The tried and true, and the new.

I've done it again. Couldn't stay away and bought some more flowers and shrubs. The conquest? A hardy hydrangea that isn't quite as picky about our alkaline soils. The purchase? A super hardy hydrangea that's called 'Limelight'.

Hardy to zone 3, this hydrangea can handle the sun. It also can handle heavy pruning which produces an abundance of flowers. What I love about it most, though, is the flowers are mostly white, but in the fall take a pinkish tone. I have yet to see a negative review about this hydrangea. The leaves aren't as big as the typical hydrangea, but the flower heads are around 8" across...so who's looking at the leaves?

I also am trying a native groundcover called Woadwaxen 'Golden Template'

After established, this beauty takes little to no water which is perfect for the front of my gardens that gets hot, western heat that is close to the sidewalk. It blooms in late spring to early summer. Only 8-10 inches tall, it spreads up to 2' wide. The blooms remind me of a golden broom.

I also grabbed a Verbascum 'Jackie in Pink'


It's a dwarf Mullein and goes well with my delphinium, and cottage garden look. It's also hardy to zone 5 which doesn't happen a lot with Mullein. It's a biennial, that only produces more flowers on bare soil, so I have to make sure I move my mulch out of the way. It's just gorgeous!!

The last purchase of note is the Lo and Behold 'Blue Chip' Buddleia, or butterfly bush.


This is a ground cover butterfly bush with beautiful blue/lavender blooms. 20" tall x 20" wide, it's the perfect spot in front of my blue garden that actually gets the full day sun. You don't have to deadhead it, and it's not supposed to seed which is the perfect low maintenance ground cover I need. It starts it's bloom time in early summer and goes until fall. I can't wait until I see it in action! Pictures can't do it justice!

As for the tried and true, I had to replace a gayfeather and I'm adding another iceplant in my rock garden. Delosperma Red Mountain.



It's an orangish color that I haven't seen before. I was going to grab the Lavender, but I sold out the day I was going to take it home. I'm hoping this variety is as hardy as the Delosperma Cooperi.

I also bought my Blue Mist spirea...a very small one. I've just decided to keep it small and hope for the best!! Now, off of the computer to get my son to dig holes!

The past couple of days have brought lots of rain. With the rain comes the slugs. They are everywhere. I can't even have the satisfaction of throwing them on the street and letting their slimy little bodies fry because it's still overcast out. So...I've been squishing them one by one all morning. Only a fellow gardener would understand this process, and the little thrill of the killing. I'm sadistic today. My Mock Orange looks like a weeping tree at the moment with the heavy strain of rain drops. I do hope it comes back because the only reason we have kept it is for the shade on our west facing porch. It needs to be it's full 12 foot height to be any good for us!

Yesterday Brian came by to get two loads of mulch to finish the backyard. I am hoping two loads will be enough to cover the mud by my vegetable garden. With all of the weeds that have sprung, I also need to add a couple of inches around the rest of the gardens. I do not believe in weed barrier, but heavy mulch to take care of the weed seedlings. I'm thinking I need another two loads. :)

I also have 15 plants to plant today, and hope I can get to them before the BBQ at 1 pm!

I'll be working a half day tomorrow and then going car shopping with my hubby. We have decided to forego our deck this year for a new car. We have narrowed the search down to a Ford Edge, a Mazda CX9 and a Toyota Venza. I cannot fathom spending so much for a Venza, but do absolutely love the ride!!

It was...like Christmas

I was following my Bluestone order and knew it would be coming in today via Fed Ex. I kept checking outside, hoping to see the Fed Ex driver, but then went to my kids' field day and then was hoping the box would be sitting on my porch when I returned. As I was coming home, I saw the Fed Ex driver leaving my street and I was thinkin, "Hooray!!" Nothing. Nada. I rush in asking if Corrin had heard the doorbell and he said no. I was in a huff wondering why wouldn't they just leave the flowers on my porch?

Well, it was because they didn't stop by my house yet. LOL. They were dropped off about and hour and a half later.

I've never ordered from Bluestone before but had heard good things from a garden forum (gardenweb.com shout out!) and also from my father, so I wanted to try them. I was pretty impressed they were able to stuff 8 plants in such a small box. Some of the plants were pretty bent which I wasn't happy about, but all seemed to be slightly damp and the sizes were bigger than what I was expecting. All in all, I was happy with the purchase.

So what did I do? Went to Picadilly and bought MORE plants. I know, I've got a problem. My friend Lena thinks I need to tell my employer to tell ME I can't get anymore. Like a bartender telling the drunk, "you're done".

I am happy to say that after buying an outstanding 'Claire De Lune' clematis, Aronia melanocarpa 'Autumn Magic' Chokeberry (my mission this year has been to keep the birds happy...and they will with the chokeberry and serviceberry), Indian Summer raspberry, a replacement coreopsis (this will be my third try in this location, but a different type so wish me luck), Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Avalanche' - Variegated Feather Reed Grass (we sell Karl Foerster, and I wanted to be different with the variegation...ha), and the much anticipated St. Mary's broom that I talked in a previous post. Add this to the four types of plants that I got from Bluestone, guess what I did today??? I wanted to get them in the ground so then Brian and I could work on the misters and drip lines so I don't have to hand water my backyard gardens anymore. I think I'm pretty much done buying this year unless something catches my eye that I can't say no to. I bought the clematis thinking I had a cool foot spot, but when looking more closely, the iris that I have planted haven't quite made the shade that I thought they did. I'll hold onto it for awhile, hoping an idea comes to me later. I will be returning 'Love' Rosa. It was supposed to be a red and white rose, but as it bloomed it's this electric pink. No thanks, it just doesn't belong anywhere. It's a pretty rose, but hardly any smell, and without the red, it's not meant to be.

Working tomorrow, hopefully we'll be busy so the 10 1/2 hours go by quickly!!

The Final Countdown

As the weather stays warmer (especially at night) we get the urge to start planting everything. I would like to remind you of some statistics about Colorado.

Taken from the Colorado State extension:

Last spring frost date confusion - People quote different last spring frost dates for the same area depending on their risk tolerance. Last spring frost dates are important to home Gardeners to help them plan when to set out frost-sensitive annual flower, vegetable and even tropical container plants.
Last Denver frost dates: In Denver the last spring frost date at a 50 percent confidence level is May 2nd with a growing season of 157 days. If you want to be 80 percent statistically confident it's May 12th and 90 percent confident, May 18th. All dates are based on 47 years of data. The latest last frost date was June 2, 1951.
Last Colorado Springs frost dates: Dates are not very different considering their 6170 feet elevation versus Denver's 5,290 feet. It is May 5th for 50 percent confidence (153 days), May 13th for 80 percent confidence and May 18th for 90 percent confidence based on 25 years of data. Their latest date was June 3, 1951.
Last Castle Rock frost dates: Gardeners at 6,250 feet Castle Rock can plan on a last frost date of May 23 with a 50 percent degree of confidence. In Fort Collins, it's May 10, Boulder, May 5 and Brighton, May 2.

This is essentially saying to pay attention to the weather forecasts. Gardeners usually use the rule of thumb to not plant much before Mother's Day since it falls around the last frost date. After Mother's Day, go crazy!!! The extremely cold hardy perennials can be planted (think of things that you see with either lush looking foliage right now...or even blooms) but wait another week or two for veggie, annual and less hardy perennials to be planted. If you go out this weekend to nurseries or The Home Depot et al try to write down names of the roses that you love...because you shouldn't be getting them...yet. If you DO fall in love with some and just have to buy it, make sure you harden them off before planting them. In nurseries (let's say Picadilly...he he) we keep our roses in extreme warm conditions. Partly because we pot up our roses and we want them to be flowering and looking beautiful by Mother's Day...and partly because it takes them awhile to be hardy for the cold! We have now just moved some roses into our regular greenhouse, but again, it is a sheltered environment.

If you are like me, and have no patience whatsoever...pay attention to the forecasts and if you've planted your containers already, bring them inside the garage or group them together and throw a sheet over them for protection from the cold.

Mother's Day is right around the corner! T- minus 12 days and counting!!!

I planted, planted, planted!!

Today was an awesome 63 degree day. Perfect weather to divide (even more) plants, move plants that weren't in the right spot, and plant the new plants I bought today. Tee hee!

Here's the list of the new ones:

Echinacea Sunrise


Veronica 'Reavis' Crystal River


Malva Sylvestris Zebrina


Baptisia False Indigo


I also moved my centaurea, my lone surviving Bridges Penstemon and divided my Solidago and Rudbeckia. I am slowly filling in the holes that were noticeable last year. I also bought a couple of perennials for the only shady part of my gardens...and am finally visualizing what I want it to look like. Pictures will come...later in the season!