Category: October 2012

In October of 2012, we placed our second large order of trees and shrubs:

10  Green Mountain Boxwood – mostly for the front of the house
10 Sargent Crabapple (Malus coronaria ) – a N. American native
10  Moonglow Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) – a N. American native
10  Wichita Blue Juniper  (Juniperus scopulorum) – a N. American native
10 American Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) – native, great for all
10 Northern Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) – another great native
10  Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) – great native
10  American Scarlet Elder (Sambucus pubens) –  native
5 Mugo Pines (Pinus mugo pumilio) – could survive on the slope

It was a challenge getting all these plants into the ground, during a busy fall season at work. Plus, during Thanksgiving week, we went away, so there was no time to catch up. I was planting things in the dark the week before we left!

We’re pretty desperate to repopulate our slope with plants of various sizes. We’re aiming for a balanced mixture of  small trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers.

When we order plants, we try to order a lot, and then plant them in various spots we think they might be happy, and then see how they actually work where they were sited, over time. It’s good to order numbers of things also, since not all will survive.

The fall is a great time to pick up plants on sale. Each fall, I try to hit the big garden places and pick over what they’ve got left. Twice, I found Clethra alnifolia (summersweet) this way. Otherwise, clethras can be pretty expensive. In fall of 2012 I also acquired:

1 Sweet Autumn Clematis – W side of nursery area
1 Phlox Paniculata Eva Cullum – garden phlox – mid slope, close to “lawn”
1 Vaccinum Macrocarpum “WSU” American Cranberry – W slope dappled sunlight
3 Monarda didyma “Bee Balm” “Fireball” – slope E side, closer to pond