Category Archives: the Lot

Coral Bells

compost, gardening sites, gate bed, sidewalk bed

When I found our Midnight Rose coral bells (or alum root) plant last year during a nursery trip with Miss A, little did I know I was purchasing a “2007 NEW & EXCLUSIVE! The Newest Coral Bells available!” Wow. I just thought it’s dark leaves with hot pink speckles that changed throughout the season made it a cool looking perennial. Plus, around late spring, it has the prettiest little white flowers atop tall, delicate stalks.

Our Midnight Rose is currently living in the sidewalk bed. That means I will have to find it a new home for the season while we are regrading the side of the house. This plant grows up to 10″ high and 16″ wide. It should do well in either sun or part shade. However, I read the foliage of these plants (Heuchera) vary in color from amber to deep purple. Apparently the darker the leaf, the better the plant fares in full sun. As of right now, I think the gate bed will be where the coral bells will spend this season.
Recently I tried to find some gardening podcasts to listen to. That’s how I found the gardenerd site. Very fun. One of the podcasts had a great recommendation for composting. When collecting scraps in the kitchen for the compost pile, first dump the contents in a sealable container in the freezer. Then when the container is full, you can dump it into the compost pile. It prevents you from having a smelly container of compost goodies in the kitchen.

To Do

compost, sidewalk bed, to do, transplant,

This past Thursday and Friday, the temperature around here spiked into the upper fifties. At the stroke of 5:00, I rushed home and was outside cleaning up the garden. It was wonderful. All of my irises, sedum and ornamental grasses are cut back. Bulbs are poking out of the ground all over our lot. Some of them I haven’t seen before. I’m so excited. It’s like Christmas.

Today it’s raining. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain. So, I’m stuck inside thinking of the projects I would like to accomplish outside this season.

Transplant Sidewalk Bed

We have water coming into our basement whenever there is a hard rain, so we’ll be redoing the grading on this side of the house. As a result, everything in this sidewalk bed has to be moved. There are irises, lilies, astilbe, sedum, coral bells and a peony. Last fall, I already gave Mom G two carpet roses from this bed. She has much more room at her place for the sprawling type of plants. 
Transplant a Rose Bush
I have so much homework to do on roses. My friend, Miss A, has the most unbelievable gorgeous rose bush at her place. I on the other hand, don’t know what I am doing with roses. What I do know is I cannot have our rose bush in the front bed climbing out of there again and trying to catch neighbors. I think it was getting ideas from those irises. Anyway, the rose bush is tucked between two evergreen bushes up front. It doesn’t have enough sun or room to do well up there. I’m going to attempt to move it into the backyard along the fence line.
Learn about Composting
When we moved in, there was already a compost pile started in the back yard. However, much of it was lawn clippings and leaves that had not been shredded. Being a free standing pile of “stuff,” it was quite a task to get it into something resembling order. I’m not sure how I want to handle it this summer. It’d be nice to contain it somehow. Last summer it was in the process of kicking down our fence. This one will require some more brainstorming and research.
Build a Rain Barrel
Many gardeners I know swear by rainwater. They say their plants are just happier receiving rainwater over city/well water. My grandmother who lives in Europe is an avid gardener. One thing I noticed about the gardens over there are the different containers used to collect rainwater. The rainwater is then used to water the plants in the garden. What a great idea. It seems a much more efficient use of resources.
After reading various sets of instructions on how to build one, I think I can handle it. I’ll be referencing a combination of this and this when it’s time to construct one.

Dappled Willow

alley bed, spring cleanup,

Today I had some time to sit down with the Month by Month Gardening in Michigan book I mentioned a few posts ago. I studied the February sections (yes I know it’s the 22nd of the month) on bulbs, herbs & vegetables, perennials, roses, shrubs, and ornamental grasses.

I found deciduous shrubs can be pruned back after mid-month. The sap is still safely nestled down near the roots of the plant. Hoorah! I get to play outside in the garden. Well, when it warms up again I’ll do so. The plant that will be receiving my early pruning efforts will be our dappled willow (Hakura Nishiki).
A neighbor to the monster sedum mentioned earlier, this plant started out as a pretty, modest-sized resident of the alley bed. It exploded over the summer, growing very large at a swift rate. It swallowed two tulips and a hosta. (Don’t fret, the tulips retreated back into the ground and I saved/relocated the hosta.) 
Apparently, this is a trait of the species. In fact, some sites recommend trimming the plant back more than once. The National Gardening Association suggests: 

This plant can be pruned back in the spring to remove winter damage and to encourage branching and bushiness from the base. You may also need to prune periodically during the season to keep it that small. To avoid a sheared effect, trim individual older branches off near the base to thin the plant, and then trim longer tips off individually by reaching deeper inside the shrub.

Many gardeners seem to agree with this. In fact, the severity of the first pruning is often described as “vigorous” and “thorough.” Not only does it keep the shrub at a manageable size, but the best dapple-like pattern appears on new growth. The dappled willow can be trimmed back to 12″ or 1/3 of the branch can be removed.