The "Shade" Garden by the Basement Stairs

Moving from the sidewalk in toward the building, seen is the plantain lily, the clematis (Ace--the wind was too much for where they'd been planted), the mini thalictrum, Captain's Feather, ornamental grass (Garden Fair), caladium, impatiens, pink spotted annual (a form of Draecena? Ace).

Filipendula (George), red leaf cardinal flower (the wind was too much for them along the blvd. they grew horizontal and bloom was disappointing), Japanese painted fern, lady fern (Jaffe), cinnamon fern (George), False Solomon's Seal (Wagner).

Next step down--among the leaves are green leaf cardinal flower that grew just a few inches (Garden Fair), Pulmonaria saccharatea "Mrs Moon", astilbe (George), impatiens, draecena.

Another step down and facing back toward the street--begonias, lady bells blown over behind the pot, geraniums, glossy leaved ginger. The maidenhair fern seems to have died.

Wild ginger, ajuga, fern from Vanya, white hyssop (George), cimicifuga--bloomed very nicely.

The Boulevard Garden

Planters still look good:

Iceburg floribunda (2003 Garden Fair) has done great all summer, the double red impatiens (Ace) have come into their own. The blue campanula (Jaffe) is spent. I just planted a colchicum bulb and aconite around the sidewalk side of the rose. In the center between the two supports is the lovely purple clematis from the Jaffe yard. In front of that is Allium Schubertii bulb. Two more are to the left of the concrete pad. The begonias have done well only in the clay pot in the shade. There are still two small sprigs of Captain's Feather by the left support.

Next step down--Echinacea pupurea "magnus" from the 47th Street Co-op is leafing out though the blooms are over. The phlox was ok but unexciting. Two more schubertii bulbs are between them. The cherry bells spread but no bloom. In front is a patch of the small alliums from the Wagner yard. Ribbon grass is blowing to the left.

Next stop, iris, coleus, sedum, pink guy, alpine rose campion (Cobleskill, NY, Agway), aster (2003 Garden Fair), yellow dwarf iris (2003 Bulb Fair).

The white blob is trash that blew in--typical! Lady's mantle still there, little blue stem grass grew a bit, the goat's beard I moved from the shade garden where it's unhappy, the odd plant from Vanya did well, the peone sprig is still there, the spurge looks good, geranium sanguineum, more iris all holding their own. There is a sprig of hardy ageratum (Wagner) in there with the annual ageratum. The heliopsis has been terrific. The tea rose seemed to be a goner all season, then two weeks ago, I noticed a sprout--it might be from below the graft, but it will be interesting to see next year if it will bloom. The scarlet runner beans didn't do much--but it proved that morning glories would love the supports next year.

At the base of the support there are a few evening primrose leaves, something sprouting from a broken off stem that I have no memory of, thrifty leaves of the wild phlox, some short veronica (Jaffe), blasted looking Captain's Feather, autumn joy sedum looking very happy,

a dead seeming stem of perhaps pink boltonia (Jaffe), the Morton Arboratum coral bell is entirely happy.

Next step down, I've planted hardy gladiolus (2003 Bulb Fair), the day lily looks like a goner, a sprig of hardy ageratum, geranium sanguineum--this might be the magenta kind but none of the ger. sang. bloomed this year, some sweet woodruff, balloon flower (Farmer's Market), a weak day lily, baby blue eyes, a sprig of autumn joy, aster (2003 Bulb Fair), Cardinalis sylvatica--which has done really well, dusty miller, and the top of an iris leaf to the bottom left.

After the iris, another astilbe that did nothing, columbine, asiatic lilies, the fern thing from Jaffe yard--which seems to be going backward into the ground. I've put West Point tulips here.

A longer view of this run--to the north of the fern thing is the wild onion for which Chicago is named. The moss rose has been struggling a bit with some kind of blight. We're trying some systemic rose food. Liatris (only one bloomed, so this may go next year), a very happy white filipendula, wild New England aster (Jaffe) that pulled through and is blooming, red day lily blooming now

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dark leaf coral bell, columbine.

The small astilbe is in there somewhere--it did nothing. The large coral bell is the stunning red one. Sedum spread, a small patch of campanula carpatica blue is by the fence, sliver scrolls coral bell ok, feverfew blooming away, coleus demonstrating that it's very useful. In the back are bee balm (unknown color) and ditch witch, in front is a large patch of the Wagner alliums. The Robert Lythrup looks healthy but didn't bloom much in its first year. The sedum, liatris leaves, iris leaves, magenta fuzzy plant are all looking good. By the fence and the concrete support there's a tiny day lily with healthy leaves. There seems to be a healthy daisy that's volunteered by the veronicastria that did nothing. The rose of sharon was lovely even this year and moving twice--lavender and rose. The clematis looks ok. The variegated obedience plant looks like it might try to bloom before frost.

There are three rose mallow sprouts--no idea if they can carry over without blooming and reseeding but I sure hope they can. Geranium sanguineum, West Point tulips, magenta thingie, Stokes saster (Farmer's Market), the two astilbes that did nothing

The impatiens in the upper center marks where the three Gladiator alliums (Cobleskill Agway) are. A healthy day lily with the Immortality iris (2003 bulb fair) planted in front. It's a bare root iris and they seem really dried out and unpromising. The rudbeckia is happy as can be. To the north of it is the Best Bet iris (2003 bulb fair). These are both rebloomers so I hope they work. The purple fountain grass moved down here along with the lilies. Just off the bottom of the picture is the variegated sage.

In the upper center are the trimmed back new growth of the tall veronica. It bloomed really well for its first year. The special sedum is happy. In the center are purple leaf sage and garlic chives from the Cobleskill Agway. Dark leaf coral bells, geranium lead up to the post, where the little rose is holding its own.

This is the run through from the post. The coreopsis seems to be alive. The white campanula carpatica seems happy as does the blue moved out from the shade garden. The day lily pardon me looks ok along with its sprig of volunteer sedum. The mini-aster is going to be intensely purple toward magenta. The sea pink has bloomed quite a bit. The other little day lily is healthy as is the bee balm that didn't bloom. The moonbeam coreopsis has been ok, the yarrow and regular coreopsis haven't done anything. The iris seem healthy, this the old pink rose is in great shape. The bee balm and weak echinacea (Farmer's Market) are there. This goat's beard is healthy.

The dwarf astilbe was terrifc, the baby blue eyes is healthy. I put another clump of West Point tulips in here. The tall pink flower is Jupiter's Beard. It's very exciting especially as a dollar plant. The white butterfly bush seems to be catching hold after some wilting problems.

The sprig of autumn joy sedum and the small day lily are here but I love this aster from the Garden Fair--its a rich deep purple.

The three day lilies and the old butterfly bush did well--the butterfly bush is still going fairly strong. The white clematis will get moved to the back corner where it can blow in the wind and ramble as it will.

And along the other side, lamb's ear, epimedium, yellow guy, the mum that really helped back here, the jasmine hosta (now surrounded by tulips, Chinese lantern, sweet woodruff, the dark blue leaf hosta, obedience plant, another yellow mum, variegated hosta, two ferns, the white clematis, bee balm, and one wild onion.