Coronation Gold

Coronation Gold yarrow is one of the few plants in my garden doing spectacularly well. It's out by the driveway, in too small a space, tightly planted against the fence and flopping over.

I just put in a Rocky Mountain penstemon next to it on the left, which I hope will make a nice complement. I like the loose abandon of this dramatic plant, but it's too floppy.

So I plan to rectify the situation:

In fall I will lift and divide it. One division is going behind the cardinal penstemon by the garage stoop, to fill the empty spot against the wall where the table had been.

The remaining division will get replanted in the driveway strip, but I need a plan of action to control it. I'll need to replant it out away form the fence more (not much room to do that), I'll need ring supports, and I will need to chop back the front of it for shape in spring.

Here's the plan:

🍂 Fall

• Cut the plant back when it dies down.

• Lift and divide it. Coronation Gold benefits from division every few years because the center can become woody and less vigorous.

• Replant the main division 4 inches farther from the fence. That extra breathing room will let the stems arch naturally instead of immediately hitting the fence and then spilling onto the driveway.

• Plant the extra division by the garage stoop behind the cardinal penstemon.

❄️ Winter

• Install one or two support rings before the ground freezes.

🌱 Spring

• Let the plant get established.

• Early to mid-May perform a Chelsea Chop on only the front half of the plant. Cut those stems back by roughly one-third to one-half.

• Leave the back stems alone.

That provides:

• taller stems in the back to soften the fence,

• shorter stems in front that help support the taller ones,

• a longer bloom season because the chopped stems flower a week or two later.

Don't overdo the chop the first year.
Since I'll also be dividing and moving the plant, start conservatively—remove only the top third of the front stems. Then be more aggressive the following year.

And Then It Rained

Greg was here and got the patio furniture moved and we set up the table and chairs. Then it rained. Hard. And I did NOT have to bring any cushions in. 

That was my goal. 

Also, the new set up allows more space for Jim's walker. And although the hotel style lanai look of the big teak chairs and coffee table was  more elegant and visually more substantial, this looks more like a patio and less like a duplicate living room.

It needs some greenery -- a few small pots and some flowers, so I'll work on that. And a tablecloth for when I want to have someone over for patio conversation or drinks or coffee. 

I won't leave a cloth table covering out -- it will get sun bleached, but for occasions I'll have one ready. I ordered this one from Amazon (A.I. mock up).

The sun came out quickly and the next day on a blue sky still morning Greg and I had our breakfast and coffee at the table. 

It was wonderful having him here. We visited, he moved furniture and cut back some branches for me, and we went to the movies together to see The Odyssey.

🧡

Table By The Door

Over the years I've tried to dress up the wall next to the kitchen door. 

I've had the tiered plant stand there, I tried the large white cement colored container with a shrub in it (cuphea once, a failed blueberry once). I put the little bistro chair there. I'm trying to keep it simple.

 

It's blank stucco, punctuated by the hose faucet, although the hoses are around the corner. This corner is our entrance to the back yard, down the walk. 

With the rosemary gone it looks utilitarian. It needs something. But not another large pot or a collection of containers.

Plants would fill out the area next to the chair and hide the hose connections a bit in summer, but I'm creating a collection of containers right across from it by the garage door stoop. 

I don't want to keep solving garden issues with more plants. 

And this is a hot sunny site, with reflecting stones and bright hot wall. It would be easy to water with the hose right there, but I don't want more pots to tend every day.

On a whim, before I placed the black mesh table on the patio to replace the armchairs, I put it next to the door, with the bistro chair. 

That created a vignette that seems nice. Useful, too, providing a place to put things coming and going from the kitchen door. 

It visually fills the blank wall and brings the eye toward the door, not around the corner so much.

But wait. 

I found a southwest tiled table on Wayfair. Smaller, 24 inches across so the size of our living room end tables. 

Note: After I ordered, I noted the table is not supposed to be left outside in cold  --
Not sure how cold or if that matters? I may have to bring it in during winter?

The black metal table is intended to go on the patio. This little mosaic bistro table dresses up the corner without creating more pots to water and nothing to see in winter.

I like the way this dresses up the blank wall, distracts from the faucet while keeping it accessible, and offers a little welcome spot as you enter from the gate. It's a bit of a pause and destination rather than  this area simply being what you go through to get to the kitchen door.

I think the bistro table and chair look a little staged, maybe a little fussy. The black metal table was too big for the spot but it looked more natural, like it just "happened". Maybe a small potted plant on the table to add some greenery will help. But overall I like it.

🌞  Note: 

the colored tiles are probably going to fade quickly

 in the intense sunlight. This spot gets no shade

It was $150. I was happy with staging my alcove furniture without spending any money, and solving the empty spot by the garage door where the mesh table had been by plopping pots there. But this doesn't seem like too much for an upgrade to the kitchen door.

Pondering the Patio

I want to do something different with the patio alcove. With monsoon season bringing rain (or mostly the threat of rain) each afternoon, I am constantly schlepping cushions in and out. The teak chairs have deteriorated and the glider too, although it still glides nicely and I have new bright turquoise cushions for it.

But there are several things I want to change. At first I decided to replicate what we have -- I have liked the look and comfortable vibe of this alcove. So I've been shopping replacement chairs and glider and a new coffee table.

This mock up is what I was after -- the same configuration but a nice sturdy metal coffee table, sage green and tan colors, a tan mesh glider, metal arm chairs with quick dry cushions.

I like it, but the subdued colors, clustered furniture, and sleeker metal do give it a formal conversation room look, like an outdoor hotel lanai for guests.

So then I thought: Let's change how this space actually works for us.

Materials:

I want metal, no wood, which doesn't last in this climate, I want mesh quick drying material, no more fat foam cushions that soak up water and have to be brought in and out of the house.

Look:

I want it to look more like a garden spot, less like a second furnished living room right off the indoor living room. The cushioned arm chairs have been great but they make it look like a living room. The colors are punchy and bright; I'd like a softer tone.

Access:

With the rectangular coffee table in the middle it is hard for Jim to get around with his walker. The space is enclosed, only 11.5 feet wide, and we have a lot of furniture clustered in it. I want to get rid of the central coffee table, which we don't use for much of anything and open up the center of the alcove.

Comfort:

Jim needs a comfortable place to sit but we don't need to flop or nap or sink into cushioning. I do need to have something he can sit in. The brown mesh patio set chairs are upright but they swivel and he can sit in them well enough.

 

Function:

A table to eat at would be nice. Not for big dinners with 4 people, just to have coffee and snacks when a friend comes over. Or for me to have my breakfast outside.

 

Expense: 

And finally, patio replacement furniture is costly if I want good stuff.  

 

So, instead of replacing the same configuration with new chairs that have quicker draining cushions (expensive) and metal frames (also expensive) and softer colors, and instead of finding a new glider that is mesh (there are several I found), I think I might just repurpose my 4 chair + mesh metal table patio set. 

> I'll move what I already have: the table and patio chairs. Put them against the wall and flank the chairs on either side of them. They can swivel to eat at the table or rotate to face the glider for conversation or views.

> It opens the center, no coffee table to get around. You can walk out into a slightly more expansive patio that leads directly to the garden. The small square dining table is a place to put things. We rarely had any kind of "spread" out on the coffee table anyway, and never ate meals there. 

> I'll keep one extra swivel patio chair out under the umbrella as it is now. It can always be pulled up to add a third at the table. And where it sits under the umbrella is nice for swiveling around and looking out at my tiny garden.

> The glider is still ok -- the cushions are not as thick and dry out better, and they are new and fresh, but I'd eventually want a pillow-less glider. Not yet, though.

> I would visually miss having the square metal able by the garage door with all the pots, but that needs a rethink too. The pots do nothing, it's an awkward set up.

$ This avoids the cost of all new furniture -- which is really expensive -- to replicate what I have with more durable materials. This whole move is completely free.

And it changes how we'd use the space and how we'd get through it to go out into the yard.

It avoids having to store the patio set -- right now other than the one chair we use, I have put the other three in the side alley around the house. We should simply use them.

We could still entertain the neighbors as we do often -- the two mesh swivel chairs replace the two teak armchairs that were there, and the glider stays. The extra swivel chair stays too. Not for dining outside, we'd still do that at the table indoors, but for wine and conversation this table and chair set up would work.

A pretty square tablecloth on it with hors d'oevres might dress things up nicely.

I'd need to zhuzh up the space with  plants and flowers for the garden room look, it's spare looking with the open center and tan chairs and umbrella. While I did want a soft green garden vibe to the furniture, keeping the turquoise glider cushions ties it to the turquoise garage door in the distance -- one of my favorite views.

No purchases needed for experimenting, just rearranging what I already have. And I could avoid the pillow stash behind the chairs in the living room every afternoon it threatens rain:

I think this might be the solution I was struggling with as I tried to shop for expensive new patio furniture. Hope so.

Some more fun with A.I. ---

Cool and Wet

We finally got rain, after a full month of nothing but a sprinkle or two at times and little in the months before that. 

Yesterday it rained hard. The gauge measured between a full half inch and three quarters, so it was a good soaker. 

Today is cool and sparkly. Everything is wet.

But it's still not enough to overcome all the months of dry and the dry winter before that. The breeze is kicking up on this cool morning and the sun is out, so things will dry out again.

But for now I'll enjoy this cool, wet morning when everything looks refreshed.

Nepeta Mysteries

When we moved in there was a tiny, low nepeta growing at the base of the aspens in back. It got no irrigation. It was just a stick or two with few blooms, but I watered it a bit and it perked up. It was lovely.

I dug it up and moved it to the kitchen courtyard, right in front where it could spill over the flagstones.

It never took. 

For years now it has shriveled and looked awful and never bloomed. It's six inches across and leaves a blank space at the front of that small garden in all seasons.

There is an emitter right there. Is that the issue? Too much water? It looked so pretty in its original spot with no irrigation.

Now it has to come out. 

The tiny shriveled one in the circle garden is coming out too and I'll replace it with other things. There is one other catmint that I had divided from the originals and it is next to a brown urn by the flagstone patio. Not visible, hasn't bloomed for years and remains nothing to look at.

Catmint is tough and easy to grow, so it's a mystery why mine don't.

But wait, Out of nowhere this summer a beautiful nepeta is growing in a pot of Kent's Beauty oregano that I wintered over in the garage. In fact it is taking over and crowding out the oregano.

It's in a shallow plastic pot that I place inside the urn. I have no idea how that nepeta got into the pot of oregano, but it is growing in a lovely way. Thriving. It must have come somehow from the nepeta division below the urn, which never bloomed and isn't doing much. 

It's a mystery how it got there and why it thrives with all the watering I give the pot to keep the oregano from crisping in the sun. Apparently too much water wasn't the issue with my failed catmints.

It didn't bloom this spring as it seemed to be emerging slowly from nothing, but I do see a tentative flower or two now in mid summer.

Do I even dare plant it out in the ground somewhere? Would it decline like the others I transplanted? 

I might dig up the Biokovo geraniums that are at the front edge of the potting bench curve where they are getting too much sun. They don't look as nice as the big patch behind the aspen trunks that are in more shade. I could divide the potted nepeta and put it there with little irrigation.

In fact that would be returning the catmint to its original spot where I took it out!

Five Oaks

Over many years I have tried to get some rough and tough plants to take in the untended common area next to our driveway. A quarter pound of blanketflower seeds, not a single plant came up. Various specimen grasses, all gone. A couple Russian sages and Apache plumes are alive but no bigger than they were 8 years ago.  Tough shrubs like winterfat, gone. 

This wants to be a dry "meadow", unplanted

There were others I lost track of. I spread compost and wood chip mulch. I watered deeply as often as I could from the hose stretched out through the gate and across the driveway. I trimmed gawky white sweet clover and cut back Maximillian sunflowers in the years they came up.

Despite all my tending and planting, the field is what it wants to be with rangy odd grasses that survive and a chamisa that is growing. Messy. When it's dry it goes brown and dormant, almost flat dust out there.

Messy brown

This summer three of the five Gambel oaks I spent good money on and planted carefully and have tended and watered faithfully have given up. Two are still green but tiny. The nicest and tallest one is crisp and brown for the first time this summer. It had done better than the others but not now.

Five oaks: Two Gambel oak survivors - top row. Three gave up - bottom row

Of all the things I could have planted, these oaks were supposed to be tough, need little care after initial watering and would grow untended, loving the sun and little water.

I have no plans to do anything else out there. It will be a brown dry open patch. There is one other plant -- a tall New Mexico privet that was good sized when I planted it last year. It seems okay. It was gifted from the grounds committee when I resigned.

Four of the little oaks in fall, 2021

But other than that (so far) little else is to show after years of trying. There will be no Gambel oak grove. In good years the plot looks meadowy and unkempt but nice. In dry years it's ugly and brown.

It is what it wants to be. It is what it actually only can be.

Warm Dry July

I did not think when I first injured my foot that I would be planting things this season at all. In July no less. 

I still don't have annuals -- petunias or geraniums -- out front, or anything in containers in the back. But even though the front portal urn has nothing, it looks calm and settled with the happy, tidy dwarf goldenrod, now blooming.

That little goldenrod, here when we moved in, is out in the gravel by itself and it just looks nice. Nothing more is needed.

I planted the second container of Rocky Mountain penstemon next to the big golden yarrow in the driveway strip and it had enough to be separated into divisions. So I put one small split out in the front triangle where the marrubium never took.

It surprised me how fresh and clean the penstemon foliage is after the blooms are gone by.

The big lavender in that front triangle space, which was here when we moved in, has never looked better. It gets irrigation, but I think it really likes the hot dry spring and summer we're having.

The kitchen courtyard finally looks really good. Radio Red salvias are spectacular. I have three in the ground in this garden and two more in pots. 

The container salvias are even more flowery and vivid.

I took the coreopsis out of the terracotta bowl and put it in the bigger, less porous white bowl. I hope it will spread out more but meanwhile it looks bright and colorful. The thyme carpet under it is still patchy, but I dug and moved several chunks to fill in those empty spots.

I had planned to put two dichondra Silver Falls plants in the bowl too, to spill over the edges, but instead I planted them along the moss rock border, alternating with the Coral Reef sedum and creeping speedwells. The silver draping foliage might work.

They're annuals, so it's not permanent, just an experiment to see how it looks.