A Walk In The Backyard

Today was a beautiful spring day. Not too warm, around 60 degrees when I got home from work. I took a walk in the backyard to check out the status of all the plants, trees and shrubs.

I am a Master Gardener and we are expected to pass on our knowledge to the public, so................here is my Master Gardener "tip" for the today. STAY AWAY FROM ANY PLANT THAT LOOKS LIKE THE PLANT IN THE FOLLOWING PICTURE. THIS IS POISON IVY!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THIS PLANT. This plant is in my backyard and I promise to spray it with the Ortho Poison Ivy Killer tomorrow. I have to spray it about once every year. I keep an eye on this spot every year and alert my neighbor to spray his adjoining patch as well.

POISON IVY!!!

This is one of the five Japanese Maple Trees in my back yard. This one is "Blood Good" and is slow growing and hardy here in Michigan.


This is an Ostrich Fern. Several others came up a few weeks ago and got frozen and turned brown. They should survive, after all ferns are the oldest plants on earth.

This is Corydalis "Lutea". (Lutea means yellow). It grows well in the shade and seeds itself in my shade garden but is not invasive. My friend Georgia gave me some of this plant a few years ago. I love the delicate feathery leaves.

This is "Golden Tiara" Hosta from the garden of Ralph Hyden (Mr. Hosta in Michigan). It is the smallest hosta I have in my gardens.

This is Bleeding Heart. I have had this plant for many years and it keeps getting bigger and more beautiful each year. It needs shade and dies back in the heat of the summer.

The lilacs are almost in full bloom. The fragrance of this old lilac on the south side of my home is very delicate and reminds me of spring.

This is the patio garden. The three spikey looking plants are Stella D'Oro Daylilies. If I break the blooms every evening on the Stellas, they will bloom continually all summer. The plant with the yellowish flowers is a Euphorbia. A very intersting and strange looking plant. The others are sedum, lavender (one of my favorites), and the all important catnip.

This is a Daphne. It is very fragrant and I love the foliage. My "Carol Maki" Daphne died last year but this one seems much more hardy. I can't remember the name but its leaves are the opposite coloring from the "Carol Maki".

This is a view of my "shade" garden. Unfortunately, I have lost most of the trees that provided the original shade. The "Blood Good" Japanese Maple is really getting big and should soon help in providing shade. The "shade" garden has several hostas, ferns, sedum, corydalis, and bleeding heart.
This is a "Golden" Barberry. I like the lime green color.

This is one of my two "Endless Summer" Hydrangea. I protect my hydrangea through the winter with black plastic bags filled with the autumn leaves. I put wire cages around the plants, fill the cages with leaves and then pile the bags around the cages. Last year everyone of my hydrangea had blooms. I will soon find out if my protection worked through this tough winter. So far so good. I haven't removed the protection from the more delicate hydrangea yet. We could still have a heavy freeze able to kill the buds. It is important not to prune hydrangea since the flowers bloom on the old wood for most hydrangea.

Another one of my Japanese Maples. This one was purchased from the MSU Horticulture plant sale for $15 several years ago. It was small enough to transport in the backseat of my car. It has grown slowly but steadily.

"Blue Angel" Hosta in my front yard. The "Blue Angels" in the backyard are not this far along. This plant has some of the largest leaves for a hosta.

"Karen" Azalia. This is on the south side of my home and I purchased the plant in 1990 for $4 from K-Mart. It has survived many years and always blooms. Azalia are delicate this far north. This one is protected by the house and some arbor vitae on either side of it.