Icing the Ice Plants

For some reason, ice plants just don't do well for me. The rock garden appear to have everything they should like, but it's a no-go. Or at least a no-thrive.

Here is 'Red Mountain Flame' this year. It's the one I've had the longest- about 4 years. It's also the happiest. (with a weed I missed pulling)

At some times of the day, the way the sun hits it, it seems to sparkle!

The other one that is just barely hanging in there is 'Granita.'



This is the 'Ocean Sunset' that I really liked. Here it is in 2024. That one died.



So I bought another one last year. Want to see what it looks like this year?

Yeah. Well, apparently there are some varieties that are tougher. The yellow one- 'Cooper's - is supposed to be really tough. But I have a ton of yellow in the summer and don't really want that. There is an orange one called 'Fire Spinner' that's supposed to be more hardy, and 'Dancing Embers' is sort of a pink-orange. The descriptions of all of them say they are OK in my zone, so who knows.

I'm tired of buying new ones and having them do poorly. Probably no more ice plants.

In other news: I edited. I finished my column for the Daily News. I finished weeding the rock garden and worked a little in the other gardens, and finished mowing the lawn. I'm beat, but it's all good!

Funny story from last night. I forgot to close the fencing at the bottom of the rock garden. I was looking off the deck and darned if that little 13-lined ground squirrel wasn't digging in the bottom of the garden. I clapped and yelled and he got himself back to his hole. He was digging where there are some bulbs, but I don't think he got anything. Fence is now closed. You can believe that!

See Ice Plants

Swapping Plants with Betsy

Betsy asked if she could stop by because she had some plants for me.

She wasn't kidding! She brought me a whole tray of plants, with 13 different things in it! And they've been cared for so they are as nicely established as anything from a nursery. Some are for the rock garden, and some for other places.

I did get three of them planted. It takes a hot minute to figure out where I want new plants to be.

This is Sedum ternatum, Woodland Sedum. It also grows wild and rambly in the woods, although I can't honestly say I've ever found it in the woods. I'm not sure that it likes full sun. I guess I'll find out. Supposedly it tolerates it, but it may not be as sprawling and drape as well as if it had some shade. It will have white flowers, and will contrast nicely in any season with the 'Firecracker' Sedum- the purple to its left.

Anyway, I'm trying it here where the purple rock cress was. That is barely alive. Not sure why- it should be very happy where I put it. Anyway, it's now in a pot and will hopefully recover.

She gave me two Sempervivums that I did not have. I'd been thinking I needed something like these for the spaces between logs at the top of the garden.

This one is 'Chocolate Kiss.'

And this is 'Blue Boy.'

There is some other plant news on the horizon too, but this is certainly enough for one day.

In other news: I edited, I got groceries. Then Betsy came. She already has most of the things I have available to share, but I did send her home with a few plants. It's fun to have a friend who likes the variety of plants as much as I do!

And, you know, I'm contemplating another garden space in my head.

See Betsy's Rock Garden

Color Me Smiling

I got my bu++ out of the chair today and then put it right back down in the seat of the lawnmower. There's really no excuse for why I don't do a better job of keeping things mowed now that we have a good mower. But I don't. Oh well. I did 3 of the 4 areas that I mow (if you don't count the space out back for Confidence Camp). The rest might happen tomorrow.

While I was riding around, of course I took a look over at the rock garden. Wowser! The camera doesn't do it justice. Actually, I've figured out why. The human eye can continually change focus to see the long view and then note the spaces of purple and yellow and maroon and all the shades of green which it puts back into the brain in the long view memory. Forgive the drawbacks of a camera; it's looking really nice right now.

The yellow Asiatic lily opened its first blossom today.

And looking westward in the front bed, this is a nice shot of the blue globe bellflower with the bright pink firefly heuchera flowers behind it.

And just for proof of mowing:

The weather was delightful today. I didn't have to beat myself into going out to work because it was too hot or whatever.

Finished one editing job. Mostly mowed. A little weeding, trimming, etc. But now I think I'm tired.

See Life Is Good in Color

Life is Good in Color

Just thinking this morning that Life is Good! I was in my chair with a cup of coffee, doing my wake-up computer tasks. The deck door is open. The sun is shining, but it's cool yet with a light breeze ruffling the quaking aspen. House finches with their bright red-purple heads are enjoying the bird bath. I took my morning "walk" to visit the gardens and see what flowers might begin blooming today.

The rock garden is beginning to explode with the yellows of so many sedums, but this picture I took today has to be the color winner. This is a Red-spotted Purple Admiral on the Creeping Thyme

But back to the yellows. The taller stuff is the Sedum Sexangulare, but there are bursts of the still-blooming Sedum 'Weihenstephaner Gold' to the right and one Ice Plant 'Granita' to the left.

This is the Bloody Cranesbill with Dianthus 'Kahori.'

This one has a whole lot of plants. The purple is Creeping Thyme, Sedum sexangulare to the left, the 'Kahori' is beyond that. Just in front of the thyme is the patch of Sedum 'Atlantis' that is slowing getting bigger. A small patch of dark 'Dream Dazzler' Sedum and more Bloody Cranesbill is on the right.

This one was from last week. The variegated Vinca was still blooming. Now it's trying to spread runners to take over the world. I've been giving it severe haircuts. More Bloody Cranesbill to the right. It is also getting shaved on this pass through the garden.

I haven't mentioned this pink flower yet this year. This is the 'Siskiyou' Primrose. It is fairly nifty, although it, too, is willing to spread everywhere. I've currently let it take over two spaces until I get something else to put in the second space. More Sedum sexangulare. And just starting to bloom on the far left is the Sedum elecambeanum.

Finally, color in the sky last night. Very intense, and making even the clouds in the east turn pink.

In other news: I did all the usual things, plus laundry, and put a piece of decor back on the wall that keeps falling off. Yeah, me. Josh stopped by. He's looking good.

See Mostly Current Colors

Rock Garden Reds

The Dianthus 'Brilliant' from the old rock garden started blooming today. Most of it is this deep rose-red color.

Some of the same plant isn't as deep a red. No idea why. And so far, none of the white 'Arctic Fire' has showed up this year. Had some in 2024. I was gone last year, so I don't know if they bloomed.

And this is the Dianthus 'Eastern Star.'

I also discovered that some of the 'Red Mountain Flame' Ice Plant are opening. The Ice Plants don't seem to like my rock hill. But it's alive.

It has been hot and muggy miserable today. We are supposed to get thunderstorms tonight and the next couple of days. That's probably OK. I need to seriously get busy on some overdue project needs. I actually started working on one of those today in addition to editing. Spent about an hour on it. Not nearly enough, but getting started is often the hardest part for me.

And I figured out why the last plant I ordered hasn't arrived... I forgot to push the order button. haha. Now it's on it's way.

See Orange and Gold

Mostly Current Colors

Another post with combinations of color.

This is the two purples in the driveway bed. The iris are mostly done now, but what a show! The other purple is Meadow Sage.

In the rock garden, The Dianthus 'Kahori' is in the lower left, Bloody Cranesbill at the top, and the Creeping Thyme is starting to bloom purple at the lower right.

This one was a few days ago. The Moss Phlox is just about done now, but this is phlox with the Variegated Vinca in front of it.

This is also in the rock garden, and it's more about texture than color, but it's part of why I love the Pasqueflower so much. It starts blooming in early April, and now in June we still have the showy seed heads.

And I'm going to share one more shot with a Poppy in it. This one does a better job of showing the various colors of foliage behind the Poppy and the Fleeceflower. I like that there are enough interesting plants to have a depth of field to the color.

It turned out to be a rather unproductive day. Just never got moving, really. I finished cleaning the edges of the front flower bed and watered it. Edited. Mostly read a book.

Tomorrow, I need to be out the door by 8:30 in the morning. Stay tuned!

See Fresh Color

Some of the New Plants

I'm still waiting for one of the plants that I bought with the gift from the Confidence Camp friends, but I need to get the rest of them in the ground, so I'm going ahead with showing you these. Here's the pile.

Two of them are Heuchera that I've never seen before. You know I'm always looking for things that are a little out of the ordinary.

The first is 'Smoke and Mirrors,' with lovely gray leaves.

And this is the one I paid full price for, but I just had to get it. Look at the spots! This is 'Midnight Rose.'

I put both of these at the east end of the front bed, moved a couple of the small blue hosta (unknown variety), and split a small piece off the 'Wiggles and Squiqqles,' that I hope will grow. I think I'm going to have to move one of the ones I planted last year to show it off better, but we'll see. This space is definitely progressing toward looking good.

Now for three new Sedums. Well, I'm trying again with the 'Blue Pearl.' I do think I've got the correct plant this time. These came from a reputable garden supply rather than an eBay seller. (Bluestone Perennials- and by the way, these came packaged extraordinarily well). It's going into the same space where I had the one that got eaten. Daffodil leaves there, but they will die back soon.

The other two are color variations of the 'Coraljade' Sedum that I've been so happy with. Here's a reminder of what that one looks like this week. It's a patented hybrid.

And what its flowers look like- the flowering season is very long lasting, and it constantly changes tones. Here is a picture of it blooming last year.

So when I found out that there are two other colors of the same hybrid, I decided to get them. This one is 'Banana Split.' Its flowers will be shades of pale yellow.

And this one is called 'Peach Pearls,' and the flowers are supposed to be a peachy orange.

Stay tuned for progress, but these seem pretty safe since their close relatives have been so successful.

I did a lot of good stuff today- editing and cleaning the kitchen in addition to garden playing. Gave the rock garden a drink.

Looking at plant records from last year, there were a lot of casualties. That doesn't make me happy, but it's all a learning experience.

See New Plants 2025

Orange and Gold

Lots is happening in the gardens! It's hard to choose what to feature, but I'll do another piece of the color wheel. This is orange and gold.

I'll start with a treat for the front garden. I promised myself I would buy one 'Inferno' Coleus this year, and I did. I had moderate success with keeping some coleus over the winter and I've also planted those amid the old daffodil leaves. Hopefully, they will be nice enough to show you the whole lineup in a while. With one of the 'Inferno' in my possession, I can try to keep some over the winter.

Now, we'll move to the rock garden. This is one of the Sedums I've had for a very long time. I bought it in 2001- S. kamtschaticum 'Weihenstephaner Gold.' It's reliable. It fills its space but doesn't get too aggressive, and has fairly showy gold flowers in early June. I've now got it established in a second location. I'll probably grab a bunch of this and try for three.

This is a Sedum that is currently very popular in gardens, but there's a good reason for that. It looks great! The foliage gets golden orange in the sun. Here it is with 'Gold Rush' (which seldom looks gold) Sempervivum, and violet leaves on the left. It's Sedum ruprestre 'Angelina.' The SunSparklers line has come out with a miniature version of it, but my unhealthy soil keeps the full-size one from getting very big, so I'm content.

If it gets less sun, it stays a chartreuse color.

The ice plant, Delosperma 'Granita,' decided to open today! More about the ice plants in general another time.

And you must have guessed that we won't make it out of this color without yet another shot of Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget.' It continues to get ever more gold, and less red.

I edited and went shopping. Managed to finish trimming around the rock garden this afternoon and got the fence reinstalled. It's rather damaged. I am its worst enemy as I trip over it constantly. It's also my enemy. I haven't taken a bad fall yet, but I probably will at some point. Now I'm working on the trimming around the front garden.

I'll be showing you the new plants one of these days soon.

See Bright Pink