David came back to visit.....

My favorite phlox, 'David', came back with awesome blooms again this week!

David reminds me I am still learning and my green thumb is getting a bit greener every year!
He bloomed, as usual, in late July, but this year the rain helped me deadhead him by washing off those little flowers!
 
I chuckle every time I deadhead phlox now!  I have been so careful every year to deadhead perennials that will/should rebloom if I do this!  Every year I cut off the spent blooms on phlox  but never saw any additional flowers!   A few years ago I suddenly realized maybe I was doing it all wrong when it came to phlox!  So, I carefully pulled off each dead little flower on the big heads instead of cutting off the big heads!  Dah!  Magic happened about a month later when they rebloomed with awesome blossoms! 

The nice thing about 'David' is he usually isn't susceptible to mildew, which often plagues phlox plants.


Phlox  'David' 2nd bloom period 2014
 

 

Slugs and hostas on my mind today.....

Slugs love dining on hosta leaves......

Did the slugs feast on your hosta leaves this summer?  They sure have been busy in my hostas at home this year since August!  At the lake I'm finding just a few hostas with minimal damage by  slugs! 

One of my most damaged hostas at home!
The slugs must have decided the sign invited them to a fantasy dining experience!
 

I followed my usual routine to keep their tummies full with slug bait, which usually works fairly well.  But, August brought me an overwhelming herd of them at home!  They must have heard my hostas were extra tasty this year!   I used the same product and routine of treating for slugs both locations! 

 I have been visiting with other hosta gardeners at home and find that they also have been experiencing a more than usual amount of damage.  But my lake hostas have been unusually beautiful this year with minimal damage!  One major difference in locations seems to be the soil with clay primarily at home and right beneath the top soil at the lake is sand, which drains very fast.  So, my conclusion is perhaps the amount of moisture retained by the soil conditions could be a major reason this year.  Slugs thrive on a moist soil conditions!   

Well, regardless, I am declaring war on slugs beginning now!  I've been researching various slug baits on the market and I've come up with a new game plan for my hosta beds at home along with a new schedule for treatments to include a fall treatment in early Oct.    One tip I found recently was to be sure to treat for slugs early October to take care of the latest batch of slugs about the time they are almost ready to lay their eggs which will hatch in the spring!  This sounds reasonable so, I'll give it a trial at home as well as at the lake.  I am thinking that I also may test two different products at home this next year in different beds.

If you also have clay soil please share with me what you have been doing that has been successful at reducing slug damage to a minimum!  Also, if you have been successful at treating hostas to reduce the damage some flying insects do in SE Minnesota...please share what you have done.

Hosta's on my mind today....

Wow, there are now over 5,000 registered varieties of hostas today....

Yea, there certainly is more than the green and the green and white one in this world!  Hybridizers are creating new ones every year! 

About 12 years ago I was bitten by the "hosta bug" and started featuring a variety of hostas in my garden beds.  I manage to keep about 210 varieties growing.   Although my beds, where I have the right light conditions, are full I am always interested in looking and considering a new variety or so.  A recent visit to my favorite place, 'Turkey Run Hostas' is always a fun experience (not to mention a chance to visit with Jean and Gerry)!    Here is one 'biggie' hosta that keeps telling me it would like to live at my house!  It is spectacular!  Maybe next year I'll weaken if they have it in stock and I can figure out where I can plant it!



H. World Cup  30" High x 48" Wide
Parents: Komodo Dragon  x Super Bowl
Registered by Beilstein/Zilis 2006

 

Also, they have a bed of hostas they are testing to consider adding to their inventory and I spotted a few there that are very interesting!  I'll be watching to see if they meet their criteria to sell in the future!  These are definitely different than any others I have and very attractive:

H. Good Friday

H. Palm Sunday


 

Cluck, cluck, cluck....

Hens and Chickens!  Don't we all have some?

I used to get some and then before long they died!  Yep, my thumb had not turned green yet!  I thought everything grew well with lots of water!  Then I visited my friend, Margie,  who kept giving me a new batch every so often.  I noticed her hens and chicks hatching area was a gravel path!  So, I had a "light bulb" moment!  They like good drainage (not my clay soil), little water and maximum sun!  Presto, my thumb turned green! 

Now I always have hens and chicks to give away!  My favorite way to raise my chicks is in minimum soil and mulched in pea gravel!  I have some in a large plant saucer;  two old men's work shoes are overflowing;  they are great in fairy gardens as little shrubs and I finally achieved my dream of a large succulent wreath and filled a strawberry jar to fabulous status!  I got a blue ribbon at the county fair years ago with a pair of my old sneakers bursting with them!

Wintering these creations over is a breeze, I usually just tuck them in a sheltered corner and put a bag of leaves on top of them in November. (I put the strawberry jar and wreath in the garage.)  In April I remove the leaf bags, give them a drink of water, put them in the sun and soon they are lookin' mighty fine again!



Two years old, started with some big hens!

I intended to hang the wreath on my privacy fence some place but haven't gotten that done yet.  Maybe next year?  Meanwhile it just sort of hangs around on the floor of my little deck!



1 year old and growing!



"Out of Africa"..... Miniature Garden

What a fun little garden this is!

I had the elephant, purchased at a garage sale last year and the little armadillo from another garage sale in AZ the year before.  So I was inspired to planted this little gem of a mini garden last summer with a Dwarf Goatsbeard, miniature hosta 'Venusta', & some low annual plants and loved it.  This winter I found this little giraffe in a thrift shop in AZ and quickly decided he would enjoy my elephant as a friend so I rescued him!  I could hardly wait for spring to bring this garden back to life!   Yep, the goatsbeard and hosta survived winter just fine so I added a few more small plants and another mini hosta so the wildlife settled in quickly and happily.  I pruned and deadheaded it in July and last week it was overgrown again (2nd picture) so I did some more pruning and adjusting resulting in picture 3).  It loves my part shade/part sun location on the back deck!  Very little work involved beyond watering and monthly trimming but so many smiles when people see it! 

May 2014 

Aug 2014 needs trimming back!

Aug 2014 after trimming and adjusting
 







Cool, calm and relaxing....

I always enjoy visiting Tim and Kurt's piece of heaven in rural SE MN, just a short drive from home!

This year our visit was during the July Master Gardener's Garden Tour.  We like to admire their huge collection of  hosta varieties.   But,  most of all, I appreciate the atmosphere they have created with their water features, collection of old lawn chairs and stone walls that continue to expand.  It is always a treat to see what new scenes they have slipped into their paradise.  It seemed the perfect time this trip to try to capture the beauty of their largest water feature.  They did a fantastic job of blending together the three levels that flow thru the center length of one of their gardens.

 

 

  

Purple Coneflowers, a staple in most gardens!

Most of us have coneflowers in our garden beds, most of them are purple!

I depend on them to bloom for a long time and luckily I found a variety that holds their petals outward on nice strong stems!  Being they are so magnificent in floral arrangements as well, so I enjoy them often inside!   It seems bees and butterflies also appreciate them and then the birds feast on their seeds later!  They deserve places in three different garden beds at my house. 

New varieties and colors?  I admire them but when I've tried them I am usually disappointed by the second year, if they survived, so I stick to my tried and true variety,  I have long lost their variety name so I hope they keep on surviving and spreading enough to do "their thing"!