when we moved in in 1984. I'm not sure when, but we bought a bunch of bushes, plants, and bulbs from Michigan Bulb. One of their crazy 'plant a yard' specials...and that was the extent of enhancing our yard for years. I thinks we started with 4 Lily plants in this 8x8 plot.

Apparently I haven't shared many photos of this area since I started blogging, as I had to go back a few years to even find this from 2021. One thing about lilies, if you want something easy to take care of, to fill space, to stabilize hillsides, or shorelines, these darn Ditch Lilies are the plant for you. 

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Anyway the plan was to pull everything out except a line across the back.  I dug with pitch fork and shovel, and dug, and dug, and pulled and yanked.

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One of the goals was to save this Clematis on the left side. I carefully pullled all the Lily roots from around there also.

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This is @ 12" across and 8" Thick...solid roots. I shook all the dirt off (we have been very dry here the last 8 weeks.) 

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Roots so thick---it was like chopping rocks.

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I managed to spear a clump and my pitchfork got stuck, I had to cut the roots into pieces to get the pitchfork out.

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You know how you pick up tools, when you don't even know what they are for. This Husky tool was on sale last year super cheap. I have other garden tools with  the Husky handles which are so great, so I bought it for a dollar something---little did I know the saw tooth edge on the right would go right through these thick roots like 'BUTTUH". LOL

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I have Lilies elsewhere so all the roots/plants were tossed into the recycle bin.

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It took two days of cutting, pulling, digging and shaking the dirt off, but I filled this huge garbage can with JUST ROOTS.

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I was surprised at how great the dirt was despite nothing being done to it for such a long time.  Nice and black and crumbly, not at all like the original clay crap soil we started with. We added the used potato bin soil to it (1/2 compost + 1/2 new garden  soil)  and let it sit a day or two. We had another family crisis last week and finally on Monday Hubby helped me plant all the Iris, Tulips and Daffodils

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The Iris we planted were White, Blue, and Yellow.

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I also planted a ring of variegated Tulips, yellow Tulips, some Daffodils sprinkled around the edges.

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I made a block path behind the pump which will be serviced in early November. The upside down pot got replaced and set on a base of blocks. Because we have had terrible problems with critters this year, we put heavy plastic mesh fencing (two thicknesses) over all the plantings. Hopefully, this will keep the squirrels, chippies, moles, voles, and whatever else from feasting on everything and from digging up all the bulbs. 

Over the years we have probably planted a thousand tulip bulbs, and we are actually  happy when a few actually show up and bloom.

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 I also planted Baby tears around all the edges of the bed from the stuff hanging in the center pot!  This plant is one that keeps giving. With our milder winters now it pretty much will live anywhere in the ground. My original $15.00 purchase has created ground covers in multiple areas and plantings in all my pots. This year it was especially happy.

We are crossing our fingers on this new planting bed. There should be plenty of room for a nice annual pot in front of the Clematis, and places for a few other flowers after the Tulips and Daffodils are done. We will put a wood barrier in across the back to contain the remaining Lily plants. But that's it for now!

This was a HUGE THRIFTY REDO for us old folks, crossing my fingers. We are looking forward to a colorful Spring.

Tools and Supplies We used:

Shovel

Pitchfork

Husky cutting/bulb tool on sale last year.

Sweat...lol

Garbage can to recycle yard waste $0

1 bag of variegated Tulips $11.97

Leftover yellow Tulip bulbs from a gifted pot $0

Daffodils ( reused from the patch itself) $0

Iris (gifted corms from a friend) $0

Baby Tears cuttings for edges $0

Reused Dirt from potato bin $0

Mesh Fencing ($6.99)

Odd bricks and blocks from the yard $0

Replacement pot for covering the well. (reused) $0

NEXT:  We still have Carrots and Beets  in the vegetable garden that have to come up with the garden clean up.

We've had a few light frosts, but have another week of warm weather forecasted. So there is still time. 

This post was featured at in November 24

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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, unless otherwise designated. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks ALWAYS for visiting!

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. Please don't use my photos without my permission.

 Sandi Magle

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Midwest Gardening: What's Blooming in Mid October 24

Midwest Gardening: What's Blooming in Mid October 24

Most photos taken the week of October 7th-10th. 

After an extremely wet summer up until September and SUPER HOT,  plants and flowers are actually happiest right now, mid October here in Chicagoland. It's been dry for at least 6 weeks, so watering has been a must.

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I did water these poor Coleus after this photo. 

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My planters under the back eave were magnificent, and are still blooming. White Caladiums (from tubers) and Coleus grown from seed. The Giant Coleus were huge this year, they loved the hot and wet climate we had. 

Impatiens are still prducing some flowers...waiting for frost to end that.

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Over three feet tall, these were gorgeous, no matter where I planted them.

Leaves are already dropping with the dry weather.

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The last pot was the thinnest, but it gets the most sun and wind in this location, probably the reason the plants were smaller.

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I got a second blooming on my 'grown from roots

 Delphinium. This plant will get transplanted next year. This is a fenced area is where I cater to root/tuber starts. 

Rich ground, a fence, and some serious shade actually helps to start new plants/tubers safe from critters.

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Water, water water is all we have done the last month.

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My annuals are still in bloom, Peppermint Zinnias, 4-foot tall Marigolds and lots of other colors of Zinnias. They were ALL really late this year. The Coreopsis are already done, and I have spread their seeds hoping for more next year.

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Zinnia pod, prime for picking for seeds. I select the bigger flowers and let them dry on the stem...then pluck and harvest seeds. 

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Zinnias are wonderful and prolific, also pretty hardy for light frost, perfect for our location.

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This is the second growth of Sage...IT"S VERY HAPPY this year. Lower right is Majoram, which I have to cut back several times in the summer or it will swallow the whole bed.

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Our garden is pretty much finished, but the carrots are super lush and thick. I have 4 varieties, anxious to see what they did. This area gets partial shade during the summer, so we will see.

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Behind the carrots is my ragtag Swiss Chard, hit or miss. 

My broccoli plants  performed ZIP, we had two scant meals. Between being chewed by critters and then attacked by bugs, they were a waste of space. Same for the Brussel Sprouts. I will try a different location next year.

I emptied all the fence and patio pots last week and dispersed the dirt to: the box in the greenhouse, permanent planters, or the compost pile. That's always a big job.  later I will mix in fertilizer and new or composted dirt to freshen the soil.

I had surgery on the 15th, so all this had to be at least under control before then.

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Such a jumble of half dead plantings, time to recycle the dirt. I will have hubby bury 6 pots of peppermint in a plastic bag in the compost pile. Saving me $$$$ in Spring when I restart them in the greenhouse. Leaving them in a bag, stops them from spreading where we don't want them. 

Peppermint is my Bee protection, as I am severely allergic. We keep Peppermint pots by the grill, the dining tables, the entrances to the house. That way they don't interfere with their busy bee pollination missions.

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Here's the back porch with all the potted Coleus and some peppermint, this is total shade here.

Jumping to October 18th, I walked around the backyard and took a few more photos for the next post.

Also have a Fall project....NEXT

DEPARTING LILIES! 

If You enjoyed this post please FOLLOW IT in the upper right hand corner, to get just one email of each AD-Free post.

I will post at the following Link Parties, I hope you visit them.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, unless otherwise designated. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks ALWAYS for visiting!

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. Please don't use my photos without my permission.

 Sandi Magle

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