Blog's Fifth Anniversary

The other day, I was remembering that I started blogging in an October, and when I checked, saw that it was October 1, 2008.  I've been blogging for 5 years!  I've slowed down quite a bit, now that I'm spending so much time on Facebook, but at this point, have no plans to give it up.  I do hope to budget my time better so I can visit more blogs than I have been.

I went back and found some photos from August to October of 2008, and then took some from similar views today.  I didn't get them close enough to put them next to each other as before and after photos, though. 

This may have been the second season for the newest planting area at the time.  I had originally wanted it for annuals, and there were still plenty of them here at this point.

The silver maple tree was still on the west side of the front yard in 2008.  I'm thinking this part of the curb was just dug up to plant in 2007.

A number of the plants in this area are still there, but not all of them.  This bed was put in the year after the one across the sidewalk, which is pictured in the next two photos.



The New England asters, Winter savory, and Knautia are still in the area.



I've mentioned this bed was dug when the neighbors across the street had to have their water main replaced.  Larry and I had different ideas on the size of it, and he kind of won at the time.  I had wanted to go ahead and take it all the way across, or at least bigger than this.



I've mentioned that whenever I saw a butterfly on a plant tag, I would purchase those plants.  I don't remember where I first got the Verbena bonariensis plants, but they seed themselves each year, and I haven't had to plant any more of them.  Here's a Painted lady butterfly from 2008.

I've enjoyed having Monarchs around each year, too.

I was thinking I had grown Blue mist flower before, and I'm pretty sure that's what this is.  I don't remember whether I pulled it out or if it died out on its own.  A few weeks ago, I planted a clump of it in an area where there are some grasses and other plants that could keep its spread in check.  It's struggling a little, but hopefully, it will be OK.

Most of these plants are still in the area to the east of the house.  I did take out the Lamb's ears.

I included this photo, looking the other direction to show the Amsonia hubrichtii, one of my favorite native plants.  While I was looking for the butterflies on the tags, I was also choosing plants when the tag said they were native to our area.  I liked the idea of those before learning more of the benefits of growing them to the environment.

 Speaking of native plants, here is a Rigid, or Stiff goldenrod in the back yard.  It is still there and doing well.  I'm thinking I must have discovered the plant sales at the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum by 2008.  I either got this there, or at B&B Nursery, which I'm sad to hear is up for sale.

I'm still enjoying the Short toothed mountain mint.

The Virginia mountain mint spread farther than I was comfortable with, so I moved it to another spot, then found out that it calms down after the first several years.  That's OK, because it didn't stay dug, and came back a little farther back from here, where I don't mind it.

These are the photos I took today.  There have been lots of changes to these areas.



We had about 1.5 inches of rain last night, so I didn't try to garden today, like I was really hoping to.  It was good to be able to take some photos.

I took out the daylilies that were in the curb area this spring, and planted some sedges, Purple poppy mallow, Liatris, which stayed small all summer, and added another Butterfly milkweed.  The volunteer salvias of some kind came back, too.  I also kept the perennial geraniums that were there.

I added some Sideoats gamma and other grasses to the area.  I don't remember whether I planted the red salvia, or if it's a volunteer.

Herbs like Winter savory and Lavender grow near native and non native plants, including Common milkweed and Ironweed in this area.

I'm thankful Larry gave in and let me take the planting area across the curb.  I've posted about the tree coming down, and how again, I was able to expand the planting areas.  I took a number of daylilies out of the curb area, and when the ones left bloomed this year, I picked some more to take out to make more room for natives.  I've mentioned, though, that while I feel it is essential for the survival of beneficial insects for us to grow the native plants that provide nectar and food for the caterpillars, I do not have plans to replace every single non-native plant.  I'm sad that it is the cause of some strife between gardeners. 

 While I was taking photos at the curb, I noticed a Monarch on the Riddell's goldenrod.  It's not native to Southeast Nebraska, but when I went to look again to see where it is native, the USDA Plant Database was down because of the government shut down.

Here are some views from the porch of the area where the tree used to be.

I know I've posted these recently, but I sure am enjoying the area, and am tickled at all of the butterflies, bees, and such that visit.

The three peonies in the area were planted by my mother-in-law when she lived here.  I am probably going to take the Painter's palette out because the strawberries under the bench are spreading into the area.

I don't show this view often.  The area on the right is what's in front of the fence that borders the area where the tree used to be.  There is more dirt showing than I like.  Hopefully, the plants will fill out more next year.

We're back to the east side of the front yard.  I planted a number of grasses and some native plants that are also in the area across the sidewalk so it will be more like one big bed with the sidewalk to the front porch as a path. 

One of the most frequent ways people find my blog is by doing a search about whether they should trim or deadhead their butterfly bushes.  Now that they are finding that butterfly bushes are causing problems when their seeds get into the water systems and grow down the way, choking out native plants that are needed by whatever wildlife is that way, I have been trying to decide whether to keep it or not.  It has never seeded itself here.  I do deadhead it, but can't imagine I get every seed.  It is actually growing larger and larger every summer, so I had already been thinking about taking it out.  I am undecided, but Larry isn't ready to see it go.  The butterflies do like it.

Here are the latest clippings I cut off yesterday.

Like I said, the east side of the house looks a lot like it did 5 years ago.  I hadn't realized how many asters had seeded themselves, but am glad they are adding their purple to all of the yellow.  The big yellow blooms are 'Wichita Mountains' goldenrod, which the insects are enjoying about as much as the asters.  It's been fun seeing lots of the butterflies and bees on the blooms.

I didn't show photos of the back yard or the vegetable garden this time.  That's the back yard behind the fence.

The vegetable garden is across the driveway, behind the tubs and lattice.

I am thankful for all of the nice people I have met through garden blogging, many of which I met at Blotanical, which I haven't visited for awhile.  I am thankful to Stuart for starting it.  I don't know what the future holds for blogging.  Sometimes I feel like I am posting "reruns" because, even though I change things out from time to time, there aren't that many changes.  Still, it seems like new people come along who haven't seen it, and maybe they will get some ideas for their gardens, or reinforcement for something they are doing.  Also, I really miss visiting the number of blogs I used to.   I know I am missing out.

I hope fall is going well for you, and that winter doesn't come too soon.  Take care!   

Still Waiting for Spring, Changes in the Garden

Again, I start with a photo from last year, March 22.  Spring did come earlier last year, but when I looked at some photos from 2011, saw that the season was pretty close to this year, just a touch farther along.  I realized that I am ahead in getting the winter growth taken off this year than I was in 2011, so that's a good thing.

While waiting for gardening season, I've been hatching plans to make some changes in the yard.  Even though I've thinned out some of the Irises, they are still taking up more room than I'd like.  They and the daylilies are pretty when blooming, but don't look so good when they aren't.   Plus, last year's hot dry weather was hard on them.  I have decided to dig out the ones in the curb area and replace them with some plants that are native to our area, or nearby areas.  I'm thinking of putting a few prairie dropseed clumps along here, and maybe some Prairie Smoke plants or Heuchera in front of them.  I won't know until I place the plants here and there, and see what I think will work.  I am not good at planning ahead of time.

Yes, we had more snow this weekend.  These Crocus blooms have been through a lot, but they sure are keeping their color awhile!

I also plan on removing the couple clumps of Kniphofia plants from the east flower bed, which is on the right of the sidewalk as one approaches our house.  They get very ugly when not blooming, and I want to put some pale coneflowers, and maybe some Foxglove Penstemons and/or Liatris liguilis in there.  I'm also going to thin out the Drumstick alliums, leaving just a couple or three.

I can't remember what kind of Penstemon I planted in the west front planting area, but I'm pleased to see a couple clumps looking ready to grow.

I fall sowed some Prairie Larkspur, and sure hope they come up.  This is a seedling from the annual kind.  I deadheaded them last year, so I'm thinking this must be from seeds left the previous season.  I guess I'll let it grow if the others don't come up, but will be sure to not let it go to seed.  I also planted seeds of Cleome serrulata, Euphorbia corollata, Desmanthus illinoensis, and Penstemon cobaea.  I haven't seen signs of them coming up yet.  I'm not sure how early they normally start growing.  I know the non native Cleomes don't come up until the first part of May or so.

I've had this Ornamental Onion plant awhile.  I don't know how to tell if it's one of our native ones.

After growing several clumps of Heuchera richardsonii, I am not as fond of the hybrids that I have.  I want to divide these and move them around so I can have more.  They look good all year.

There are several kinds of Pussytoes, and I don't remember which one this is.  I tried to find it on the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum site, because that's where I got it, but they don't have it on the current list of plants they are selling.  This is a nice native groundcover, and I have been dividing it and placing it around.  I found out there are male and female plants.  I need to pay closer attention to the blooms this year and figure out which these are.

The cup plant is up.  It looks like it is not spreading farther than I want it to so far.  It's one the books say to be careful of in the home garden.  I chose to cut the blooms off last fall before they could go to seed so that the neighbors would not end up with it in their yards.

Even though I am currently only planning on buying perennials native to our area, I will keep my favorites that are not.  Hellebores are such early bloomers, that they are keepers for me.  Can you see the snow under and behind this clump?

I am pleased that some Pasque flowers that I planted either last year or the year before are up and about to bloom.

I liked how the water drops were clinging to this bud.

The tulips are peeking through.  Last year, at this time, they were blooming already.

There are more things coming up, but I still have a lot of leaves on the ground, waiting for the temps to warm up.  It looks like we will have several highs in the 50s next week.  I hope it keeps getting warmer after that.

I have had a cold since Friday evening, and have not had much energy.  I spent a lot of time today, rereading sections of a book called, Prairie-Style Gardens, by Lynn M. Steiner.  I like how she talks about different ways to go about planting more natives, or even an all out prairie.  She speaks to both beginners and the more experienced.  In her section on the individual plants, I like all the information she gives on where each is native to, what growing conditions it prefers, whether it is suitable for the smaller garden or a larger prairie, and also what kinds of wildlife are attracted to the plant and for what purpose.  She even talks about which plants rabbits and dear either prefer or don't usually eat.  I know from experience what the rabbits like here that I've planted so far, and her book did confirm that.  Oh, and she suggests other plants to have growing near the one profiled.  She does also mention cultivars of different plants, explaining that some would not ever consider those, but that maybe it is better for these to be planted than more exotic plants.

When I first started trying to find native plants, I was steered by some workers of the plant sales to get some cultivars, like the Heavy Metal, Northwind, and Shenandoah Switchgrasses.  Later, I found the native kind, and got one of those.  At this point, I hope to only choose the natives, but will keep the cultivars for now.  They are nice looking plants. 

Some other books I like are, Gardening with Prairie Plants, by Sally Wasowski.  There is a lot of good information in that book.  I have also enjoyed reading Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska and the Great Plains: Second Edition.  I have some other books, too, but these are the ones I'm liking the best right now.

I hadn't ordered plants from a nursery since I first started growing herbs in the 1970s, and there were not many available locally.  Since I ordered seeds from Prairie Moon in the fall, I got their catalog, and decided to order some plants online a few days ago.  They have a deal where you can order 38 plants, up to 6 different kinds for $105.  When I ordered, there was a promotion with $10.00 off.  I have seen the prices that are going to be charged locally, so figured this was a pretty good deal.  There are a few plants I still hope to get that they didn't have as plants, but this will help a lot.

I am getting 7 Pale Purple Coneflowers, 7 Button Blazing Stars, 6 New Jersey Teas, 6 Foxglove Penstemons, 6 Meadow Blazing Stars, and 6 Prairie Drop Seed Grasses.  I hope they all grow.  Some of the native plants I've tried have done very well, and some have not.  It's a learning experience, and I am enjoying it.  I just want spring to get here, not only so I can be out there gardening, but so I can see what all has grown, and if anything has self sown.

I hope all is well with you and your gardens!

Oh, and by the way, Gail's Wildflower Wednesday is this week, so I plan to link this in.  Remember to check out her blog for others who show their wildflowers.