Tall and Purple

  This is going to be a report on the Sedum and Sedum hybrids in the rock garden that have turned out to have purple leaves. And some are taller than I expected, but that may be an anomoly.

These are not in full bloom yet, so you may see them again.

First up is the 'Oriental Dancer.' I'm really happy with this. It was one small stalk last spring, and I wanted a tall plant there.

I also bought this one last year as a broken-off discount table item. It's 'Night Embers.' This one is supposed to be tall, but something chomped it off early this year too. Looks like it's going to bloom anyway though.

On the other hand, the final three are ones I bought this year that I did not think were going to be tall. And given another year in my poor soil, they might not be. That would be fine. But here is the 'Blue Pearl.' At least this time, I'm sure it is the plant I ordered, but I'm still wondering if there are two different ones with the same name- this one and a 'Sunsparkler Blue Pearl.' Anyway, if this gets large in this location it's fine.

I bought two others at the same time, both hybrids. This is 'Peach Pearls.' I like the red stems, and if ends up only moderately tall it can stay in this location.

The last one is 'Banana Split,' and tall won't work in this space. So I'll need to see what this does next year. As a reminder (and you can see more in the link below) I thought the last two were going to be more similar in shape to the 'Coraljade' that I have. And given a year in the ground rather than their first summer out of a nursery pot, they might be. In neither case did I expect the leaves to be so dark, although that's not really a problem. Stay tuned.

I haven't gotten very far with the current weed-through, and I need to get moving on that. I want it to look nice when the next round of sedums start blooming.

Worked my part time job this morning, edited, did odds and ends in the afternoon. Humidity slowed me down again.

See Some of the New Plants

Moon Gardening in the Rain

 I had a few goals I wanted to accomplish today in the Moon Garden. I thought I had till about 4 pm before it was going to rain. Ha! The rain started at 1 pm, so I just kept working. As it turned out, we didn't get nearly as much as the forecast said-- less than 0.2 inch. But I got things done.

This is probably all the plants that are going to go in the Moon Garden this year with the possible exception of some from my other gardens that I might split. In other words, I have to stop buying plants for now.

Long shot just for reference. Yeah, it doesn't look like much.

What I wanted to do was get the plants that were still in pots into the ground, and move the variegated Miscanthus grass to it's actual location. It was a darn good thing I didn't wait any longer to move that because the roots had started to dig right in. So here it is, moved, with the other things I planted early showing beyond it. This is one of the plants that will get tall to add a vertical dimension (and wide).

You can see the Guara at the end of the row. It has continued to bloom and look great. It's supposed to get about a foot taller, which will be perfect.

Right now, the best of the low plants in this row are the 'Frosty Kiss' Gazania. I'm hoping I can keep some of those over the winter. My grow light came, so hopefully the winter plants will do better this year.

The 'Steal the Spotlight' Hosta went in the ground. The rain speckles make it look a little funny. The blueish hostas look that way because of a waxy coating on the leaves, and the water temporarily messes with that.

Here's the plant I said that I bought at 60% off. I've waited to show you because it didn't look good when it came. That's not the grower's fault. I'm pretty sure it sat in a hot warehouse or truck overnight. The leaves were withered and burned. However, it's a shrub, so I got it right in the ground and have been watering it like crazy.

It's an 'Ivory Halo' Dogwood. This will also get about four feet tall, and add another vertical dimension in the garden. The twigs are red in winter.

Here's how it looked the day it came. The browned edges of the leaves don't show as much in the picture as they did for real.

Here it is after 2 1/2 weeks of babying. I think you can tell that there are a bunch of new leaves that are much healthier. I think it will be OK. I emailed the company after it came, just in case it didn't recover.

Last goal for today was to get some of the white Deadnettle that I also have in the front garden moved out here to the deepest shade right on the north side of the trunk of the tree.

The color of all these pictures is off a little because of the dark sky and rain, but you can get the idea. Most of what will happen for the rest of this season is continuing to dig up the grass, maybe move a few more of the free plants I can split from other gardens, and build the bench and level up the "nook." I think I have some more broken blocks coming to continue to work on the paths too.

Plants I want to get:
Hosta- "Dances with Dragons"
Santolina
A couple kinds of Artemesia
Heucherella- 'Cracked Ice'
Sedum ruprestre- 'Silver'

There are others on my potential list, but these are top priorities.

So, I got this done before it started raining hard. Also edited a bunch, did some volunteer stuff and watched a movie.

See Bonsai Apple Tree is Getting Friends

Friends Old and New

 Today, I was selling books at the Onekama Days event.

As so often happens, this guy came up to me, but at least he didn't say, "remember me?" when I have no chance at figuring it out! This is Dale, whom I probably last saw in 1974ish when he was a scrawny teenager. He became an archaeologist, got his PhD, did both field work and teaching. and is now retired. Crazy!

John Wemlinger, author, (and his wife Diane) are quickly becoming friends. After the all-day event, John was giving an author talk (also associated with the Onekama Days - they took my card, and I might be asked another year). It was pretty well attended, and he explained the real-life events that were the genesis of his most recent book. Excellent writer- any books by him are recommended.

There's another author talk tomorrow that I'd like to go to, but I really can't drive up there just for that. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch her another time.

Long day. Weather was perfect, but I didn't sell many books. I did pick up my prizes for completing the Onekama 30-day challenge. and ended up walking a little over a mile just doing that and getting to where the car had to be parked, etc.

I need to get a cold drink and chill out for the rest of the day.

Miles hiked in 2026: 291.9

See Arcadia Authors

Pink, White, and Blue, and a Beet

 I bought one more blue petunia on closeout for $1. It's not as pretty as the first one, but it's OK. The planter actually looks decent except for all the surrounding junk.

Last weekend, Jean gave me a yellow beet. Yummers. I ate it earlier in the week, but will share today because I don't have much else right now. I LOVE beet greens. I think they are my favorite cooked greens.

That was part of one meal. Then I had the beet itself for another meal.

This week, Corewell Health was giving out free bags of produce to Seniors. I expected some apples and potatoes, but it was actually great. Corn, cukes, carrots, a few potatoes, spinach and basil. I think they might have come from the community garden. It was all actually fresh, not store packaged. I really appreciate this. The price of food is out of control. I was surprised there was no zucchini. I actually wouldn't mind if someone left a couple in my car!

I was pretty busy today. Edited and then got ready for this weekend's event in Onekama. Had to restock my supply buckets and repack the car. Also needed to finish reading two books because I'll probably be seeing the authors this weekend. The recycling is on the way to the event, so that's all stacked on top of the book tubs to be dropped off first. Have to leave at 7:30 in the morning, so I need to be ready tonight.

Oh, I also made yogurt and some breakfast bars.

See Not Red White and Blue

Hiking with Kate

 Today, I got to take a hike with the brand new Executive Director of the North Country Trail Association. She is spending time visiting with a few of us "old f*rts" who have been around long enough to see a lot of things happen with the trail. Her name is Kate Hagner.

We could have met over coffee, but how much better to take a hike together!

We went to Sterling Marsh so I could show her the massive boardwalk project our chapter did a few years ago. There's a bit of open water.

Just proof that we made it all the way to the beginning of the 13 boardwalks. Yes, each one is numbered.

She signed our fairly new trail register! I'm thrilled to see that about 4 pages of entries have already been made.

We talked the whole way about hopes and dreams for the trail. I'm afraid I did more of the talking. I guess that was kind of the purpose, but still... I could have shut up and done more listening. Nevertheless, I got to tell her my personal hot buttons on trail issues, so I feel valued. Her head must be spinning as she does this with a whole bunch of trail people.

Best nature find- A tooth fungus.

At first, I didn't think that's what it was because I didn't see the teeth. The edges are smooth. But they are hiding back in there!

We did about 3.5 miles. She got to see the Ed Chappel boardwalk and a very pretty section of trail. And listen to me- what a treat! Ha (I really did talk too much but hopefully she'll forgive me.)

Miles walked in 2026: 290.7
Miles on the NCT in 2026: 112.2
Onekama Challenge: 102.5- complete!

North Country Trail, Lake Co, Michigan, Jenks TH south 1.75 miles and back.

See NCTA Introduces New Executive Director