Why I Oughta...

Six More Dahlia Tubers Planted - 38 Total (So Far) - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 08:13:00 -0500

I posted two different sets of photos and details of the dahlia tubers that I've stuck in the garden in various spots. First was 17 tubers. Then, a post showing 15 additional ones. That made my total: 32 dahlias in the ground. 25 new (to me) or trialing with 7 legacy dahlias (Melina Fluer x 3, Ivanetti x 2, Sweet Nathalie and Wizard of Oz).

This post is going up in mid-June, but back in late May, I added six more dahlias to three spots in the garden.

These six, plus the previous 32 = 38 dahlias in the ground. So far.

Here's an annotated plot of the locations with the latest ones in green:

South Sun Wall

33. Pooh

This is a spot that I've grown Melina Fleur each of the past two seasons. Last year, these Pooh dahlias got pretty tall, so being close to the fence might give me more support options.

Under The Elm

34. Blue Wish

This was the largest of the dahlia plants left in my home nursery (my patio), so in it went. Without rabbit protection. (eek!)

Island Bed

35. Great Silence

36. Melina Fleur

37. Metro Star

38. Saint Martin

These went in around the Skylands Spruce. They are planted in order from 35-->38 in terms of current size. The Great Silence is a replacement tuber with a tiny sprout. Melina Fleur is barely above soil. Metro star has three sets of leaves and Saint Martin is standing proud.

Now with 38 tubers in the ground, here's the latest recap: 28 new (to me) or trialing with 10 legacy dahlias (Melina Fluer x 5, Ivanetti x 2, Sweet Nathalie, Wizard of Oz, Pooh).

I have now planted a number of multiples:

5: (1) Melina Fleur

4: N/A (0)

3: (1) Burlesca

2: (11) Crichton Honey, Cafe Au Lait, Blue Wish, Jowie Winnie, Ivanetti, Brown Sugar, Kelsey Annie Joy, Metro Star, Saint Martin, Peaches N' Cream, Great Silence

1: (8) Creme de Cognac, Sweet Nathalie, Bell's Palermo, Rip City, Creme de Casis, Tsuki Yori No Shisa, Pooh, Wizard of Oz

Here is the full list for 2026 (so far):

1. Crichton Honey

2. Cafe Au Lait

3. Creme de Cognac

4. Blue Wish

5. Melina Fleur

6. Jowie Winnie

7. Cafe Au Lait

8. Ivanetti

9. Melina Fleur

10. Burlesca

11. Brown Sugar

12. Crichton Honey

13. Kelsey Annie Joy'

14. Brown Sugar

15. Sweet Nathalie

16. Metro Star

17. Bell's Palermo

18. Burlesca

19. St. Martin

20. Wizard of Oz

21. Rip City

22. Creme de Casis

23. Melina Fleur

24. Tsuki Yori No Shisha

25. Peaches N' Cream

26. Kelsey Annie Joy

27. Peaches N' Cream

28. Great Silence

29. Jowie Winnie

30. Ivanetti

31. Burlesca

32. Melina Fleur

33. Pooh

34. Blue Wish

35. Great Silence

36. Melina Fleur

37. Metro Star

38. Saint Martin

Eight Titan Vinca Bedding Annuals Along Driveway - IB2DWs - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:35:00 -0500

I planted two large, mass plantings of Titan Halo Annual Vinca in our front porch bed and down in the the front of the Island bed in our front yard. 76 + 36. That left eight remaining plugs that I decided to plant at the front of the IB2DWs bed along the driveway. You can see the eight small flowering annuals taking their spot in the mulch bed below:

Repetition, right? This year, I went with two large mass plantings. Maybe next year, I'll add a third and really plant up the IB2DWs bed with the same annuals in the other two.

Like everything else I've posted recently, this photo is a month old.

Nicotiana Saratoga Mix Four-Pack Planted - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:23:00 -0500

I planted a four-pack of Nicotiana (Saratoga Mix) annuals over on the southside of the house in the cut flower garden bed. Actually...these are in the 'newly expanded' bed that I completed earlier this Spring (March) with my typical 'lazy method' of smothering the turf and amending the top with a mix of Composted Manure and Municipal Biosolids.

I've grown Nicotiana over the years - including the Jasmine variety - in this same sideyard bed. In 2024, I direct sow'd them. In 2019, Nat's Mom gave us a couple of plants.

This year, I bought a small four-pack of Saratoga Mix - which appears to be a combination of flower colors:

I picked a front-of-the-border spot and staggered the four small plants about a foot-apart.

They're now mixed in amongst the Disneyland Roses and all of the various dahlias that I planted over there. These are filling in a spot close to the front of the border:

This post is going up in mid-June, but these were planted in mid-May.

#10 on my 2026 to-do list was to 'keep going with annuals' - so these help check that box.

7 Silver Dollar Eucalyptus Plugs Planted - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:08:00 -0500

Just like the other plugs from Garden Club, I finally got around to planting out the Silver Dollar Eucalyptus plugs back in mid-May. This post is going up a month later, but these have been planted since mid-May. These arrived in early April and I up-potted them to slightly larger pots and nursed them along first indoors then moving them outdoors. Seven of the eight original ones made it to planting day. I put six in one Greenstalk planter and the remaining one in another.

Below are a few photos showing that planting process:

I recently bought a few more eucalyptus plants from a small nursery along the Illinois/Wisconsin border and I'll post about those in the coming days.

Last year, I grew one of these in a patio container and it performed *fine* - I was able to get some clippings for arrangements.

I included in my 2026 to-do list the idea of using the Greenstalk for accent plants (exactly like this):

9. Accents, too. Speaking of adding variety to cut flower arrangements, we can do better job of growing accent plants for foliage. Plan to use the Greenstalk Vertical Garden for these cut flower accent plants this year. Instead of growing vegetables. Do a row of herbs and then load up the vertical garden pockets with accent plants like the Eucalyptus that I grew last year.

One More (Small) All Gold Grass Planted in Back - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:33:00 -0500

I planted three All Gold Hakonehloa Macra Grasses from the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale last month where I filled in a couple of spots in the long border of existing All Gold grasses in the backyard. I was at Home Depot and saw on their racks something familiar recently: they were selling All Gold Japanese Forest Grasses. $13 for a one-gallon container. That's $7 cheaper per plant than at the Morton Sale. But...see below. It is about half-way filled with grass. (It appears that these were divided this year/late last year) and didn't fill-out the container just yet. And, they couldn't even be bothered to fill out the rest of the nursery pot with potting mix.

Never-the-less...I bought one. Just one. (I know....I broke one of my own rules.)

I decided to plant it at the closest edge of the row (closest to our house) and planted it far enough away from the edge to allow for some groundcover to sneak in there, too. See below - to see how it is about a 'half' grass compared to the existing grass in the center of the photo. The third (from the left) is a Morton grass, so it is MUCH more vigorous (at this point).

Note: I'm posting this in mid-June, but this planting happened back in May. ('Tis the season to have too many things to post, hence the 'later-post'.)

Another note: I didn't mulch this bed this year - and you can tell.

Planting 3 Gomphrena Audray White Plugs - Island Bed - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:08:00 -0500

Yesterday, I continued my "planting out plugs" series with eight Lisianthus Celeb Metallic Blue plugs from Garden Club that went in the front yard Saratoga Ginkgo bed. That brought my total up to 20 new (to me) accent and cut flower plugs that have been planted out (8 Didiscus + 6 Silver Shield + 8 Lisianthus = 20)

Today, I am showing just three more that went into the Island bed in front: 3 Gomphrena Audray White plugs from Garden Club. I have more of these to plant out, but I'm limited by space and chicken wire.

I put two together and one under a Dollar Tree wire garbage can. You can see them below:

That brings my total to 23. 8 Didiscus + 6 Silver Shield + 8 Lisianthus + 3 Gomphrena Audray White = 23 new (to me) accent and cut flower plugs.

All eight of these didn't survive (I think one died) the two month LIMINAL SPACE they lived in between when they arrived and when I planted them out. These went out on May 22nd. And they're right next to three dahlias, so I'll be sure to water them well as they get established.

Two more to go: Silver Dollar Eucalyptus and Phlox Cherry Caramel. One of those did better than the other in the LIMININAL space of April/May.

Planting Lisianthus Plugs In the Garden from Garden Club (Farmer Bailey) - Celeb Metallic Blue - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 9 Jun 2026 08:49:00 -0500

Day three of accent plant plug being planted-out in the garden.

First day was the eight Didiscus Lacy Blue in the Island bed. Yesterday, I showed a photo of the six Silver Shields going in the corner bed by the back patio.

That brings my accent plant total to 14 (so far). Today, we continue with eight more cut flowers that are new (to me).

Lisianthus Celeb Metallic Blue. Lisianthus has taken on sort-of a mythical state amongst the cut-flower-farming-tok world that I've fallen into. It is (by reputation) very slow growing, so no idea how these will do out in my garden. To help them, I planted all eight in the newly expanded Saratoga Ginkgo bed out front. This gets good sun and because of the annual Vinca in the adjacent bed, I'll water the heck out of them.

Below is a photo showing the eight Lisianthus Celeb Metallic Blue in rabbit protection cages. I'm hoping that like everything else, as these put on some size, I can remove the cages. These went in the second-to-last week of May, despite this post going up in the second week of June. Call it 18 days ago.

These also arrived as plugs from Garden Club (Farmer Bailey) and despite me ordering them for too-early delivery, they all survived getting potted-up.

8 Didiscus + 6 Silver Shield + 8 Lisianthus = 20 new (to me) accent and cut flowers.

Also...a note to my future self. I expanded this Saratoga Ginkgo bed using my 'lazy method' of smothering the turf with cardboard and applying organic material on top on March 20, 2026.

That's nine weeks from laying down the cardboard to planting these plugs. Time enough for the grass to die and the biosolids to mellow.

Six Plectranthus Silver Shield Plugs From Garden Club Planted Out In The Corner Patio Bed - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 8 Jun 2026 08:29:00 -0500

Yesterday, I started the posting series about planting out my cut flower plugs with the first eight Didiscus Lacy Blue in the front yard Island Bed. Today, I'm showing the six Plectranthus Silver Shield plugs in the corner bed in our backyard near the patio. These are going where I planted a mix of Dusty Miller and border Dahlias last year, but in a newly expanded bed.

These plugs also came from Garden Club and because I ordered them for too-early of a delivery, I had to pot them up into something larger. Of all the varieties that came from Garden Club, these Silver Shields did BY FAR the best. All eight of them were happy two months later.

Overall, I've been really happy with the Garden Club plug order - from the greenhouses they came in to the vibrancy of the tiny plants. A positive experience.

I'm trying something different with these: no rabbit cages. Instead, I'm applying Liquid Fence. *Fingers Crossed* that it'll work. Or, that these taste bad. Below is a photo of the small plants in their new homes.

Here's a look (below) of the new growth these have put on in the past few weeks. Lovely.

8 Didiscus + 6 Silver Shields = 14 accent plants in the ground. Good start.

8 Didiscus Lacy Blue Flower Plugs Planted In The Island Bed - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sun, 7 Jun 2026 08:12:00 -0500

Earlier this year, I bought a bunch of cut flower plugs from Garden Club and they arrived earlier than I really needed them. Lesson learned for next year: Have them delivered later in the Spring. Of that set of plugs, eight of them are a new (to me) flower: Didiscus Lacy Blue. Of the plugs that arrived, these seemed to do the best with my "up-potting" as all eight have navigated the past two months and have put on some new foliage.

After managing them for weeks, I finally got around to planting them after all the threat of frost was gone. In the second-to-last-week of May (the same day I put in a bunch of Dahlias), I planted these eight small plants. They went in the south part of the Island Bed.

I spaced them about a foot apart and protected them with a ring of chicken wire to keep the rabbits away from them - until they can put on some mass. I planted them in a mix of compost, garden soil and municipal biosolids. Then, I watered them in good.

This bed now has A LOT of small things starting - Vinca, Coleus, Ajuga, some dahlias and now these Didiscus. It is also hard to water because of the sidewalk and driveway. There's lots of overspray. But, I'll get the sprinkler dialed-in and hopefully keep everything alive.

#8 on my 2026 to-do list is to:

Experiment with other cut flowers. Plant them in the ground (in the garden beds) and add some variety to my arrangements.

These are a start.

15 More Dahlias Planted - 32 Total (So Far) - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sat, 6 Jun 2026 07:42:00 -0500

I started planting dahlias in May and posted the first seventeen a few days ago. In that post, I showed the locations and talked about how most of them (14 of the 17) were new to me varieties with just three legacy dahlias (Melina Fleur, Ivanetti and Sweet Nathalie).

Today, I'm showing the next round of dahlias that went in the ground. These were planted in the second to last week of May - the day after the first seventeen went in. I planted them in three spots: Pizza Oven West, IB2DWs and the back of the Island Bed. Here's the updated planting map with the latest 15 tubers in blue.

Here is a breakdown of what is planted in each of the three beds:

Pizza Oven West

18. Burlesca

19. St. Martin

20. Wizard of Oz

21. Rip City

22. Creme de Casis

23. Melina Fleur

Below is a look at these six. The Melina Fleur is still in the container. But, all of them are protected by rabbit cages. For now.

IB2DWs

24. Tsuki Yori No Shisha

25. Peaches N' Cream

26. Kelsey Annie Joy

27. Peaches N' Cream

28. Great Silence

29. Jowie Winnie

These six are planted in two clusters. One of two and one of four. The first two are closer to the Bald Cypress. The other four are down near the sidewalk.

Island Bed

30. Ivanetti

31. Burlesca

32. Melina Fleur

These last three are in the island bed. One of them is currently protected by a trash can from the Dollar Tree (more on that later), but the other two are in rabbit cages.

Of these fifteen (15), there are just three legacy dahlias (Melina Fluer x2 , Ivanetti and Wizard of Oz). That means of the 32, just seven are legacy (Melina Fluer x 3, Ivanetti x 2, Sweet Nathalie and Wizard of Oz) and 25 are trialing or new to me.

I have more to get in the ground, but I'm going to wait a beat to see what gets scooped up by my family and friends before planting in the final spots. Because...I'm running out of room.

I've hit my 2026 goal of "going big on dahlias". Last year, I planted 23 total with 6 of them being border dahlias, so 17 cut flower tubers. I'm +15 in 2026 (so far).

Another Six Ajuga Plugs Added For Groundcover By All Golds - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 5 Jun 2026 09:21:00 -0500

Just yesterday, I posted details and photos of six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs that I planted along the sidewalk out front and talked about how those got my total up to 30 for the year. My previous high-planting mark was from that epic Fall planting spring in 2023. Today, I'm showing photos of six more Ajuga plugs going in - bringing my total this year to 36. Matching my high.

I previously put in six in front of some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the back. Today, I extended that row with six more.

Here, below is a photo showing the first six and then the empty space in front of the All Golds just beyond:

Here, below is another look. The previously planted six on the left. The empty space calling out for groundcover to the right:

This six pack of healthy plugs from the Good folks at Menards:

They went in easy-peasy. Below are two photos showing the results. First is a look at the new six followed by a view of all twelve.

I'll add more - if I see the trays - to the rest of the All Golds bed and then move to other parts of the garden.

Six More (30 Total To Date) Ajuga Plugs Added - Island Bed - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Thu, 4 Jun 2026 08:53:00 -0500

Over the past month, I've posted a number of posts about adding groundcover plugs to the garden. The latest was a post about six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs that I put into the front yard Island Bed at the very edge of the sidewalk. Those joined three existing ones from 2025. They weren't the most healthy plugs, but they went in anyway.

That brought my groundcover planting total to 24 total planted for the year. Today, I added six more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs to that same Island bed. Five along the final edge in the front and one 'up the driveway'.

This brings the total to thirty groundcover plants added (to date). #20 on my to-do list is to "Keep Going on Groundcover". Thirty in the Spring is a good number. My previous annual high-planting mark for Groundcover plants was that epic Fall 2023 season when I added 36. I'm right there and it is just Spring.

Adding this 'living mulch' down in the Island bed serves multiple purposes - adds something that is borderline 'step-able' with tri-color foliage. But, it also (I hope) will aid in retaining the mulch from trickling onto the sidewalk.

Below are some photos (annotated) of this latest six-pack planting. The green oval highlights the three Ajuga that went in last year and seem to have done a great job. The yellow circle shows the one 'up the driveway' planting.

Here, below, is an annotated photo showing the sidewalk edge. The teal circles are two of the previous six that went in and the yellow show the new ones. This latest batch were (seemingly) healthier than the previous (leggy) six-pack:

I'll continue to hunt for groundcover - in particular I'm thinking about a "stream" of groundcover like sedges that runs throughout some more traditional planting. I've written about him before, but that idea of a 'stream' of sedges was something that jumped out to me in this recent reel from Austin Eischeid. Just watch the first 30 seconds of this recent Instagram post and you'll hear Austin talk about the 'stream' idea.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (@lewisginter)

I can think of multiple places to try out the idea of a 'stream' in the garden.

Austin Eischeid is who turned me on to Shredded Umbrella Plant up at Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm where he gave a talk and planted his own shade garden. That connection to Roy Diblik is how I initially came across his work. (also...that's a good reminder to buy a few more Shredded Umbrella plants on my next visit....)

Importantly (for me), Austin is a Midwest (similar Zone to my 5b/6a) garden designer and while our styles aren't exactly a perfect match, I really admire the scale and ambition he has and how he's been able to build relationships with some significant figures in the naturalistic garden movement like Roy and even Piet Oudolf. If they "see" something in Austin and have nurtured him along the way, that's a pretty big endorsement, right?

You can see much more of Austin's work on his website. And, give him a follow on Instagram.

Or...if you can...get out and experience one of his gardens in person. They are in Chicago, Virginia, Ohio and Iowa. Details here.

First 17 Dahlias Planted (14 New To Me) - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Wed, 3 Jun 2026 08:13:00 -0500

Dahlia season has begun here. With the initial planting of seventeen dahlias. That was day one of planting the tubers that I started out in the garden. I made this annotated map to show (mostly myself) where everything is planted because I'm growing many new (to me) varieties for the first time and have a much more diverse lineup than in previous seasons.

Note: this post is going live in early June, but I planted these on May 20th. Last year, I planted them in the first week of June, so this is almost three weeks earlier.

Here, below is that map. So far, I've put six in the "Pizza Oven West" bed, seven along the side of the house in the "South Sun Wall" bed and four "Under the Elm". You can see them numbered in red:

Pizza Oven East

1. Crichton Honey

2. Cafe Au Lait

3. Creme de Cognac

4. Blue Wish

5. Milena Fleur

6. Jowie Winnie

Here (below) is a photo below of these plantings. Note that I put EVERY SINGLE DAHLIA inside of a (temporary) chicken wire starting ring. Five of the six here are new this year.

South Sun Wall

7. Cafe Au Lait

8. Ivanetti

9. Melina Fleur

10. Burlesca

11. Brown Sugar

12. Crichton Honey

13. Kelsey Annie Joy'

Here (below) are two photos of this southside cut flower bed where I have grown dahlias over the years. This year, I planted them much tighter than previously and packed in seven. Here, too, five of the seven are new to me. Similarly, each of these are protected from those (dang) rabbits. As they put on more size, I'll remove the cages and replace them with supports.

Under The Elm

14. Brown Sugar

15. Sweet Nathalie

16. Metro Star

17. Bell's Palermo

The last of day one planting went into the bed under the Triumph Elm tree. I grew dahlias here last year that were productive. This area gets good sun and I end up watering it when I do the front porch beds. Photo below showing the four here that feature only one legacy dahlia (Sweet Nathalie) and three new (to me ones).

Of the seventeen, just three are legacy tubers (Melina Fleur, Ivanetti and Sweet Nathalie) with the other fourteen being brand new ones.

I have a bunch more to get into the ground and I'll fill in as best that I can to maximize how many cut flowers we can grow. Below is another annotated look at the planting guide. The teal circles show the locations of where I think I can safely plant more dahlia tubers including the Pizza Oven West, IB2DWs, Island bed and maybe one or two more along the South Sun Wall bed:

Also, of note...I sprinkled some basic 10-10-10 granules on each of them (both in the hole and on top), so that goes towards checking-off part of my 2026 to-do item on dahlias when I said this:

6. Go (even) big(ger) on dahlias. Cut flower farming to the max. Start them indoors, feed them. Spray them. And, make a lot of arrangements.

Feed them. And, 17 is a good start on 'going big'. Last year, I planted 23 dahlias, but that included six Border Dahlias (Pablo Gallery), so it was really more like 17 larger ones - a total that I've hit with just day one of planting. We're certainly "going big" this year.

36 (More) Titan Blue Lavender Halo Vinca Bedding Plants Added to Island Bed - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 2 Jun 2026 09:54:00 -0500

Yesterday, I showed photos of the 76 Titan Blue Lavender Halo Vinca annuals that I added to our front porch bed where I hope they'll grow into a carpet of color. In service of the notion of 'repetition', I opted to plant the same annuals down in the island bed to try to carry that same color further forward and bring those two plantings together visually.

I went with 36 vinca down there. Below are a few photos showing how the 36 Titan Blue Lavender Vinca are planted in between the Red Wizard Sun Coleus and the existing Ajuga groundcover that abuts the sidewalk. First up are side-views:

And, here below is the curb-view:

Last year, I didn't have luck with the flowering annuals in this bed, so I'm hoping that these Titan Vinca will fare better.

76 Titan Lavender Blue Halo Vinca Planted in Front Porch Bed - Bedding Annuals for Color - June 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 1 Jun 2026 09:19:00 -0500

Last year, I planted a new (to me) annual bedding plant in our front porch beds: Madagascar Vinca. 64 plugs. They worked really well and filled in the front of the border with a carpet of pink color by the end of July. I mentioned in that post that ten-or-so died immediately, so the total was closer to 54 plants that filled-in the bed. They were pink - which was a result of just *having* to choose something.

This year, I found flats of purple Vinca at Wannemakers. Titan Lavender Blue Halo. Here, below, is a photo of the plant tag and one of the flats:

Here's what Ball Seed says about Titan Lavender Blue Halo Vinca:

Big, bold and better branching vincas! Titan is up to 2 weeks faster to flower than open-pollinated vincas, with superior branching and big flowers in all the top-selling colours. The most uniform F1 vinca series on the market shows off flowers that are up to 50% larger than O.P. types in cooler temperatures.

Faster to flower. Better branching, big flowers. Say less, Titan Vinca.

Earlier this Spring - in April - I undertook a front yard bed extension project. Something that I SHOULD have done in the Fall. But, I didn't. I did it in Spring - in the end of March. I used my 'lazy method' of extending the beds with cardboard (to smother turf), piled on with municipal biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure. Along the front porch bed, I extended the bed OUTWARD, shaped it with a better curve and connected it (in a very small way) to the Saratoga Ginkgo bed.

I ended up planting 76 vinca in the bed from the front stoop to the edge of the bed. See below for a north-to-south view from our front walk:

And, here below are some wider views of the 76 vinca annuals. Mostly posting so I can do a later-season comparison for coverage and grow-in:

Here, below, is a look at that little strip of 'extension' that (now) connects the front porch bed to the Saratoga Ginkgo bed:

#10 on my annual to-do list is to "Keeping going with annuals as bedding plants", so adding these 76, in addition to the White Polka Dot plants in the backyard, the Stardust Coleus and the red Coleus in the Island bed get me to my largest annual planting total ever, I think.

And, I'm not done with these Vinca.

Cafe Au Lait Dahlia Tubers - Starting Late - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sun, 31 May 2026 08:33:00 -0500

A few of the tubers that I ordered turned out to be not viable. And, they were sold out of a like-for-like variety, so they offered up a replacement based on their current, in-stock inventory. I went with something I've never grown, but is pretty well-known: Cafe Au Lait dahlias. See below for the tuber and the package that they arrived in recently:

I haven't (in the past few seasons) grown any Dinnerplate Dahlias, so this will be a new (to me) experience in terms of size and staking. Here's what Longfield Gardens says about C-A-L:

Cafe au Lait is the variety that launched today's dahlia mania. These big, romantic blooms are must-have for anyone who loves flowers. Cafe au Lait's blossoms are wonderfully variable in hue depending on weather conditions and time of year. You can expect flowers ranging from creamy yellow and bone through blush pink and rose. They are a fabulous cut flower, and like peonies, it takes just a few stems to make an impressive arrangement.

They grow up to 48" tall, so that's taller than my preference in terms of height. That means greater staking needs, something that I need to get serious about in the next few weeks as I plant the dahlia tubers up in the ground around the garden.

These will have been potted-up three-plus weeks later than some of the other tubers that I started indoors. I still am putting this in a container before putting it in the ground. Something to watch this season to see if these stay behind for the rest of the growing season or if they'll naturally catch up.

Seven Autumn Ferns Added To The Stumpery - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sat, 30 May 2026 09:44:00 -0500

Number 19 on my 2026 to-do list was to upgrade the stumpery. That means improving the hard features (like fountain, stumps, bench, etc), but also the plantings. I wrote in the list:

The thing that I need to add here are even more Autumn Ferns. See #15. I have some Autumn Ferns and LOVE them. More is better.

#15 is "Stay focused by using the concept of Repetition vs. new." Those two items - repetiton + Stumpery plantings collided when I found a bunch of quart-sized Autumn Ferns at the nursery. They were nice-sized and healthy looking:

I ended up buying seven of them for the Stumpery.

I spaced them out behind the front row of All Gold Hakonechloa grasses and inter-planted with some of the existing Crested Surf Japanese Painted Ferns. This area was mostly blank.

There are two small Autumn Ferns that came back around here, so these seven make it nine for this area. See below for the seven new ferns planted in the bed. The stumps for the Stumpery are on the right of this photo:

I planted these to the left in front of that bench because I'm envisioning a little "path" from the lawn to this seating area walking right past the stumps (on your right) and these ferms (on your left).

The All Golds are screaming for some groundcover in front of them, aren't they?

Six More Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' Plugs In Island Bed Along Sidewalk - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 29 May 2026 10:30:00 -0500

More groundcover (or living mulch) is something I've been working-on for a couple of growing seasons. This month, I put in six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs in the [kitchen curved] bed in the backyard and six Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' in the backyard near the colony of Hellebores on the northside. This week, I put in six more Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs in the front of the Island Bed in our front yard down along the sidewalk. This brings my 2026 groundcover planting total to 24.

Here, below, is a look at the six new plugs that are to the left of the three existing ones that went in last year in August.

Here are the three existing groudcover plants last Fall.

One of the challenges down by the sidewalk is retaining the mulch, so I'm hoping these plugs will grow-in and provide a 'living mulch' mat that stretches the front of the bed along the sidewalk.

You can see the six new ones in this photo of the red coleus annuals:

These weren't the healthiest of plugs, so I think we might lose a few of them before they can even get established. That's ok, but I need to do a better job of picking out the trays of Ajuga.

These six bring my total to 24 groundcover plants with a few more to come.

Epimedium Spine Tingler Jester Hat Flowers - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Thu, 28 May 2026 09:25:00 -0500

The little colony of Epimedium - which I have hoped would take off, but never have....is once again flowering with their little yellow "jester hat" flowers. They are pretty neat. They flowered like this in 2024 (and maybe last year?).

Below are a couple photos showing this groundcover in bloom in the shade.

I was hoping they'd fill-in some of this space, but they mostly just persist, in their existing footprint. Maybe I haven't planted them close-enough together? Nothing a little "stream" of sedges can't fix, right?

Three More Sun King Aralias Planted - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Wed, 27 May 2026 09:05:00 -0500

Over the years, I've added two sets of Sun King Aralias to our backyard. First, were six as part of a garden edit in the 'nook' garden in 2024. Last year, I planted three more on the opposite side of the garden. In service of reptition and planting what works in the garden, I bought three more at this year's Morton Arboretum Plant sale. See below for the tag/sign at the sale:

When I brought them home, they were already good-sized plants. See below for a look at the box of plants the day of the sale in my garage. Compare the Sun Kings to the All Gold grasses right next to them:

This Spring, the existing Sun Kings suffered some late-frost damage, so I held back on introducing these to the garden for weeks. But, the time finally arrived. They were getting big and drying out.

One of the things that I've been talking about over the years is what I've described as a 'hosta replacement' project on the northside. I took this opportunity to remove three hostas (and planted them back against the fence (for now) and stuck the three in a somewhat crowded area.

You can see them below along with the small Emperor 1 Japanese Maple in the chicken-wire cage:

Here, below, is a more top-down view showing the three Sun Kings planted on a diagonal.

I'll look to pull out even more of these hostas here and clean up this area.

Confetti White Polka Dot Plants As Bedding Annuals in Backyard Shade - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Tue, 26 May 2026 08:50:00 -0500

Last year, I planted ten small white Polka Dot Plants (Hypoestes) in be-twix the Boxwoods underneath the Linden Espalier. I sort-of bought them on a whim and stuck them in there because they do well in shade. By August, I was declaring them a [gardening win] because of how they brightened up a dark space in the garden and were mostly care-free.

At Wannemakers recently, I picked up a full flat of Confetti White Hypoestes Polka Dot plants. That's 40 annuals. See below for the flat and plant tag.

I wanted to use these as bedding plants (on my 2026 list) and talked about how planting these in a couple of spots in the backyard can help bring that notion of repetition - (which...ahem...improves garden legibility).

I haven't planted all forty just yet, but here's how I've started with them below.

I started with seventeen (17) under the Lindens.

Along the southside, I planted two little pockets of bright white. One of five and one of seven. Twelve more and 29 out of 40 so far.

Then, over on the northside, I planted four more right in front of some hostas and around the Emperor 1 (the small one). That gets me to 29+4 = 33.

The seven remaining ones I'd like to put in the far back. But, that means that I have to be better about watering things back there. I need to get motivated to add them and maybe a few other things so I'll be dedicated to watering more around the firepit - which is a spot that I've failed at watering over the years.

Between the bedding coleus and now these white Polka Dot Plants, I'm doing more annuals than I've done most seasons. That's a good thing.

Moondust Coleus Planted As Bedding Plant - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Mon, 25 May 2026 08:29:00 -0500

Last year, I planted three Inferno Coleus in the corner patio bed and as they grew up (and out), I really loved them. I called them a [garden win] specifically. This year, I found some small quarts at Wannemakers of a new (to me) variety - Talavera Moondust Coleus. See below for a few photos showing the tag and the speckled foliage. It is easy to see why this one jumped off the bench, right?

Here is how Ball Seed describes Talavera Moondust Coleus:

Sun-tolerant varieties maintain color and foliage patterns in both sun and shade conditions. These late-flowering selections are tidy, non-bolting plants in the garden.

Sun-tolerant. Check.

Maintains color and foliage pattern in sun. Check.

Late-flowering. Check.

Non-bolting. Check.

What's not to love?

Below is a photo of the back of the plant tag where they mention it is 'well-branching' and 'stunning' and 'rich'.

Select Seeds adds these details in their product listing:

Unsurpassed in flower trials, this new coleus impresses all with its rich, non-fading coloring, reluctance to form flowers, and unstoppable show in warm-season gardens. Heat and humidity, can do!

New to market - that's cool. Won't fade, reluctant to flower and can handle the heat. Love all of that.

Here, below, is how the three small (for now) plants are sitting in their new home in the backyard patio corner bed:

Yesterday, I posted some photos showing the sixteen red-foliage coleus in the front island bed. These Moondust variety are already larger and way, way more interesting. But, I only need three here vs. the mass planting.

I have a couple more coleus plants to post about that I bought and will find a home for in containers.

Wizard Sun Velvet Red Coleus Planted in Island Bed - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sun, 24 May 2026 08:10:00 -0500

One of the [garden wins] that I hung on the scoreboard last year was planting coleus as a bedding plant in the garden. Both in the front yard (island bed) and in the back (corner patio bed). Last year, I planted twelve Versa Gold Coleus as bedding annuals up front in the Island bed and they filled-in and put on a great foliage show all season. I was pretty good about dead-heading them and pinching off the flowers to keep the growth focused on the foliage.

I put on my 2026 to-do list to use more annuals (again) including coleus and talked about repetition via annuals. More on that soon.

But, for the Island bed, I picked up sixteen (16) small Wizard Red Velvet Red Coleus plants:

Wizard Red Sun Coleus is described by Ball Seed as:

Compact, mid-sized foliage plant with upright habit is ideal for mixed containers, planters, baskets and landscapes. Easy-care plants are late flowering, extending their landscape value.

These are likely to be a bit smaller than last year, but the part that I really like is that they are 'late flowering' - meaning they'll focus on their foliage for a long bit of the growing season.

I took all sixteen and planted them into the bed in an alternating pattern right in front of the three Seslarias (I think that's what they are?) and the Medusa Alliums (and Garden Ghost Artemesia).

Below are a couple of photos showing the 16 plugs planted. They're very small to start.

I left room in front of them for more annuals - going to match the Vinca that I'm putting into the front porch bed to bring some of that much desired repetition to help improve garden legibility.

Am I Putting Too Much Salt In My Pizza Dough? Pizza Making Lessons - April 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Sat, 23 May 2026 10:43:00 -0500

I'm always on the hunt for a pizza-making edge. A tip. A tweak. A recommendation. Over the years, I've collected them from forums, social posts and a lot of YouTube videos. But, I've also been getting them in the past few years from email newsletters. One of those newsletters arrives from a dude that I started following on YouTube named Charlie Anderson. I mentioned him in this post from last year when I rounded up a number of pizza-related tips and lessons.

He is prolific when it comes to pizza and the Web. He has his YouTube channel. And he seems to have begun to offer online classes recently. Oh, and he runs an actual pizza place. In real life.

So, he knows theory and practice. Check out this feature on the What's Good Dough channel that profiles him and the efficiencies he's brought to life in his own store. Neat stuff.

The tip for this post came from Charlie in a recent email he sent out.

I can't seem to link to it, so I'm pasting a screenshot of his note about salt below. This is just the 'above the fold' part, but the email was much longer:

Down near the bottom, he shared this:

What I landed on: I use just enough salt that the dough doesn't taste bland on its own - usually somewhere between 2 and 2.5%.

So, if you've been using 3% or higher because you saw it in a recipe somewhere, it's worth experimenting with pulling that back. Make the same dough you always make, drop the salt to 2.2%, and give it a taste. I think you'll be surprised!

He's reducing salt and getting results he prefers.

I've actually gone the OTHER WAY with salt. I (probably) over-salt my dough. I'm going to give this a shot on my next bar pie doughs and see if I get a reaction from anyone.

Like I said above, if you are interested in things like salt quantities, you can sign up for his classes here.

Six More Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' Plugs Planted - Backyard - May 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Jake Parrilllo) — Fri, 22 May 2026 08:22:00 -0500

Last week, I posted some photos of six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs in the kitchen curved bed in our backyard. Those were #7-12 of groundcover plugs put in this year with the first six being Ajuga 'Burgundy Glow' on the other side of the yard. Today, I planted six more Chocolate Chip a little further back and right in front of some of the All Gold grasses. Below are a few photos showing the process.

In front of these grasses is a little bit more blank space than I'd prefer. A perfect spot for a low, creeping living mulch.

The pack of plugs is tidy and healthy in their little nursery carrying container:

I've learned over the years that while Ajuga spreads out, it doesn't grow massive. It is a 'good neighbor'. That's why I planted the six pretty close together.

This puts me at 18 groundcover plugs planted for the year. And, my second 'upgrade' to the Stumpery - with the first one being the addition of three All Golds yesterday. Both groundcover and stumpery are on my 2026 to-do list.

That last photo above makes me think I need to go back and get another tray (or two) of these plugs and keep extending the Ajuga to the West along the front of those other All Golds.

Adding more would increase my total from 18 - which...by the way appears to be 50% total my high-water mark of 36 groundcover plants added in 2023.