Welcome Home, Coneflower

Thought you might like to know what I did with all of that coneflower I had. Far be it from me to keep you in suspense and all. (If you haven't been following along, I had a little bit of a coneflower residency issue.)

In our backyard, we have this old clothes line. We never use it and had considered ripping it out. But, I like the charm it brings to our yard, especially considering our house was built in the 40s. My grand plan last year was to plant lots of Russian sage around it, and let it grow all bushy and wild. I bought the sage last year and ended up just throwing it in a vacant spot because it was getting late in the season, and the clothesline bed never happened. Sadly, their current locale is not very hospitable (see pics below).

But, the coneflower needed a home (couldn't let those beauties go to waste!), at least for the time being. And, since the sage was already in the ground, the coneflower won the newly renovated clothesline bed. I figure I can still move everything around later.

A lot of my flowers eventually take up residence in another flower's previous home. Nothing seems to stay in one spot for long. Sometimes I feel like this whole gardening thing is the plant version of TLC's Moving Up. What about your gardens? Are your flowers nomads or do they take up long-term residence in your beds?

My new coneflower bed, close up and a better shot with the clothesline. They seem much happier in the ground. Something I like to do in my gardens is create repetition by using multiple colors of one type of flower. I have also done this with day lilies. In fact, I love the combination so much, I plan on dividing and continuing the pattern all the way around the deck.

P.S. Russian sage should look like this!

Mine looks like this, barely a few inches tall. I think the spot is too shady and too moist.

Opening Day

What? You didn’t think I was talking about baseball, did you? 

Ok, maybe a little about baseball because in Michigan, we determine spring’s arrival by the following factors: 

• Temps that finally peak above 40
• The release of Bell’s Oberon 
• When Tigers take the field at Comerica Park, marking another season of will they/won’t they baseball drama.

  
My opening day was Saturday. With latte in hand, I started off at Romence Gardens for a mid-morning class on how to grow a fabulous lawn (more on that and other Romence happenings later). Followed up by some consignment shopping and antiquing at my favorite local digs, which left me oh-so-inspired to take on the yard for the afternoon.

Extreme clean up was necessary because I neglected to do my fall prep last year. (I got married and went on a two-week Mediterranean honeymoon, followed by some excessive hours at work, which also explains my blogging hiatus.) My husband fought the good fight, by extracting some holly berry bushes that just weren’t cutting it. I give the previous owners of our house credit for putting in some landscaping, but their garden “design” left something, well everything, to be desired. I give myself credit for finally deciding to part ways with things that don’t work and allow me to have an almost-clean slate.

The latter hours of the afternoon were spent transplanting day lilies. If you remember, Don’t Ditch the Ditch Lily, my goal last fall was to move these to a hard-to-grow space in the backyard. The labor was intense. I feel like I spent hours at the gym yesterday doing nothing but squats and lunges. I know that if I keep up the good work all season long, the results will be amazing...for both my flowers AND my glutes.

P.S. How great would these look on my two front windows?
 

Don't Ditch the Ditch Lily

As you can imagine, I love nothing more than easy going, low maintenance flowers in my garden. Which is why it pains me when other fellow gardeners mock the ditch lily, or rather the tiger lily or orange day lily.

Every gardener has that space--a place where the soil is not quite right or difficult, weeds are prevalent and hard to control, or it's either too shady and/or too sunny. Or, all of the above. My soil happens to be a lovely mixture of clay, so sometimes it's about as easy as digging into concrete. It's these type of spaces where ditch lilies are perfect.

The tiger lily actually comes in two forms--Asian and wildflower. I'm referring to the wildflower variety that propagates through tuberous roots, requiring little to no attention at all. They prefer wet soil and don't mind overcrowding. I've also seem them work great on slopes and hillsides, and of course on roadsides and in ditches. Because they are so prolific, they can really work almost like a ground cover. Some call ditch lilies aggressive, but I wouldn't call them invasive.

It's a tough plant and tolerates just about any type of abuse. And, although its name would suggest otherwise, I think their long stems give them a rather elegant appearance, much taller than other day lily varieties.

Need some, want some? Rather than buying from a greenhouse or retailer, just ask around. You probably already have a group of friends who would love to dig up some and share. You'll be amazed how one small plant or two will fill quickly fill in a space the following year.

My collection of ditch lilies will be my end of summer/fall project, where I'll be moving them from the space they have outgrown in the front yard to a large, hard-to-grow area along the back yard fence (see pics).

Hardy Advice for Those Ready to Dig In

After a couple of weeks now of talking flowers, I was finally able to spend the last few days making real progress in my own gardens. Within my front yard, I had one particular patch that was starting to become a problem because of crowding and overgrowth among some mums, day lilies and the surrounding evergreen shrubs. (Sidebar: That experience alone really illustrated the importance of dividing your perennials every couple of years or so to prevent this from occurring. The best part about dividing is I now have great perennials to add to other locations in my garden or new beds, as I have a lot of projects in mind.)

It was admittedly a little hard to get started. Many of my perennials grew in so fast and so thick this year, I missed out on opportunities to divide, transplant, clean out old growth, pull weeds and other invaders, and the like. So, I'm now turning my attention to those areas that I do have more control over. As you get going in your own gardens this spring and summer, here is a little bit of advice based on my own experiences.

First and foremost, try not to get overwhelmed. My yard is a fairly good size with lots of space and beds that surround the house. I'm always adding new beds, and I never know where to begin. This year, I'm really trying to focus on one area at a time, and think through what I like about it, what I don't like about it, what doesn't look or feel right. It's not always as apparent as you think it would be. Sometimes I just start by pulling weeds and just see where that takes me. I'm definitely trying be a little more intentional with my gardens this year. I have a lot of "grandiose" ideas and I am trying to exercise more self control when I'm roaming the greenhouses.

Secondly, when you are adding new perennials, or dividing and moving things around, there will be some "casualties of war." Transplants will go through a little bit of "shock" in their new location, but just keep them watered thoroughly until they have had time to adjust. I have also experienced the disappointment of planting a perennial and not having it grow back the following year, or worse, having it grow in diseased. It's easy to get discouraged, but just keep trying new things. If you have flowers that are in good shape, but just don't seem to work in your garden, rather than kicking them to the curb, swap them with a friend or neighbor.

Gardening isn't rocket science, but it kind of is, in a way. There are a lot of factors that contribute to a plant's success such as the condition of the plant itself when it is purchased, your soil type, sun/shade and water requirements, pests, and I could go on. If you really want a maintenance-free garden, you'll definitely want to stick to some of the hardy favorites such as hosta, shasta daisy, black eyed Susan, coneflower (pictured) and day lilies.

Lastly, experiment and allow your tastes to change. Just like fashion trends, my style preferences for color, texture and silhouette change every season. Whereas last year, I wouldn't have even dreamed of adding begonias to my annual collection, this year, I can't wait to fill containers with their bright hues. Annuals are a great way to experiment with shape and color. If you find something you really adore, you might be able to find a perennial to mimic the look and feel. There are many flowers that I am excited to experiment with and welcome to my garden this year including hydrangea, Russian sage, begonia, clematis, hardy geranium, fountain grass and dahlia. And, I'm kind of wondering, what took me so long?