Updates and Plans

The Veronica Red Fox finally bloomed. There is a lot of grass growing throughout this bed. This has created more work for me than weeds. It's difficult to pull grass out by the roots when they grow in stubborn clay. It's a constant struggle.

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current irrigation system

So many projects on my list, it’s tough to decide where to start. This morning, as I climbed out of bed, way too early I might add, the first thing on my mind was to work some more on the irrigation system. My current irrigation ‘system’ consists of two faucets running directly from the city’s irrigation canal system. From those two faucets I have a garden hose attached to a twenty foot long pvc pipe with an irrigation sprinkler head attached to each end. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done. Still, dragging this thing around the yard is getting old.

timer and two gates

The only thing automatic about it is a timer set to run for one hour (or whatever limit I tell it) whenever I decide to turn it on.

A week ago I decided that six years of dragging this thing around was enough. It would be easy to rent a trench digger but being frugal – okay cheap – I am digging trenches as I need them. The first part of my new irrigation system is to run a main water line to several positions around the entire yard from where will run drip irrigation and soaker hoses. No more overhead watering, yeah! No more dragging the DIY portable irrigation system around, yeah!

I had already connected pipe and ran it the length of the west fence and buried it. This photo shows grass clippings I have been saving along the fence for a couple of years now in hopes of protecting the pipe from the weather so I would not have to bury it. But in the end I decided to bury it anyway.

This will connect to another faucet at the garden shed. I cannot hook it up yet until I get to the end of the whole thing, i.e., all faucets must be on line before I tap into the currently working system. As I was burying the pipe that will connect the working faucet to the rest of the yard I got the bright idea to expand the Deck Side Garden across the two gates (shown in the photo above) and permanently anchor the largest of the two gates. That gate never gets used except to mow the grass under it so it was a very easy decision to lock it down and turn the grassy area into another garden bed, namely an extention of the existing neighboring bed. Any time I can cut down on grass to cut I am all for it.

Why not put a gravel and stepping stone path under the working gate? Sure, why not indeed. So that is just what I did today. Shown here is as far as I got today. I really can't complete the stepping stones until the pipe is hooked up to this faucet and then buried.

The thermometer hit 93 and the call of a couple of fans and the tall cold glass of iced tea won me over. I’ll finish tomorrow morning. Or maybe the next day.

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Signs of Spring

With the temperatures reaching the 50’s, okay only twice, but I’m optimistic it will be a regular thing soon, I found signs that the garden is awakening.

One tiny sprout from a daylily Stella De Oro has awakened and is poking through the mulch.

Veronica Sunny Border Blue is beginning to take off.

Crocus have been blooming for a couple of weeks.

One lonely Early Stardrift.

The Woodstock Hyacinth are beginning to fade after blooming for about two weeks now.

Lilac Fragrant Purple, Syringa vulgaris, an old-fashioned common lilac, purchased from Stark Bros in spring 2005, are increasing in size each spring and this year are showing more buds. I have three surviving plants out of a package of ten (the only way are sold) and they are growing at different rates. The one planted in a raised bed is fairly scrawny compared to the other two, perhaps the soil is too rich for it. The other two are planted a little too close together so will need to be transplanted soon, probably next spring. My plan is to replace a few other lilacs that were growing here when we moved in and were not very well kept. But since I began pruning them out the last two years they are starting to show improvement. I don’t know what the cultivar is but I might keep those and give these to my daughter.

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Michigan Bulb Co order

Here’s another order to help fill up my beds and my insatiable need for more. Michigan Bulb Co usually offers a one cent sale and their selection isn't as exotic as some, but they have a good selection of plants and fair prices.


This order was packed liked they care. I love it when a nursery uses extra packing to protect their plants. I'm not crazy about the 'peanuts' but the Hydrangea is the only plant that received this treatment. The box was slightly damaged in transit on one end, and I expected to see some internal damage as a result. Everything inside was unaffected which attests to the care they put into the packing material.



Everything else came in plastic which completely encased the plant. The leaves are very healthy, when I looked at the roots of several of the plants at random they are very well-developed and healthy as well. This protection scheme is one of the best so far.



Dianthus Maiden Pink.
Grows to 6” tall and 12” spread. Loves neutral to alkaline soil which is any clay area so it should do marvelously here in the Utah valley.

When I search for Maiden Pinks I get info on a long list of plants called Maiden Pink. For instance, Zing Rose, Flashing Light, Confetti, Brilliancy, etc. The catalog I ordered these from just calls them Maiden Pinks so I don’t know which plant from this long list this one is. I can eliminate some of them because they are white but the others are all bright pink to rose-red to crimson-red. So it will be a mystery. This photo from the internet calls it Maiden Pink.

Dianthus in general confuse me. Some people call them carnations, pinks, Sweet William. I wonder why so many cultivars use the same generic name. Most other flowers are pretty specific with their names.

Campanula Glomerata. Commonly known as Bellflower.
Here’s another plant whose name could get you a wide variety of cultivar. When I search for Campanula Glomerata I can get Clustered Bellflower, Clustered Bellflower Joan Elliott, Clustered Bellflower Superba, Campanula Glomerata Caroline, etc. Some of these plants look so similar that I don’t see how they can be differentiated. Some are blue, some are white. The catalog I ordered this one from just says Bellflower. It is beautiful though, regardless of the name.

Hydrangea Annabelle.
Now this one is very distinct in its name, size, shape, color etc, so that when you ask for Hydrangea Annabelle you know exactly what you are going to receive. The white blooming heads are over 10” in diameter (sometimes up to 12") and bloom no matter how they are pruned. This is my kind of plant. The perfect beginners shrub.
I just learned that this shrub can live up to 50 years! I never thought about how long a specific plant lives I just figured that they always leave seeds behind to continue their line.
There are several categories of Hydrangea, this one is a “smooth”.
This is the one shrub I want most to grow. My Grandmother had one of these and it was HUGE! I have my doubts as to whether or not Utah is the correct climate for it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Veronica Red Fox.
Aka Speedwell. Flowers from June until September 15” tall by 18” spread. These are quickly becoming some of my favorite plants. They are very widely grown because they compliment so many other flowers and they attract bees like crazy. I have three other Veronica varieties, all blue, so I am looking forward to seeing these rosy-pink spikes. They say these are not as invasive as other Veronica but I'll probably add more, just in case they are not.

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Scorecard: plants vs. me, part two

Continuing my inspection of what survived this year, here is bed B3:


This bed was nothing but grass when we moved here in May 2004 and it wasn’t in real good shape. I had a general idea of what I wanted here as soon as I saw it. The bed starts as wide as the concrete pad, at the far north end behind the cherry tomato, and then narrows in towards the fence and will gradually curve back out and circle back to the fence at the south end to form a large round area for a tree. Currently the area is 26 feet long without the large round area for a tree and will, by next fall, be 36 feet long.

All of these plants, except the Butterfly Bush and the Tomato, both at the far end, were purchased as one of those instant garden deals from Bluestone Perennials.

Achillea Angels Breath

Also known as Yarrow. This Achillea was unknown to me and I really like its small bushy habit. The typical Yarrow, see next photo, stands much taller with long thin branches ending in a ‘platform’ that butterflies like to hang out on.

Achillea Coronation Gold

This is the typical Yarrow I am familiar with. I was hesitant about planting this because I am familiar with it from my childhood in Indiana. These grew wild in the fields behind my house and I had always thought of them as weeds. They attract butterflies like crazy but still I’m afraid of it becoming invasive. There are also red varieties which look pretty good. Maybe this is a different variety than the weed I grew up with. I’ll have to wait and see what it does next year.

Arabis Snowcap

Commonly known as Rock cress, this is supposed to be a groundcover with white flowers covering it from April through June. It has not flowered for me, but then it is only one year old.

Aster Alma Potschke

This Aster is one of the New England Aster’s, (sounds like one of those blue blooded sophisticates) it didn’t begin flowering until recently and has grown pretty steadily over the summer. It’s a semi-woody plant that should be covered with bright neon pink flowers until frost. This is another butterfly and bee magnet. Love having these around.

Buddleia Black Knight

I bought this one to replace the two that I killed this spring due to a miscommunication on pruning. I was under the impression that you should cut it back to the ground in spring to make it come back more bushy. The two I had last year were beautiful so I was really looking forward to them being even bushier this year, but alas, it was not to be. This plant is suppose attract butterflies by the hundreds. I have heard that it does, but my garden is so new that the butterflies must not know it is here yet. Yeah, that must be it. I just know they will begin flocking next year. I will NOT prune it as severally as I was told to next spring. Lesson learned.

Chrysanthemum Shasta Alaska

This is one of the main reasons I wanted a flower garden. This plant, along with the Echinacea, just exudes cheeriness. How can you not be a peace with a bunch of these free flowering beauties around? I’m pretty sure that next year it will bloom like crazy.

Coreopsis Early Sunrise

Another one of my all-time favorites. Coreopsis cannot help but brighten up any garden. This is an All-American Selections Gold Medal Winner and is fully deserving of the honor. The bright yellow contrasts so well with the dark green foliage that you can’t help but demand that this be a part of any garden bed.

Dianthus Agatha

This Dianthus is one of the most fragrant of the pinks. One description I read said it was one of the modern pinks. Now, I don’t know what that means but the picture showed flowers that looked double, although I don’t think it is a true double. Earlier this year I had planted some Dianthus Zing Rose in one of the front yard beds and they bloomed a deep rich red all summer. This one didn’t bloom but the foliage looks almost ornamental grass-like. I like it so far even without the blooms.

Echinacea Magnus

Purple Coneflower. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of those flowers that no garden should be without. It is robust, drought tolerant, native to the U.S. blooms all summer through October, excellent for cut flower arrangements and it can even be used medicinally. What’s not to love about it?

Nepeta Walkers Low

Catmint. Blue-violet flowers and fragrant, low-growing and a very prolific bloomer. I was afraid it would increase my neighborhood cat problem, what with all of the bird feeders I have hanging around, but that has not been the case. This plant does attract a lot of bees, for which I am very happy. I have never seen so many bees in my yard as I have this summer. Very nice.

Rudbeckia Goldstrum

This is another of those bright, cheery plants that blooms all summer until frost. Commonly known as Black-eyed Susan because of its large velvety brown center. Bees and butterflies love it and if you don’t deadhead it the birds eat the seeds. I wish I had a large field to dedicate to this plant because it looks really great in groups.

Salvia East Friesland

I have seen this called Meadow Sage, it has the typical purple spikes associated with salvia but is more compact. Last year I planted a couple Salvia Plumosa in one of the front beds and it became lanky and unsightly, this one is not supposed to do that, which is why I was willing to try another salvia. It is very fragrant and attracts bees by the dozens, always a good thing.

Sedum Autumn Joy

Sedum is also called Stonecrop. Someday I’m going to find out where these names come from. This plant surprised me. I am familiar with sedum from when I was a child, my grandmother always had sedum growing around her roses but they were short and I always thought of them as succulents and therefore more like a cactus without the spikes. I learned that this is known as an ‘upright’ sedum which explains why it is so tall. It looked more like a broccoli stalk than a true flower plant, but when the top began turning pink and then red it really began to come into its own. I’m planning on getting a few more of them.

Thymus Pink Chintz

This is creeping thyme. I’m a bit disappointed because it hasn’t ‘creeped’ as expected. It is commonly used in between paving stones and I don’t have very many pavers yet but thought I should be ready. I planted a flat of them after seeing a picture of it in bloom and was told that it can be walked on so I thought it would great to help combat my ‘creeping weed’ problem. It doesn’t seem to want to do anything so it’s another one of those plants that I have to have patience with.

Veronica Blue Carpet

I have always had a thing for spiky plants. Some psychologist will probably tell me something I don’t want to hear about it, but anyway, Veronica is one of those plants that has such a variety of beautiful blue flowers that I just had to have some. You couldn’t tell by these pictures but they do have pretty blue flowers. I started out with three varieties but one of them just shriveled up in this very same bed as these. I moved one of the plants into a front bed where it gets afternoon sun and it is doing much better than in this bed of full all day sun, it actually bloomed. So I think I will move the others there as well.

Veronica Sunny Border Blue

This Veronica has the best color of the three I planted. Honest, I've seen the pictures. The foliage is pretty thick and sets off the flower stalks very nicely. It thrives in clay soil so it will do well here once I get it into some afternoon shade.

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