Natives Outshine the Competition

Hello again, I've never been one to run through the sprinklers. At least at work that is.  But lately, if there is water in the air, I'm trying to get under it.  This is hot folks!  You didn't need me to tell you that though.  After the forth consecutive day above 100 degrees, I had a tough time getting the urge to go out and take pictures.  If you are outside all day like a lot of you probably are, I'm not complaining.  I have it made being able to work in an air-conditioned office.  If the weatherchannel.com report is correct, we should be back into the 80's by Sunday.  That will be a relief. 

Liatris spicata
If there were ever any reason to promote natives, times like these really market them well.  While walking through the gardens this morning, I noticed that most of the plants that looked best were native plants.  This picture has both the Liatris and the Eryngium yuccifolium otherwise known as Rattlesnake Master.  This combo borders our native area.  These were planted three years ago now, and are doing a great job turning this area into a somewhat designed native garden.

Parthenium integrifolium
I think I talk about this plant every year.  I also think that it's probably because it fills a time when not much else is looking great.  Sure the Echinacea are blooming everywhere, but you already know about those.  I have this planted in many areas now, but I like it best mixed with the Liatris and in another area with Geranium 'Bevan's Variety'.  The bold textured foliage looks great with fine textured plants like grasses as well.

Monarda Grand Marshall™

While it is very dry outside, there are some parts of our landscape that get plenty of moisture.  Water running from our Yard Shoppe display area filters into the garden that has Grand Marshall™.  This keeps this area well watered without having to put the labor into hand watering it.  When designing this garden, it was my intent on putting things there that I don't have enough water for in other gardens.  Ligularia, Carex elata 'Aurea', and various Astilbe have done well here.

Hopefully the next week we'll have some refreshing temperatures out there.  Right now it seems like a dream.  Until next time, have a great day!

The Heat is On

Hello again,
What a difficult summer we are having. I always argue for the Midwest, saying that we have four seasons and that is why it is better to live in Illinois than in Florida.  Having Winter, makes us appreciate Spring and Fall all the more.  Not having a Spring though, like this year, sure makes this area much less appealing. We went straight from winter to summer this year and left out the part of the year where most of the rain comes.  I've asked you to dance, and we got a little rain today, but not enough.  Even with the extreme heat and lack of water, plants are still looking good.  Our landscape crew at Midwest has been working very hard to keep things looking nice.  Areas of the garden that we never usually water have needed it this year.  So this is a public thank you to Gustavo and Fakundo for taking care of the plants so that I can get decent images of them.  And here they are.

Hydrangea Invincibelle® Spirit
I had a group of students out this week for a tour.  They came from Des Moines area Community College, or DEMACC as they call themselves.  Thanks for making us a part of your road trip touring.  When I asked which of the two they liked better, they chose this one over the Endless Summer® Bella Anna.  The color of flowers is very similar.  Maybe a little darker on the Bella Anna, but the Invincibelle® Spirit as a whole looks like a better plant.


Hydrangea Incrediball®
This is the best this plant has ever looked in our garden. I've seen the mother plant at Spring Meadow and it was very impressive.  I've come to the conclusion this year that Hydrangea arborescens needs three years in the ground to reach their potential.  The added watering that we've needed to do this year has potentially helped them get larger and a little stronger.  The plant itself is still only 3' tall but some of the flowers are nearly a foot wide themselves.

Aesculus parviflora
This is my annual posting of Bottlebrush Buckeye.  I fall more and more in love with it every year.  This hedge was intended as a production hedge where we'd take cuttings every year for propagation.  Well, the nursery manager that asked me to plant it, left a year later and they have left the plants to grow large and beautiful.  Six years in the ground, the plants are 6' x 6' wide and flowering like crazy.  These have not gotten any supplemental watering, so they are proving drought tolerant as well.  The ones in more shade are about a week behind in flowering, but these in full sun look great right now.

Asclepias incarnata
A couple quick pictures of some milkweed here.  I am fascinated by the flowers on these.  A. incarnata is one of my favorite plants.  Monday, I had a good friend in here telling me that she loves to read the blog and hear me say over and over again, "this is my favorite".  So here's to you Brenda!  I like it mostly because it photographs so well.  But also because its genera is the host to the monarch caterpillar.  Insects of many backgrounds flock to this plant to take a sip of its sweet nectar.

Asclepias syriaca
Larger flowers form on this species.  This is the common milkweed plant that you are most likely to see on the roadsides.  It does seed around quite freely.  The biggest threat to this plant though is mowing.  Roadside ditches with this plant in it should be left alone after the beginning of June.  Monarchs are in danger of lower numbers year after year, and if we mow down the plants they require for nourishment, we lose their habitat.  Furthermore, these plants most likely have larvae already on them when we mow, essentially killing one of our continents iconic migratory animals.
Piet Oudolf Garden
It's been a little while since I've posted a picture of this garden.  It is looking quite nice today.  The Echinacea are beginning to bloom all around the garden which really adds a lot of color.  In this picture, Amsonia hubrichtii is beginning to show it's fall color in June per usual. The fine texture of the Narrow-Leaved Bluestar and the Coneflowers mixed looks great.  The garden overall, is looking the best I've seen in many years.  I'm very happy we had Piet out here last year to take a look.  This morning, we had a discussion about removing some plants from the garden.  The targeted plant is the Eryngium yuccifolium.  I love Rattlesnake Master, but it is officially becoming a beast in the garden.  It could be the most difficult of the weeds we've had to remove, but we're going to give it a try.

As I've been typing away, the rain has continued to come down gently.  I want to treat it like I'd treat my young nieces and nephews and say that it can't possibly rain any more.  These clouds are not strong enough to persist through the day.  I just don't believe that they can do it.  Come on reverse psychology!  I hope this rain reaches all of us that need it desperately.  I'm going to continue with the rain dance.  We need as much as these clouds are willing to give.  Hopefully the next few days this will continue and resaturate the ground.  Until next time, thanks for reading and have a great day!

Maintaining the Piet Oudolf Garden

Hello again,
It's been a while, and I apologize for the lengthy time in between posts. I hope everyone is getting geared up for a terrific spring. Here at Midwest Groundcovers we are getting ready for what we hope will be a great year! In the process, the garden is getting prepared for growth. We are attempting a new game plan for cutting down this garden. It has been quite the journey in making this garden a quicker maintenance project. In the first years, the project would take a full two days to hand cut the entire garden. We did that for a several years. It just wasn't efficient enough. Three years ago, we decided to try a new avenue. We started using a weed whip to cut the plants down. This took a two day project and cut it down to half a day. In the process, we'd take the native plants we cut down and move them to the prairie in the front of our facility to help with the burn. We didn't take all the plants, because we didn't want to spread the seeds of non-native plants in our prairie. Native plants were welcome.

We started phase three of our history in this garden last week. Roy Diblik has started to use this technique on his jobs, and has also implemented it at the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park in Chicago. The theory behind mowing this garden is that herbaceous plants naturally grow amongst their own debris.

Therefore using a mulching mower to chop up the plants and leave them on top creates a natural mulch for them. We first removed some of the species I had concerns with reseeding about. This was mostly Eryngium yuccifolium, or Rattlesnake Master and Aster 'October Skies'. These plants were removed before mowing to keep them from moving around. This process took a half day project down to one hour. Now that is efficiency! As long as the ground is frozen or dry, this looks to be a great new maintenance program for this garden. Until next time, I hope you have a great day!

What's Hot in the Shade and Prairie

Things are sure hot around here. New plantings in the Piet Oudolf garden have been temporarily suspended until we can get heat indexes below 100 degrees. So I perused the gardens for other things looking good in the sweltering heat, and found some nice surprises.

Liatris spicata with Parthenium integrifoliumThis was part of a renovation from last year. This area was formerly Flower Carpet® Roses and Junipers. Junipers are still surrounding the area, but we replanted the rest of it with native prairie plants.

Another view of this area shows Eryngium yuccifolium and in the background Cassia hebecarpa. The beautiful Quercus bicolor, or Swamp White Oak makes a nice transition from our older prairie to the newly planted one.

Hosta 'Halcyon'
This is one of my all time favorite Hostas. It holds up very well even in intense heat. The plants further back are in full shade, while the ones in front do get some afternoon sun which is why they have a green tint to them. This variety of Hosta has been one of the best for sports. Some of the plants that have come from this include, 'June' and 'First Frost' to name two.

Astilbe Color Flash™Color Flash™ Astilbe looks great in the landscape right now. The flowers are light pink with a pleasing light fragrance. Not pictured, is the partner for this planting, Carex elata 'Aurea'. Together, this makes a nice combination for wet shade. The area in which these are planted gets wet everyday from us watering our display yard and perhaps is why this has been so successful.

Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'Hidden below a Washington Hawthorn is this nice stand of Hakonechloa. This year, this is the only variety that we carry. But next year, watch out! We'll be carrying two other varieties of Hakone grass. They will be 'Fubuki' which is a white and green variegated plant. Those also look nice in the landscape right now. And we will also be carrying 'All Gold'. These are nice plants for the shade, but usually require some moisture. In this area, they are under a tree and rarely get watered, so there is some drought tolerance there as well.

I hope everyone is staying cool and healthy out there. This weather is brutal. Thanks again for taking the time to read, and until next time, have a great day.