Cait's Garden

Dianthus, aka Maiden Pinks, aka “Arctic Fire”…I have taken this plant for granted for the past few years because it’s performed so well for so long. What began as a little pot has spread to a clump about 2 feet in diameter. For the first time this year, I’ve tried dividing it, taking little pieces of the shallow-rooted plant to different locations in the garden. So far, so good.  While there are many forms of this flower, this particular variety has thrived throughout the year. It even stays remarkably green in winter. And this time of year, the flowers are truly plentiful and spectacular. It’s not often you find such an easy-case perennial to anchor your flower bed.

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I’d like to say I always plan ahead for good color combinations in the garden. Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I get lucky, as with these three different purple plants blooming at the same time to form a glorious little combo. Shown in the photo: Penstemon “Prairie Dusk”; Purple Yarrow; and Speedwell (Veronica incana) “Pure Silver.”

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I’ve been a bit remiss on this blog. Summer happens so quickly that this plant’s flowers have been and gone in my yard already. Depending on the weather, this plant will bloom for two to three weeks in late May/early June. It is “Baptisia Australis” otherwise known as Wild or False Indigo. When I purchased this clump shown in the photo, it was in the form of three very tiny seedlings from a mail-order nursery. At that time, about 5 years ago, this plant was hard to find in your local nursery. Today, you’ll see it everywhere, and in more colors, too. (I like the classic indigo color, myself.) My seedlings took three full years to grow to anything worth noting. Then, they really took off…to 3 feet tall and wide! Now you can thankfully buy a much larger plant in the nursery and spare yourself the wait for it to grow.

This plant is a native prairie plant and thus is incredibly strong and resilient to all water conditions. The foliage stays beautiful and upright all season, and in the fall, these really interesting black seedpods form which rattle in the wind. All in all, worth having in the garden, despite the short bloom time. But put it in the back of your beds and give it some room!

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I usually try to use only photos I have taken of my own yard on this blog, but I just purchased this particular plant and I’d like to blog about it before it blooms in about 2 months. The past few years, I have been fascinated by native plants. Fortunately for me, they are showing up more regularly in the stores. You just need to grab them when you see them because supply is very random and sparse. Imagine how pleased I was to see a pot of this plant at a nursery over the weekend. “Vernonia fasciculata”…also called Smooth Ironweed…is a wildflower common to many states, including Illinois, and is a member of the aster family. They grow to be 2 to 4 feet tall and like other asters spread by clumping (so you can share). The flowers are the exciting part. Magenta clusters in late summer that attract bees and butterflies. Exciting! I will be sure to keep you posted on its performance later this summer.

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One of my first garden projects in my new home was planting lilac bushes. I knew I wanted a couple of the traditional French lilacs, but for the third lilac, I indulged in a different variety. Shown in the photo above is my Katherine Havemeyer lilac tree. It’s more commonly called a tree than a bush because it maintains a more tree-like form than your traditional lilac bushes. It can reach up to 10 feet tall and wide, and like other lilacs, it can be carefully trimmed as needed to maintain shape. But it still blooms on old wood, so one must be careful about pruning to avoid flower disruption. And what flowers they are! Amazing, giant cones of tightly packed, large, rosey-lilac flowers. They are like traditional lilac flowers on serious steroids. Gorgeous! You have to see them to believe them. And the scent, I think, is even headier than traditional lilacs. Much stronger and spicier.

These days, there are a ton of varieties of lilacs to choose from, in colors as varied as pink, yellow, and white. There are even reblooming shrubs now. (While I like that idea, there’s something to be said for the old school way of thinking…everything to its season.) But space in my yard is limited, so although I’d love one of each variety, I just can’t indulge. Still, I’m glad to have the old standards, and I’m positively thrilled to have the Katherine Havemeyer.

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Do you have a viburnum? Do you know how to pronounce “viburnum”? (I looked it up years ago…the stress is on the Vye at the beginning of the word.) This is a phenomenal landscape plant. There are many varieties to choose from, but I can personally recommend Judd.  Judd Viburnum is a round and bushy little tree-like shrub that grows to about 5 feet tall and wide. It is hardy, it is easy to prune if you want to shape it, and it makes a wonderful focal point in any garden. I have this particular viburnum smack dab in the center of the landscaping along the front of my house. It is my anchor. And in Spring, it is covered in the most phenomenal-smelling pom poms of blush pink flowers. The smell is like a carnation on steroids. Intense warm vanilla and spicy cinnamon. Definitely one of the most incredible spring flower smells you can experience. When the flowers are gone, I’m left with an attractive, full tree with dark green leaves that turns pretty purples and reds in the fall. It is rare when a plant gives you so much enjoyment and reliability in exchange for so little care. Judd’s my man…er, shrub!

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Can’t completely banish dandelions from your yard? Don’t blame your chosen brand of weed and feed. Look at how these things are engineered! These things can survive fires with roots like that.

I use corn gluten on my lawn to fertilize and prevent weeds. It’s the green choice, especially if you have lots of wildlife in your yard. And it works great overall. Certainly as well as your traditional chemicals. But chemicals or corn, you will never ever banish dandelions completely.

On the bright side, think of all the fun, dangerous-looking garden tools you can buy to fight them!

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What began as a typically awkward spring is slowly shaping up. Plants are becoming recognizable, the lawn is green, trees and shrubs are leafing out. And my dear garden friends, the toads, are back.

I have come to adore these little guys, even though they prompt me to scream several times a summer by popping out at me unexpectedly from under a plant when I’m weeding. The toads aren’t scary…they just surprise you! Did you know that you are a lucky, lucky gardener if you have toads in your yard? Each toad can consume thousands of insects that would otherwise damage our plants. They are nature’s pest control.

A few caveats to making your yard a toad refuge. Avoid chemical sprays and pesticides, which can poison the little guys. And be VERY careful when you weed or cut the grass. Baby toads especially can hop out unexpectedly into the path of a sharp object. You don’t want the guilt of having maimed one of these little cuties. Live and let live!

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In addition to spending the last couple of weekends cutting down all the dried up stalks from last year’s perennials (including buddleia) and checking for signs of life, I have been making the rounds on all my shrubbery as well. The lilacs were the first to sprout leaves and are still way ahead of the pack. Everything else is in very early leafing stages. Just little bumps you can see will be leaves.

One can never take for granted that any shrub, no matter how beloved, will come back year after year. It is always a relief to see those signs of life, especially if it is a shrub you planted last season. A first winter can bring surprises. I have two young privets in the same location; one is fine, the other shows no signs of leaves yet. I did the old “scratch test”…you know, scratch off a little bark and see if it’s green…and it is green, but I’ve learned that’s not definitive either. It’s a positive sign, but the shrub might also be on the verge of death. (If the scratch test reveals no green, abandon all hope.) Another week or two should tell for sure. By the way, one shrub you can’t do the scratch test on is summersweet…that bark is like iron. Summersweet is also very late to wake, though, so no reason to panic there yet.

I always keep my receipts for shrubs with guarantees in an easy-to-find place, and pay attention to how long I have to return them. If I’m going to pay good money for a shrub or tree, I always buy from a nursery with a one-year guarantee. Makes it alot less painful if it doesn’t come back. However, here’s hoping that all our shrubs do this year!

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I was late to the party with crocuses. I planted my first several dozen just two years ago and am so very glad I did. (Even though I had to keep bricks on top of the bulbs the first winter to discourage squirrels from digging them up.) I put them in a low-maintenance section of  my garden, consisting of mostly shrubs, so that they can multiply freely without accidental interference from me. For the past week, I’ve been enjoying the show, with more performances to come. Some may wonder if it’s worth the trouble, planting bulbs for flowers with such a brief life span. All I’ll say to that is, FLOWERS, in MARCH. What gardener wouldn’t want to see that? For your viewing pleasure, I will also include a long shot of one section of my garden with crocuses, so I can show off my beloved gardening cat statue, who clearly is enjoying the flowers.

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