Truest Bluest

This is Ajuga reptans. A few sprigs were given to me many years ago from a friend who had it growing in the yard without knowing what it was. My ajuga grew well, waned, almost disappeared, grew again, and somehow walked across the lawn to another part of my property. I now have two separate smaller patches, neither one worth bragging about.

Last fall, I reassembled one clump, transplanting as many of the sprouts scattered around the hostas and new magnolia tree as I could. Now spring, the grouping became a little denser than the scattered individual sprigs that survived neglect. As I look out to the yard from my deack, I can actually see a small patch of blue where in recent years, I saw nothing from that distance. It is a sight to see, with white and rad azaleas blooming in the background nearby. Very patriotic.

April 2020 Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
What's blooming in the garden on the 15th of the month

I didn't think there was much blooming for this month's post, but I looked for blooms in the gardens... and I found some!

The last of the poeticus daffodils are blooming.

Pieris japonica is blooming.

Azalea Snow was part of the original landscape over 25 years ago. Yup -- this is a dwarf azalea.

Ajuga looks amazing at this time of year when all the plants push out blue blooms.

I just noticed the Polygonatum (Solomon's Seal) is beginning to bloom.

Virburnum plicatum closeup. I wish it was fragrant.

Dogwood

For other garden bloggers' bloom day photos, spring over to the blog May Dreams Gardens.

A Patriotic Spring

It's been almost a month since the last post - there is little happening in the garden at this time of year. And, Google dumped me into Google Plus requiring information that screwed up my blog, Blogger profile, settings, and name that I cannot correct. (Was that Wordpress option still open?) This mess also prevented me from commenting on other blogs, (unless authored with my 'new' Google Plus account.)

The back yard looks like the 4th of July - red, white and blue. The white 'snow' azaleas were planted under the magnolia and dogwood when both trees and shrubs were small. I tried moving one two years ago and killed it. The azalea roots are too entangled with the trees.

The red (shocking acid pink) azalea is loud and was here when I bought the house over 20 years ago. Although very popular around town, I would never buy a plant of this color. It looks like my yard is on an LSD trip. Keep it from getting too big and put a white azalea next to it to calm your brain down.

The blue ajuga reptans has never looked so good or thick. It really loves its part shade and dry clay home. A few sprigs were picked up at our neighborhood plant swap two years ago and now, wow.

That barren viburnum is another story for later.

Enjoy the cool colors while the season progresses and while I learn how to restore myself on Google.

Bronze Beauty

From the title, I would expect to get a lot of hits on searches for this post, just like I did on my post titled, "Maximum Maggie," the star magnolia [posted 23.03.2009]. I could not figure out why my blog analytics showed that the number of searches for "Maximum Maggie" was off the charts. With a test search of my own, I found the top result on Google for Maximum Maggie was to a busty porn star's web site. I was disappointed to think people were looking for her site instead of my magnolia.

Bronze Beauty is what I think my Aguja (Ajuga reptans) cultivar is after comparing online photos of different cultivars to my plant. This ajuga is two years old, and was picked up at our annual neighborhood plant swap. I think someone was trying to rid themselves of the devil plant because of its spreading characteristics. I wanted something that would grow in the death valley dry brickyard clay otherwise known as soil under my ligustrum shrubs. I also planted some in the rear yard bed where it receives two hours of sun daily.

The plant that gets more sun, more water, and better soil is phenomenal. The other plant is sparse but growing. The 'good' plant does not behave itself in the summer and fall, spreading runners into the lawn area. (I like the emerging hostas in the left of the photo, as if they are saying, "Stay away!")

Ajuga, commonly called Bugleweed, is a member of the mint family, native to Europe and Asia. (We know about mint spreading.) It is an herb, although several sources have differing uses mentioned. It smothers the ground with a thick mat of leaves and is used in Europe as a ground cover for erosion control, although I don't see how with the shallow root system. I am guessing one could walk on this without much damage, (except to your feet.)

Leaves start out green in spring, and turn chocolate purple bronze in the summer. It is grown for its leaves and ground cover abilities, but the iridescent blue spring flowers on 6-inch high (15 cm) stalks scream, especially in large tight clusters.

For The Record:   • Heavy clay soil with organic amendments   • Light shade with 2 hours of sun   • Small amount of fertilizer   • Easily propagated and spreads   • No major pests or diseases, although some overwatering rot Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: bearded iris, california poppy, salvia, dutch iris, ajuga, geranium

My World Is Blue

It is that time of the year when most of the spring blooms are finished and the summer perennials have not yet come on. In recent years, I tried to collect some plants for the cottage garden that can fill in this period with some interest and activity. This spring, these plants are blooming, but I see an accident. All the plants are blue or purple. Oops.

This is the result of never coordinating plant colors, other than to keep pink things (which I don't have a lot of) away from yellow things. This combination makes me nauseous.

Filling in two rear yard beds, the ajuga is blooming. These were planted as a shady ground cover last year, so their spring blooming is a welcome surprise - much taller than I expected. Leaves are green, but turn a dark maroon in the summer.

The side yard has a new blue iris, blue muscari, along with some late-late show pink tulips. I waited two years for this particular iris to bloom. The pink tulips are leftovers from last year, and looking good considering that they are repeat bloomers.

The front has blue 'May Night' salvia and magenta drumstick alliums. The salvia and allium could do a better job of coordinating their colors. Blue and magenta are too close to each other. I wish foliage on the alliums would last until after they bloom, instead of dying off as they start to bloom. This allium is supposedly 'Persian Blue,' but their color says the nursery lied.

Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: azaleas, Clarence iris, ajuga, salvia, allium, macrorrhizum geranium, muscari