2018 Garden Recap: Flowers

Now that the outdoor growing season has officially ended here in Chicago, I thought it was time to look back and see how things went.

It was definitely a mixed year weather-wise, but for the most part everything looked pretty good all summer. Except for the weed infestation that took a while to get under control!

Here’s some highlights:

I was excited to get my zinnia and marigold beds laid down from seeds that I had collected from last years’ flower beds.

I waited for the soil to warm up enough, prepared the beds, separated out the seeds and spread them out over the soil, then watered. The seedlings were about 3 inches when disaster struck! Some wayward weed-wacking had pulverized them after mistaking the seedlings for weeds.

So back to ground zero, but it was now mid-June and everything was pushed back quite a bit. So, replanted what little seed I had left and added some new Burpee Cut and Come Again Zinnias and Burpee Boy O’Boy Marigold Mix. Much to my delight, I did end up with beautiful flower beds before too long.

Like last year, I collected up all my seeds to keep for next spring. Check out my previous post, Cheerful and Bright Zinnias Bed, for an easy how-to to get dense flower beds like these.

The Monarda added mid-summer festive colors and are always a favorite of the bees.

I’ve enjoyed the summer color from my current Monardas who have grown really well in their new locations (The Bee Balm is Very Happy). I added another variety this summer, Marje Pink Bee Balm (Monarda ‘Marje Pink’). Hopefully it grows as well as the other two have.

Other garden standbys did well this summer. Hostas, Daylilies, Phlox and the newly added Summer Beauty Allium (Allium Tanguticum ‘Summer Beauty’) added plenty of summer color

I moved some plants around and put some new ones in. We’ll see how they look in the spring!

I replaced some scraggly looking daylilies next to the front walkway with the much neater Summer Beauty Allium (Allium Tanguticum ‘Summer Beauty’), and filled in some holes n the side and back gardens with Flames of Passion Avens (Geum ‘Flamers of Passion’), Max Frei Geranium (Geranium Sanguineum ‘Max Frei’), early summer blooming Pumila Astilbe (Astible Chinensis ‘Pumila’) and late summer blooming Visions Astilbe (Astible Chinensis ‘Visions’)

I also took out this Russian Sage that never looked quite right in the midst of the yews. I tried to transplant it, but I didn’t really like being moved mid-summer. We’ll see if it comes up anywhere. I’m sure there will be some stragglers to remove and try again to transplant in the spring.

Overall pretty good year, but I’m excited to see what next spring will bring. Feel like it’s going to be a long winter…

A View of the June Garden-Front yard

Yesterday, the backyard, now on to the front yard…

This is the area of biggest change. In preparation for new construction, all the trees next door were taken down in early April. We knew this was likely at some point (see Problem Areas) and had tried to plan ahead. This garden contains arborvitae, annabelle hydrangeas, hostas and some annuals. It went from almost full shade to full sun. So far so good.

Under an Autumn Blaze Maple, we have some burning bushes, hostas, and daylilies.

Also some Columbines that have travelled from the backyard.

This was another problem area where nothing seemed to grow under a mature maple. I was happy to see the hostas I planted last year came back nicely. When I split some more, I’ll add them to continue to fill in the space. We are a little worried about the health of this parkway maple. It’s pretty old and showing a lot of signs of being unhealthy. But it’s still standing, for now.

On the other side of the driveway, a few years ago a rather large maple fell down in a wind storm. We replaced it with this Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) that has finally seemed to take off after it’s brush with cicadas its second year. Underneath are more densi yews, Russian Sage, daylilies and a burning bush.

Back up to the house, there’s an awful lot of green since the Korean Lilac and Judd Viburnum have finished blooming. The yews are a bit overgrown and the Rhododendron in the corner a bit spindly. This may become the next area to fix up.

The yews took a bit of a beating this winter and will look fine after a trim. The boxwoods and hostas are new last year and make a nice addition to the area (although the one hosta looks a little big for the space). A little sprucing up and mulch and this area will be good to go.

That’s most of the garden spaces that I write about and toil in. Hopefully this summer will bring perfect garden weather.

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Daylilies: Part 2

Some close ups of the daylilies in my yard. I’m still working on the identification part, so if I have something wrong, or you know what I can’t find yet, please let me know!
I realized that part of my identification problem was thinking that the daylily was the wrong color. For example, the Catherine Woodbury. I searched for the longest time under peach daylilies, but it wasn’t until I searched for all tall, traditional bloom types that it popped up. They were under lavender, so I went back out and sure enough, there’s the lavender. As the flowers are fading it becomes even more striking. I’m trying to use that trick with the 2 species that I’m still not sure of.

Same unknown as previous picture. Mixed with Bee Balm

Now that I’ve spent some time studying the daylilies in my own yard, I’ve been noticing all the different daylilies around me. In the neighborhood, parking lots, storefront gardens–I’m surprised at all the varieties that I never noticed before.

Tag: russian sage

2018 Garden Recap: Flowers

A View of the June Garden-Front yard

Daylilies: Part 2

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