Front Garden Report 2026- #3

The Front Garden is turning out so amazing! I have a lot to share.

First is the general view of the west side. This never fails to make me smile.

And of one part of the east side. I had to take a picture of either the part in sun or shade this afternoon. The shaded part only has greenery right now since the blue Globe Bellflowers finished blooming, so here is the part that has afternoon sun.

There is quite a lot to talk about right now. Let's start with Astilbe. I have one pink one and three white ones. These were some of the plants that cost me 10¢ each a couple of years ago, so I can't complain. But despite being where they should be happy, I've never had much luck getting Astilbe to thrive. I'm thinking about replacing them with other things if I find something I like better. They are OK, but they should be bigger and fuller.

The pink one is 'Rheinland.'

And the white one is 'Bridal Veil.'

I have one new hosta here. Betsy gave me a multi-clump of 'Hacksaw,' which is fun with narrow scalloped leaves. (Small Halcyon behind it- I just moved several of those this spring too)

And speaking of hosta- the 'Tiny Tears' are in full bloom now. A whole lot of this bed is edged with it.

I'm still trying to get this patch of white Lamium (Deadnettle) to fill in better. As you can barely see, it has white flowers too, although I'm much more interested in the white foliage.

Finally for today, the 'Landini' lily bulbs I bought on closeout at the end of 2024 are really looking great! I thought these would be more maroon based on the pictures, instead of the almost candy-apple red. In fact, most of the pictures of it on-line are much deeper- from maroon almost to black. It's possible they aren't getting quite enough sun as they are in almost total shade. Nevertheless, I really like these.

And the flowers are huge!

I've been working sporadically at putting a broken brick edging around this garden to make it a little easier to mow around, so I don't have to do as much hand trimming. You can see the Seven Sisters Rose in this shot.

There are still things that need to be moved around, and one section is pretty much a "weed patch" of bellflower and dwarf Solomon's seal. I'll continue to work on replacing some of that with other things. Additional plans for this year are to buy one Heucherella I want, but most of my upcoming plant purchases will have to do with the Moon Garden.

Here's a news flash! I was outside just after dark last night and saw... FIREFLIES! I don't know when the last time was that I saw any here.

In other news: I edited, walked a mile on the road, did some housecleaning including getting some of the recycling ready to take to where it has to go. My special hosta came today. Stay tuned. It came bare-root, but looking very healthy. It's in a pot and should be nice and perky in a couple of days.

Humidity not too terrible, so I kept moving pretty well.

Miles walked in 2026: 196.1

See Front Garden Report 2026- #2

Front Garden Report 2025- #2

None of the gardens is completely cleaned up since I got back from NY, but the front bed is close, and it looks pretty good.

I know I show you this view over and over, but this space genuinely makes me happy. And it proves that it stays colorful all season. The light is dappled. Sorry about that, but it does give you one more "look" of that space. I'm particularly happy with the purple Heuchera near the right edge just above the middle. It's called 'Electric Plum.' Interestingly enough, the other red-to-purple Heuchera were more colorful earlier in the season, but this one seems to glow even brighter as we get into high summer.

And just above center is the white hosta with green edges, 'Loyalist.' It was damaged earlier, but it's doing well now. On the other side of the walkway is one of the large 'Krossa' Hosta. Both of those are doing great.

The white Globe Bellflowers have been blooming for well over a week. They seem to be a little later than the blue ones which are now all done. They are also a little shorter. I'm not sure I'm in love with these, but they come up and bloom, so, hey...

This is the one week a year that I don't detest the Seven Sisters Rose. Enjoy it quick.

Moving to the east end of that bed, the poor Vulcan Hosta is really struggling. I think it will survive. I'm still not sure what made it so sad.

Here's another space that is making me increasingly happy. If you want to compare, it's the first picture in the east report below. The Astilbe is blooming, although not prolifically. The Japanese Fern bit that I moved there (just left of center) is very happy. It's gained several fronds already. The 'Wiggles and Squiggles' Hosta is wonderful, and the dark purple 'Season's King' Heuchera is great. Way in the back, a 'Francee' Hosta is in bud.

Today was unbearably hot. But I got myself moving while it was still in the 70s, and got some outside stuff done. Edited before it got too hot in the house, and then went to the air-conditioned store for groceries. After that, I lolled in my chair with a book and iced tea.

Tonight it's supposed to rain, and be much cooler tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a good amount of outside work done. My energy level is good when it's in the 70s. Not so much above that. After 90, forget it!

See Front Garden West See Front Garden East

More Pink

 The Sempervivum arachnoideum is blooming. Most of the Sempervivum have pink daisy-like flowers similar to this. It appears that the "hens and chicks" with yellow flowers are technically in the genus Jovibarba, although some call that a sub-genus of the Sempervivum.

A fun fact is that there are only three species of Jovibarba, and I seem to have two of them! That can be a topic for another day.

The other pink right now is the Seven Sisters rose I hate. Since I only like it one week a year, at least it deigned to bloom while I am home. The rest of the time I have to just keep cutting it back while wearing heavy gloves, and watching for random thorns in everything near it.

On the other hand, I am going to miss seeing several flowers I really like. But... one can't have full-time garden and travel, both.

I am editing until I can't stand to sit and look at the computer. Making progress, but not fast enough. Still too wet to garden. We had another 1.3 inches of rain last night.

See The Almost Annual Picture of the Rose I Hate

Shiawassee Wildlife Refuge

 Driving home today, I made a stop at a place that I can write about for my next "Get Off the Couch" column in the paper. Did you know there is a national wildlife refuge over near Saginaw? It's the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.

Some refuges have more hiking trails than others. This one has multiple choices. I did all of the Woodland Trail (almost 4 miles), and sampled the Fergusen Bayou Trail. It's over 4 miles long, but I went in as far as the first observation platform and back out. The two areas are quite different. The Woodland Trail is through a wet woodland. The Bayou Trail is on dikes through a marshy area with wildlife observation decks.

This will just be a sampler. Of course I came home with too many pictures. For you, I have 2 trees, 2 flowers, and 2 wildlife picture.

The Swamp White Oak, Quercus bicolor is supposedly found in Mason County, but it's a lot more common south of here. It's easy to spot. The leaf is much wider at the tip than at the stem end, and the leaves are very white on the back side-- "bicolor."

Another one I don't see too often is Red Hickory or Pignut, Carya glabra. The odd thing is, this is pretty much an upland tree, but it was in this bottomland hardwood area. But the bark and everything I can see at this time of year makes me fairly sure of the ID. Anyway, another cool find I don't see locally.

Flowers in abundace were the Canada Anemone, Anemone canadensis. This is a really handsome late spring flower, and it will agree to grow densely enough that it could be used in flower beds.

And yet another wild rose that I have trouble sorting out because I can't seem to remember what to look for. However, I'm pretty sure this is Smooth Rose, Rosa blanda. Ha! The U of M Herbarium says R. blanda does not grow in Michigan. Well... it has very few thorns and the leaves are very blunt at the ends. The wet habitat makes me suspect it's Swamp Rose, Rosa palustris, which would make sense here. But the leaves aren't right, and of course I didn't look for other key characteristics when I was there. I can definitively say, "it's pretty."

There was the requisite spring picture of a family of Canada geese. Actually, I saw several families, but the babies were smaller and cuter in this group.

I saw a number of birds, but getting pictures of those was illusive. The birds were pretty active for mid-day. Several great blue herons, a pileated woodpecker, a brown creeper, and all the usual suspects.

Here's another typical spring picture. Mama was there, but stepped out of the picture. The baby stood completely still, as they are "supposed" to do.

I think there is a particular kind of beauty in wetlands, sometimes even the places that some people might not find so attractive. Here are two examples.

Busy day. Chatted with my host, took two walks, drove 3.5 hours, unloaded the car. Tomorrow, another adventure is planned. Stay tuned

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 243.7.

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, Woodland Trail and part of the Ferguson Bayou Trail, total 6.3 miles

See Montezuma Wildlife Refuge

More Autumn Color

  Have some more samples of autumn color. I took these on my walk to the bank and the post office.

I was very surprised to see some blooms still on the yellow rose bushes by the bank.

These two maple trees are magnificent.

And a flower bed that is still looking nice. I thought these must be zinneas, but they smell like marigolds.

I never got to the well pit today. I spent all day working on book sales record-keeping and other author-related stuff. Make no mistake, if you are going to do the self-publishing thing, you are running a small business. Then I went to bell choir practice, and grocery shopping.

I squeaked into a vendor event for this Saturday in Baldwin. The first copies of The Lonely Donkey came today, so I'll have them available.

See Yellow Rose of Michigan See That Mystery Tree

Sweetbrier, Probably

 
I've been walking past this on my 3-mile road loop for, literally, years. It's a wild rose, of course, but which one. I never seem to come home with quite enough information to identify it. But now, I think I've got it.



For starters, it's a shrub. Not that that narrows down the field much, but a bit.



The flower isn't going to help. Most wild roses look pretty much the same. It mostly has seven leaflets on each leaf. Just FYI, that winged thing just above my fingers is called the stipule. All wild roses have them. It doesn't help with the ID unless it's really narrow. These pieces of information don't help much. The thorns are recurved-- they point downwards, pretty much. And it does have thorns, so it's not Smooth Rose.



Now we have to start being a little arbitrary. There are still three good choices: Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris), Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) or Sweetbriar/ Eglantine Rose (Rosa rubiginosa). Palustris and carolina have smooth stems except for the thorns. This is smooth. That suggests it's not rubiginosa.



Palustris and carolina have leaflets that narrow at the base. These are more rounded- look at the very top one. That suggests it is rubiginosa.



So, if you hear me talking about plants a lot you already know we are way past the single picture of a flower that I'm often shown and asked to identify (which sometimes works, but don't be annoyed if it's not adequate). And we still haven't nailed this down.

So, now I'm going to pull in the information from another season. Here are the hips - fruits or seed pods. As you can see, they are quite large, and they are elongated. Now we are getting somewhere. Seed pods lie less than herbaceous qualities. Both carolina and palustris have very round fruits, maybe even a little bit squashed- known as depressed-globose in plant lingo.



Bingo! I think we have Sweetbriar or Eglantine Rose, Rosa rubiginosa.

About time I figured this one out.

In other news: I wrote all morning on North Country Quest, then I wrote all afternoon for North Star. Went for a walk. Not as hot as yesterday, but the humidity was something! I thought I might do something on the trailer, but it's already 8:30. Not worth dragging out the extension cord and the tools.

	See Red Berries
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More Red Berries

 
The afternoon light was nice and intense when I took a walk this afternoon. The sun was most welcome!

You've seen all these plants before, but these are new pictures, taken today. First we have Japanese Barberry. Still planted as an ornamental but it can become invasive.



Rose hips were glowing brightly.



And although this isn't nearly the prettiest highbush cranberry near me, it was on the walk I took today, so it wins.



In other news: the house is as clean as it's going to get, but it's lots better than a week ago. I pick Steve up at the airport in the morning. Wrote a chapter. Went shopping (I HATE shopping), but have some fun (I hope) joke gifts under the Christmas tree that didn't cost TOO much.

	See More Barberry
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Winding Down

 
Fall seems to be winding down early this year. Both of the past two years I've thought we weren't going to get really nice colors here, but then at the last minute, the leaves brightened up and we had a week of glory. This year, I don't think we're going to get that. The rain and wind have already started bringing leaves down. I could be wrong- there are supposed to be several nice days in a row coming up. It's not even November yet. What happened to the wonderful clear October days we've come to expect?

Today, as I did my same-old 3-mile road loop, it seemed as if the best things were the substantial fruits that last through the winter. Pumpkins and squash.



The wild roses have set their hips. I never got around to figuring out exactly which rose this is. Not multi-flora, at least! I've tried rose hip tea a couple of times, but was unimpressed.



In other news: I did a bunch of bookkeeping and some miscellaneous tasks I need to do for people. Didn't finish that list. There's always tomorrow!

	See Smilin' in the Rain
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