Garden Wrap up for the 2020 season
I've officially become that person who abandons their blog halfway through the season. 2020 got the better of me and I didn't feel like writing or getting out of bed or doing anything else. I actually thought about eating my Castor bean plants and putting myself out of my misery but luckily things have slowly gotten better.
So here it is December and I'm just getting around to documenting what worked well and what needs to be ripped out next year.
The Good
So my favorite plant this year was definitely the Nepeta (Catmint). I planted 'Walkers Low' and ‘Prussian Blue’ this year. The “Prussian Blue” went along the main pathway garden (Prussian stays about 18” and I don’t want it to overwhelm the space) and I needed almost 200 of them so I bought super tiny ones. Not much of a show this year but I could see hints of them popping up and I think they will be a star next year.
‘Walkers Low’ in the garden border.
This photo is stolen from the internet but is a much better representation of how gorgeous these are.
The 'Walkers Low’ is ridiculous. I feel like it doesn’t photograph well but it is so beautiful, it fills in really well, and it is STILL alive in DECEMBER in IOWA (Zone 4B) which means I think it may actually be some kind of invasive nightmare as the years move on but I love it and I don’t care.
I planted 144 of these all along the base of the hydrangea garden and all the way around our back garden. When they are full-grown it should be a big chunk of purple gorgeousness!
My other loves from the season:
The delphiniums are a nightmare but you should plant some just so that you can look at how beautiful the colors are in person. These require so much attention and you have to stake them. They break easily. They don’t last terribly long. Mine did bloom twice, which was wonderful. They are worth the work.
I LOVE delphiniums. Totally worth the work.
The Bad
The BEETLES. These things kept trying to eat my rosebushes so I had to keep spraying the rosebushes and then the beetles became immune to the spray so I put this poisonous dust on the roses and then they looked like cocaine Scarface drug addict mommy dearest rosebushes. I don’t know what to do? I know a lot of people use those water bags but that seems to attract more. If you have any ideas, send them my way. Until then I’ll just be snorting cocaine in my rose garden.
And Dahlias. I have mixed feelings about these. I planted a ton of dahlia bulbs and I was underwhelmed by them. They are super pretty but they seem really fragile. They didn’t seem to last long and the bugs really enjoyed them. As in most of the dahlias were eaten before they even bloomed. I planted them with a bunch of dill and I actually liked the dill better than the dahlias. You also have to dig the bulbs out each year and replant them and I’m not sure they are worth all the effort. I know that is a VERY unpopular opinion. In 2019, I did border dahlias in containers and those were much more fun. Lots of blooms and seemed much happier. This could be a user error as I know people love their dahlias. I give them a 6/10.
The bugs ate the dahlias and not the dill.
The Ugly
I tried really hard to like the Liatris. I figured since it is called ‘Gayfeather’ and they are kind of odd, that they would fit in beautifully in the garden and they just don’t. I don’t really understand what they are and they didn’t last terribly long. When do you cut them? I think these are lost on me.
I did 25 in a planter and it looked like some kind of 25-headed monster. I’m going to move them to the cutting garden and pretend they didn’t happen. The bees love them so I won’t kill them. Please let me know if If I’m misunderstanding these odd plants.
Why are they so ugly and weird? I even tried the super white “Alba” ones and those looked like fried dog turds by August.
This looks like an accident. Planter Roadkill.
Overall, I give this year an 6. I wasn’t super happy with how the yard looked but I think it is improving. My hydrangea installation is coming along fabulously and you can’t beat our front porch garden. Fingers crossed we can spend more time in the garden together in 2021.
