GBBD 10.12

It's that time again ladies and gentlemen, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. As many of you know Carol at May Dream Gardens sponsors this popular meme every month. Be there are be square.
Fall is here in south central Kansas which is still recovering from a drought. I've had to squeeze my irrigation amount, do to economics. However, we received 1.5 inches of nitrogen fixed rainfall (that means rain with lighting), and this will be a plus before winter sets in. So lets begin with my garden.

Welcome to Kansas-Rudebeckia hirta, Salvia farinacea and Nasella tenuissiama.

Rosa 'Noare'

Rosa 'Noare' and Aster novi-belgii 'Wood's Blue'

 Linaria purpurea and Aster laevis

Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' and Salvia 'Indigo Spires'

Artichoke

 Rudebeckia hirts 'Denver'.

Front walk-kind of hard to walk but it sure does smell good. Mostly globe basil (volunteer) and Salvia.

 Front Hell Strip-Yucca rigida, Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue', Andropogon gerardii, Agastache
foeniculum, Vicea, Nasella tenuisiuma, and Nepeta.

View from other direction.

Ascelepias incarnata. A few seed head before I make like a tree and leaf.

Datura.

April Bloom Day: 101, Tornado's, Flu and Landscaping

Corner Hell Strip- - (LtoR) Viola(front),Saponaria ocymoides(soapwort),Salvia 'Rapsody in Blue', and Aethionema schistosim (Persian stonecress).

What is the title suppose to mean you ask? Good question.
101: this is post number 101.
Tornado's: As many of you who live in the central plains know, this is tornado alley.
Flu: stomach flu.
Landscaping: I provide free landscaping services to my sons.
Story Line:
All last week my son has been communicating that he wanted to take me up on an offer to add a perennial bed to his new house in Edmond (near Oklahoma City). I responded with some regret as I knew that the rain had been dropping there all week. And as some of you many know the soil there is nasty red clay. It is so bad that Acme brick has a Edmond quarry near there manufacturing plant that they make brick out of. We're talking sorry soil! Anyways my plan was to add compost from the local municipal recycle plant into the bed. When I drove to the compost plant on Thursday it was closed due to weather! Weather! Come on. Well it probably turned out to be a mixed blessing. Therefore I went to plan B which was purchase compost in Edmond and take tiller and tools along to amend bed.
Friday night finally came around and off we go. As we were leaving we heard we were in a tornado watch. This warning was not a normal warning, as words were using such as total destruction, loss of life possible if not in a tornado shelter. Whoa, never heard that before. (Come to find out the the national weather bureau has stepped up theie warnings as many people were becoming complacence when tornado's never became real. They later replied that this saved lives this weekend as they knew the weather conditions were going to be severe. The tornado's in Kansas were called a month's worth of tornado's in one day.)
We arrived and my son and I immediately went to work removing the builders applied Bermuda sod with mesh netting. This allows the sod to stay together during application. We worked into the night under the street light shadows and completed step one. Not a easy task as the mesh was rolled into the clay soil and was difficult to remove. The wind was blowing 40 mph along with interspersing rain.
That night we were watching the storms on tv radar move through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The tornado siren went off at 2;30 a.m. Freak out! Went to the inner closet until the storm had passed. Missed it as the funnel never touched ground. Needless to say it was hard to sleep.

The next day we went after bulk compost. None to be found. So we added two yards of amended topsoil and elevated the bed in berms to improve drainage.

Perennials (seedling volunteers from my garden) were placed for review. Rudbeckia hirta, fulgida, Salvia fairnancea, Salvia  guaranitica 'black and blue', Stipa tenuissima, Echinacea purpurea, Gallardia, Napeta 'walkers low', and Foeniculum vulgare (bronze fennel) were added. I finished planting them and then we added shredded hardwood mulch. Done. Then it rained and rained. Then I got the stomach flu. I had not regurgitated since college ( many, many moons ago). Up and down all night.
That night Wichita, Kansas was hit by multiple tornado's. Wichita is only 40 miles from our home. The warnings were well advised. Our home was spared any damage.

 As always the 15th of month is garden bloggers bloom day where bloggers meet and share their blooms at May Dream Gardens. Image above is Yucca rigida, Verbascum (common mullien), and Linum (blue flax).

 Saliva 'Rapsody in Blue' and Aethionema schistosim (Persian stonecress)

As always, have a great gardening season.

Cool and Crisp - Winter Version

As I was leaving to visit relatives on Christmas Eve morning, I couldn't resist snapping a few cool temperature photos.

Miscanthus and Rudebeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum'

Panicum Dewey Blue background, Schizachyrium scoparium-Little Bluestem and Achillea 'Coronation Gold'.

Same combination as previous photo with morning light

Achillea Terra Cotta.

Panicum 'Dewey Blue' switchgrass

Solidago and Achillea

Sedum 'dragons blood'

Happy Holidays to all!- Greggo

Snow in Kansas

Yes that's Right! Snow as in Snowbank. 

Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank'

Isn't that a great combination. Boltonia asteroides 'snowbank', Miscanthus sinensis 'variegatus', Salvia guaranitica 'black and blue', and Rosa 'flower carpet red'.

This combination should really pop when the foreground asters begin to bloom. The hollyhocks on the left finally succumbed to the dreaded rust miester curse.

When I first read a description of snowbank, about their daisy flowers and late summer blooming period it peaked my interest. I was in the process of designing a new perennial bed. Snowbank's size and growing conditions met the requirements needed. So I ordered a kit garden from a mail order nursery as this was a way to add quantity and save money. And so the story begins.

Before: January 2010 New Perennial Bed - Mostly vinca minor and volunteer seedlings and of course loaded with nutgrass, the bad carex.

March 2010: Defining the Bed outline. Removing sod and moving it to raise grade in front of bed.(bottom of photo)

April 2010: Adding Flower Carpet Rose, underground drainage pipe with catch basin (below), and field stone border.

April 22 2010: Plants arrive one week after normal last frost. That's Boltonia bottom right.

May 2010: Perennials Planted, more field stone edging added and stone drainage feature added over drain grate.

June 2010: Good growth and removal of nutgrass.

July 2010: Our 1st year in our cottage anniversary. Perennials begin to push. Removal of nutgrass, arghhh.

Boltonia behind, near the house and behind the rose.

April 2011: a new spring. Boltonia is sleeping. No nutgrass yet.

May 2011: Additions to Perennial Bed, an Alaskan of all things. Why not?

This post is about snow.

Late May 2011: Roses are in their glory. Boltonia peeking from the top.

Late May 2011: Son of a Biscuit! What's that yellow grass appearing?

June 1 2011: taking shape. Notice the nice temporary perennial rye grass?

Middle June 2011: Above and Below

July 2011: Above and Below. Boltonia foliage to right.

July 2011

August 2011

Late August 2010: Snowbank in its' starring role as a backup or I should say backdrop.

No need to get the snow shovel out. Even though it's 63 this morning after 50 days of 100. Awesome!