Dayna's Landscaping

In 2014, when I started working at Stuhr Museum, older red carpet roses were in the raised beds on the bridge leading up to the main building.   The blooms cycle about every few weeks, so there isn't a constant show of pretty blooms during the season.  After a harsh winter, some winter killed and needed to be replaced in 2015.  This was very expensive, but there was a grand opening event that summer and the pressure was on to make things look good.  Some people complained during the season about the long canes with thorns sprawling out and catching their shirt sleeves or scratching their arms.  If trimmed, there were no blooms. By 2017, about 75% of them winter killed.  Roots competed with the mugo pine shrubs and ornamental grasses planted along side of them. The roses technically were not planted in the ground for overwintering success, but in a giant raised bed.  It was time for the roses to go. I planted tidal wave red velour petunias in their plac...

 The hardest part of landscape maintenance is always spring clean-up.  Picking up debris, raking leaves and twigs, and cutting perennials down are the main duties.  In the arbor, there is a tremendous amount of leaves to pick up!  Here are a few of the many photos of spring clean-up.

Tidal waves, as in petunias, are the best flower for landscaping.  That is my opinion, and I don't think anyone will convince me otherwise.  So many people I talk to absolutely hate petunias.  Most of them are not aware of the different types, though. The following photos are tidal wave "cherry" petunias, and even within a type, some colors perform better than others. I plant two tidal wave petunias about 10-12 inches apart because they are a hedge forming petunia.  The two plants grow together and support each other in high winds and storms, and make a nice canopy. I trim petunias so they form a compact bush instead of long stems growing from the main stem. They continue to grow and I fertilize them if they need it. They have filled in the space, and I monitor them for water, fertilizing, trimming and budworms.  Budworms love to eat petunia buds which result in no blooms! The results are stunning!  The two little plants grew into a massive bunch of flowers...