Category Archives: sidewalk bed

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – May 2014

May 15, 2014bulbs, gate bed, loki bed, sidewalk bed, spring, Uncategorizedjane

May Bloom Day is upon us! The end of last week and over the weekend we had some warmer weather during an otherwise cool Spring. It took just those handful of days for the tulips to bloom and the trees to leaf out. My allergies have also been telling me the garden is now is full swing.

Last season we had three arborvitae removed from in front of our porch. They were planted very close to the porch and also had grown tall enough to block our view. This left a large area we decided to plant with a variety of early to mid spring tulips.

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This next little plant is Rock Cress (Arabis sturii). There are rocks placed behind our backyard gate door, so a ground cover was needed to dress up the area. This plant receives morning sun and doesn’t grow much larger than shown.

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All the Labrador Violets are in bloom around foundation in both the backyard and along the east side of the house.

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Last season Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) was planted in the backyard on the north side of the house. It isn’t quite in bloom yet, but I’m not sure if it will make it to June Bloom Day. We placed the Woodruff near our finch feeder at the kitchen window to help camouflage the discarded thistle seed. This ground cover is quite content in the shade.

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This is one of my favorite plants on the Lot. The Foam Flower is so delicate and pretty, yet quite a tough plant. In the foreground of the photo, the Snow Angle Coral Bell is just beginning to send up its flower stalks.

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This is the Bleeding Heart, one of the first perennials we planted on the Lot when we moved into our home in 2008. Even after a tussle with an aggressive Trumpet Vine last season, it’s still going strong. There are a handful of Forget-Me-Not and Grape Hyacinth in the foreground.

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Here is the Cranesbill brightening up the walkway back to the compost bin beside the garage. This plant lived on the Lot before we did.

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The variegated Solomon’s Seal is in the process of blooming at the edge of Loki’s flowerbed.

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This is the remainder of that same bed. The Lenten Rose, Forget-Me-Not, and Grape Hyacinth are all blooming here.

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Here is the Mt Airy Fothergilla putting on its Spring show. The flowers are likened to bottlebrushes in appearance. Upon further inspection, this is because the flower on Fothergilla are only filaments and have no actual petals.

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Here are more Grape Hyacinth! It seems I will never have to plant a single one of these bulbs on the Lot again. Oh, there is also the lovely dandelion in the bottom left.

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That is all to share from the Lot this Bloom Day. Be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in gardens around the rest of the world!

Native Sale – The Rest of the Story

April 26, 2014front bed, native plants, pollinators, sidewalk bed, the Lotjane

The Plaster Creek Stewards had a native plant sale this afternoon hosted at the public library. According to their site, the group “is a collaboration of Calvin College faculty, staff, and students working with local schools, churches, and community partners to restore the health and beauty of the watershed.” The group focuses their efforts on “three areas: education, research, and on-the-ground restoration in the watershed.”

The plant sale was one of the many activities held in the city to celebrate Earth Week 2014. On the 15th of this month, I had attended a seminar at the Frederick Meijer Gardens about native plants. Native Plants in the Garden was given by Brian Majka of Cardno JFNew. So when I attended the native plant sale, I had a list of plants to seek out for specific, challenging areas of the Lot.

Native Plants for Dry, Sandy Shade

Along the east side of the Lot, against the foundation, is an area of dry shade. It has unfortunately been the site of many plant deaths. At first I felt sedum would work, but there is not enough sun. None of the gentle, morning sun the rest of the east side receives reaches the barren patch.

Here are the natives I brought home for dry / sandy / shade:

Wild Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis
Foxglove beardtongue – Penstemon digitalis
Hairy beardtongue – Penstemon hirsutus
Shortbeak Sedge – Carex brevior

Native Plants for Wet Shade

In the back, northwest corner of the Lot is a low area where a lot of rainwater will collect. The rain barrels currently are there along with a fern and a coral bell. The area gets a brief hit of afternoon sun.

Here are the natives I brought home for wet (seasonally flooded) / shade:

Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis
Great Blue Lobelia – Lobelia siphilitica (part sun)

Native Plants for Wet Sun

On the west side of the Lot where the privacy fence divides the front and back of the property, there is a downspout. The rain water is funneled out into this area causing it to often be soggy. The area also receives some toasty, afternoon sun.

Here are the natives I brought home for wet (seasonally flooded) / sun:

Cup Plant – Silphium perfoliatum
Monkey Flower – Mimulus ringens

Native Plants for Dry, Sandy Sun

Here is the only native I brought home for dry / sand / sun*:

Wild Lupine – Lupinus perennis

* To be absolutely honest about the lupine, I bought it because I was curious about the native lupine versus the nursery varieties I had grown in the past. It is also the host plant for the Karner Blue butterfly.

All the native plants I purchased will be living in the garage a few weeks longer. Grown from seed and still little, the advice at the plant sale was to wait until our cooler than normal Spring warms a bit more. I look forward to watching them grow throughout the season.

Spring Pruning – Lady’s Mantle

March 24, 2012pruning, sidewalk bed, spring, spring cleanupjane

Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) was purchased for the Lot a couple of years ago. It wasn’t even in bloom when it found it’s way into our shopping cart and rode home with us. What caught my eye at the nursery was how the slightly hairy, cup-like leaves had caught water droplets. Instant love.

I had read before how Lady’s Mantle is semi-evergreen so the plant should be left alone in the Fall and cleaned up in the Spring. Not a problem. I did just that… Ta-da!

Pretty, huh? After brushing away the fallen tree leaves, I was able to get a closer look at the plant. The majority of the foliage from last season was shriveled up and brown. However, new Spring growth was already growing up from the plant through the previous season’s dead foliage. No matter how much you plea with them, plants will not wait for you.

To avoid cutting the delicate, new growth near the plant’s base, I followed the stems of the old foliage into the plant with my fingers. It allowed me to better see where I was trimming. Then I snipped the old leaf stem off a few inches away from the plant.

Resist the urge to pull off the old leaves. There’s a chance the plant will be torn and damaged. When I was done clearing out all the dead bits, the plant was looking clean but a bit pathetic. It was the sullen teenager, and I was the mom giving it a haircut at home.