Recap: Best Blooms Summer 2016

I have a ton of photos from early spring before anything was really happening, and then as soon as things really started blooming my blogging slowed down. Here is a recap of summer bloom photos that I neglected to post.

Siberian iris

Lily 'After Eight'

Erigeron speciosus 'Darkest of All'

Hosta 'Frozen Margarita'

Siberian iris

Lily 'After Eight'

Salvia sylvestris 'Little Night'

Purple coneflower 'Magnus'

Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum'

Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’

Lily 'Tiny Invader'

Lily 'Tiny Pearl' (front) and 'Tiny Invader' (back)

Lily 'Tiny Shadow'

Is Green Panda Bamboo Evergreen in My Zone?

The Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' bamboo that I transplanted outside this Spring is going strong, and is holding its deep green color. It's almost December! I'm wondering if this green panda is supposed to be evergreen in my zone 6a here in central Indiana.

Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' looking very green on November 29, 2015 in Zone 6a

Every source I can find says that it is indeed cold hardy to zone 5, but I haven't seen anything about it being evergreen. It's certainly doing better than my Japanese painted fern that took a poop at the first snowfall!

Japanese painted fern - Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum' - decidedly not of the evergreen persuasion

Ferns on the Menu in Latest Rabbit Attack

Curse you rabbits! The local cottontails struck again, once again hitting my ostrich fern [Matteuccia struthiopteris], Japanese forest grass [Hakonechloa macra], and this time the Japanese painted fern [Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum'] on the other side of my house too.

A young Japanese painted fern with rabbit damage

My precious baby Japanese forest grass undergoing its third devastating attack

Tiny new ostrich fern sprout compromised by rabbit snacking

 The rabbits seem to come through in waves. They must have other places they patrol as well, because they aren't in my utility box planter during the day - although I know this is their home base in my yard because I scared one out of here one morning.

I know exactly where they hide at night, so it's my own fault I guess. This is the only brush in the whole neighborhood, so it makes sense they would be here and nibble on things close to this area.

I sprinkled more repellent in the brushy area and around a couple of the plants they seem to like. I'm not ready to start putting chicken wire cylinders around all my young fleshy sprouts just yet, but so far the repellents don't seem to be working too well.

New Additions: After Eight Oriental Lily and Japanese Painted Fern

This happens all the time, I went out to get something very specific (bluegrass seed to re-seed over what my dad thinks is just the annual rye from a mixed bag) and I came home with 2 new plants: a Japanese Painted Fern [Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum'] for the OTHER shade garden (the bamboo side), and an oriental lily called After Eight [Lilium 'After Eight'] that I thought Chris would like since he loves his Lilium 'Tiny Pearl' that he picked out.

Lilium 'After Eight'

'After Eight' on the left and 'Tiny Pearl' on the right

Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum'

Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum' - young and not very 'painted' just yet

I saw a Japanese Painted Fern at work in the full shade bed behind a residence hall, and I've been eyeing it online for a while. It's actually on my wish list and now I get to cross it off.

I got the Lilium 'After Eight' because it's full height should be a little taller than Tiny Pearl, and it should fit into the area by the downspout where the hibiscus used to be. When I tore out the hibiscus I found it was chalk white all the way down to the root, dry and brittle, and sitting in a puddle of water - I had dug a hole in the clay and filled it with the hibiscus' very fluffy potting mix, so it had been filling up like a bucket. Before planting the lily I filled it with top soil and tried to raise the lily up a bit.