Plants Picked

Dwaft Alberta Spruce

Yesterday I went back to Netta's Nursery near Posen and placed my order.  Dennis had recommended two Dwarf Alberta Spruces, one at each end of the house.  However, the one near the service porch steps would have ended up on top of the power line to the garage and the cable from the TV satellite.  Instead, I'll plant a tall ornamental grass plant — shallow rooted and easily moved if the need arises.

The Dwarf Alberta Spruce is strongly conical.  Because it is very slow growing, adding only a couple inches each year, it would take 20 or more years to reach its maximum height of 6 feet, and in time will it fill, but not dominate, this space.

Centered below the dining room windows will be a tree-form hydrangea, with ferns behind and shade-tolerant perennials in front.  This will provide a vertical element, as well as color.  You control the height by judicious pruning.  Over the next few years the crown should spread, giving a good display of bloom.

Tree Hydrangea

Then, in front of the stairwell, Dennis strongly recommended a shrub-form hydrangea, specifically an "Endless Summer" cultivar.  Most hydrangeas bloom for a few weeks and then poop out.  This one, he says, will provide 3-4 months of continuous bloom.  In addition, it bears flowers which are either pink or blue, depending on the acidity of the soil — blue in acidic soil, pink in alkaline.  It may also bear both pink and blue on different branches.  If you want to change the plant's color, just doctor the soil!

One other front-side landscaping chore demands my attention, but I'll likely wait until next year.  I have to plant something over my septic field, which at present offers a lush display of milkweed.  Dennis recommends ornamental grasses, since these will not interfere with the drainage.

Dennis will deliver the plants in about a week, and we will work out exactly where to place them.  Meanwhile, as time permits, I continue to spade up the future perennial border on the lake side. •••