Restless

Something about the garden at the townhouse has me restless right now. I should be content to sit in the lawn chair on the patio and enjoy the view. The garden is lush and full. But I’m restless, looking and saying it needs adjustments.

Up north this would not bother me at all. But the scope here is so much smaller, drawing attention to planned symmetry and proportion that seems to be stretched this year.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been looking at new gardens, the refreshes that we’ve done in the association. They are at the start of their life and nothing is crowding anything. Nothing is blocking the view of anything. Their full potential is ahead of them.

That’s part of it. But there’s more. Things are looking good in parts of the garden here, but “missing” in others. Moving the aureomarginata out of our garden here last fall, and into other association garden refreshes, left an odd empty space now that the tulips and crocuses are fading – one I don’t like.

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There are hostas I wish I had moved/divided last fall that are now overgrown in their current space and that I wish we had divided last fall and put as a post-tulip layer in place of the aureomarginata, like the ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ out front.

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Under the tree is bothering me too. It feels hodge-podge this year. I love the ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ hosta there, but other hostas there feel crowded and random.

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Maybe it just needs some daylilies to start blooming 😊

And then there are irrigation patterns that I need to consider, like how the sprinkler hits daylilies that have gotten tall. And there are mysteries – like why two ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylilies aren’t doing well this year, but everything around them is.

This weekend I know one decision for certain will drive some planting. The lavender I planted last year definitely didn’t survive.

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There are two to be pulled out that will make way for the remaining two daylily seedlings from last year’s Purple D’Oro’ seeds. The other two I planted here are doing fabulously, and the two available spots are right around the corner, making a nice pattern.

Wait! Back up! Is that a new “mini rock feature”! Why yes, it is! The old two pavers at the bottom of the downspout were not enhancing that space, so I gathered a number of rocks we have collected and previously scattered in the garden, and put them together for a new look. Really liking that. We’ll see what else this weekend brings for ideas.

A year to transplant

I started the gardens at our townhome 17 years ago. They really transformed 8-9 years ago when I expanded the space, and expanded again. Back then, the gardens were maintained by the homeowners, and maintain them we did – my husband and I – outside our place. I went through a massive hosta phase. Lots of varieties. Then I started in with daylilies, and got hooked.

The hostas in the gardens here are starting to show their age. I have divided some and given them to neighbors. This year I need to divide my favorites – 9 ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ hostas. They are getting fairy rings.

More decisions – where do the divisions go? Onto new areas here? To other gardens in our association? Up north? All of the above, I suspect. But for now they sit undisturbed until after bloom, which is highly anticipated, at least by me, every July.

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Planting tulips in the snow

The townhouse garden is all cut back and tucked in for the winter. It was a late finish this year. Between adding extra activities to our lives (time up north, going on our townhome association board) and fully enjoying all of the garden’s fall color, I finally finished up the cutback Sunday and the bulb planting yesterday. I was planting tulips and crocus in the snow!

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The two 5′ hostas are now in other people’s gardens, and in each place are 9 yellow tulips and a dozen purple and white crocus bulbs. In the spring I will layer with daylily seedlings and see how they progress.

The fall color wrapped up about 3 weeks ago up north, and has now wrapped up at the townhouse. Our beautiful fall colors are no longer our natural decorations, but they were gorgeous and we enjoyed them tremendously! Soon we will have layers of the white fluffy stuff that stay for a few (5 at least!) months.

Starting our journey with the land up north this year really changed me. We have spent time up north for 20 years, and camping for many years before that, but something about managing and spend time on our own land changed me. It was partially the simplicity of hauling in our water, living in the small footprint of a 280 square foot camper, and having an outhouse, but it was more than that. We’ve done that, even primitive camped. It was deciding how to manage the slice of woods for which we are now responsible – how much wood to harvest, how much to clear, how much of the land to leave alone, how quickly things grew, how our little garden got overtaken, how the trailcams showed us deer and bear and wolves and coyotes that move through the land, how the area I thought I would develop into a wooded garden became a fern forest with an abundance of toads, and how wildflowers were everywhere. It made me stand in awe. Unlike in our townhouse garden, the horseflies bit hard and the wood ticks showed up in groups on the screen tent fly. But the vast beauty of uncultured, natural “gardens” got ahold of my “simpler” self. I gave up time in the townhouse garden in favor of time walking the land. Each now has its place, but they are very, very different.

Back at the townhouse I did not end up harvesting the hosta seeds this fall. Realistically, I know we have plenty of hostas. I am giving them away. Up north, the deer would just eat the seedlings. My seedling focus will be on daylilies next spring.

I did dig out the irises that never bloomed at the townhouse, and planted them up north to see how they do. Beyond that, up north we’ll see if the asclepias, the asparagus, the coneflowers, and the malva zebrina hollyhocks we planted make it through the winter. The hugelkulture gardens in raised bed forms turned into weed patches because we are not up north all the time, so we’ll see what survives. I will say I wish I had the money back from the raised bed frames and bags and bags of dirt. I would not do that again. That little garden area seems really out of place in its surroundings. Lesson learned.

Our old hibiscus ended up with dozens and dozens of buds in August, and is still blooming profusely indoors. It was over 5′ wide when we brought it inside, and it barely made it through the door. As the blooms on a stem fade, I am trimming it. It is lovely and just keeps on going.

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I also saved the gladiola bulbs that I had in a large pot this year. They required chicken wire protection, but were beautiful!

For next year, I’m thinking I will continue to simplify, enjoying the established townhouse garden, seeing if I can get new daylily seedlings to grow, and continuing to enjoy the up north natural beauty.

Now energy turns to indoors at the townhouse – getting garden decorations stored, cleaning up the shamrock plants for the winter indoors, and then on to dispersing all kinds of items that we are no longer using in the house, getting them on to new homes. Our townhome is also small. We constantly need to work at keeping things cleared and as simple as possible.

Maybe this weekend we will be at a state where I can pull out the candles and put them in the windows. They are our only “outdoor” “holiday” lights, and I’m looking forward to having them up again.

And over the winter there will be time walking in the snowy woods up north, where the outdoor lights are solar, and probably covered til spring.

More no work fall decorating

The gardens are in full fall color now.

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Fall additions, wave two. Seasons changing.

A week or so ago we made another trip to the local garden store. 4 additions and a replacement came home with us – two lavender plants, and two more chocolate colored sedum, plus another ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ hosta. It is my favorite time of year to plant, when I know with almost 100% certainty what survived the previous winter, and where I have gaps going into next year.

The only daylilies that are still blooming are the ‘Marque Moon’, and they are wrapping up. That area needed some fall interest. The two new sedum are just what that area needed. They are babies now but will fill the space within the next few years.

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The two lavender tucked under the weigelia, right along the path, where I can brush by the leaves and enjoy their scent. I hope they survive the winter and return. They are zone 4 so we’ll see.

In the progression, as the daylilies are winding down, the ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum are now taking the stage. I know, they are kind of like ‘Stella D ‘Oro’ – everybody knows them – but I absolutely love them. Over the years I have propagated many new sedum from our original ‘Autumn Joy’ plants, which were a gift from my Dad. I learned to do that at first because we had a fearless bee chasing Irish Terrier (Darby) who broke off stems in his efforts to eradicate our entry garden of those “buzzing menaces” – lol. From those poor broken stems I rooted sedum plants that within three years formed a hedge! That hedge got too big and I had to gift some, but now, years later, our garden boasts a fall tapestry of their beautiful form and changing color, woven in throughout the landscape. Here’s their first efforts at color morphing this year.

The garden also has an abundance of seed pods. The daylilies are full. The ‘Purple D ‘Oro’ are crazy full this year.

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I think I will have quite an April seedling project coming up.

And of course, the weather has been INCREDIBLE! Cooler temperatures soothe my soul. The crisp air renews me.

I already miss the “Wow!” of the new daylily blooms, but to everything there is a season. There’s still a lot of garden left.

Forward

It seems that “Poof! There went the daylilies!” Not totally, but last week started a big wind-down. There were lots of “lasts”. Each day we said good-bye to some of our favorite blooms for the year. The ‘Just Plum Happy’, the ‘South Seas’, the peach daylily, the ‘Hush Little Baby’. I miss them already. Even the hosta blooms are winding down and some of the leaves are already starting to look tired.

This is the time of year when looking at the garden could make me sad. I have to discipline myself, to regroup, be thankful, and get my thoughts on how to make the garden even better next year. And we are adding little touches already. More on that in the next few days.

Yesterday morning I committed to our garden donations. The two Aureomarginatas that are 5′ wide each deserve better than the crowded space they have overgrown into. If we ate hosta greens I would keep them, but we don’t. I may save a small division, but that would have to go up north and be put in chicken wire. Much more joyful is the thought of them maybe being divided to share with many and absolutely being primary specimens in neighboring gardens.

I also decided to harvest the daylily seeds again this year, and they are plentiful.

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Above are the ‘Purple D’ Oro’ but almost every daylily formed seeds this year. (The peach daylily is our exception.) Those seeds will be my early April seedling project next spring.

Today we were cleaning the garage, going through things. Some things with many fond memories were put aside to donate. We don’t use them anymore, but we know others who are very excited about receiving them and will really enjoy them. So it is with the garden. We grow, we enjoy, we improve, we share, sometimes we pass things on, all with the hope the joy will continue. We can be thankful. We can remember fondly. We can continue to move forward and improve.

Additions

Yesterday was an overcast day, with a bit of breeze, and rain on the way. Perfect day to put additions into the garden.

Saturday I visited the local garden store. I decided to bring home three additions. One was a chocolate colored sedum, to fill in a spot that previously had a chocolate drop sedum. It did not return last year but I held out hope. It did not return this year so I decided to get another chocolate colored sedum to match one we alread have (SUNSPARKLER Plum Dazzled) and see how that goes.

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The other two additions are coneflowers. Years ago, at our house, I had a 20′ x 20′ wildflower and daylily corner. I really enjoyed that. We need a bit of late summer/early fall color on our path by the linden, so I tucked the new coneflowers in there (POWWOW Wild Berry).

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Today also started the daylily wrap up. Our last ‘South Seas’ daylily bloom of the season was today.

I suspect the last ‘Hush Little Baby’ bloom of the season will be tomorrow.

It’s all good. Today I watched as the bees and butterflies flitted from bloom to bloom on the hostas. They do the same on the daylilies. Next year they’ll do it all again. And maybe those seed pods that are forming on the daylilies have something beautiful in store for us down the road.

A whole lot of thinking begins

We may have almost 6 weeks until the official start of fall, but fall is definitely poking it’s head around the corner here in Minnesota.

Mid-week I also noticed we are past the half-way point of daylily blooms. I still have a wonderful palette of all the colors each day, and seeing what the new day has brought continues to be breathtaking. Sadly, however, we are only a few days away from having some colors wrap up. The peach, the ‘South Seas’ and the ‘Hush Little Baby’ daylilies are at the “one bud left” stage. The red daylilies are not far behind. They bloomed in abundance for the past couple weeks and were absolutely gorgeous individually and en masse.

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But … the sedum are looking so good, and their color is right around the corner.

And so begins the “thinking” time of year regarding the garden. First I “think” and think and think and think. Then I plan, then I do. I have some Aureomarginata hostas that are huge and should have been divided last year. Now a year later I have joined our association’s “newly formed” landscaping committee – as in three of us – lol. There are people in our association that have expressed interest in a landscape refresh. We have loosely discussed going more toward perennials. They are beautiful and can easily be trimmed to ground in fall by the landscape service. So I’m looking through my garden and thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

There will be gifting. I love to do that. But what scope? The Aureomarginatas deserve space. Could divisions be a good start at single, easy landscaping for folks that don’t or can’t do gardens, but like them? I suspect that’s where I will reasonably land for this fall. “Do not despise the day of small beginnings” (Zechariah 4:10).