The Stumpery

In the front of the cedar grove is a pile of old cedar stumps. When we moved into this place it was buried under the remnants of an old wood pile, garbage, and a few ginormous sword ferns that grew around that mess. I cleaned it all up and moved a few of the huge sword ferns to a slope that needed a bit of stabilization. I proceeded to re-plant the stumpery with shade garden-y things and here it is today. It is filling in nicely and quickly!:

Here you can see a few of the sword ferns I left in place as well as the native trilliums and bleeding heart that I planted. It didn't take long for these to really begin spreading:

A lace leaf japanese maple has also been planted on the stumpery underplanted with more bleeding heart, trilliums, and some native alpine enchanters nightshade that has just popped up. Buried off to left under the dicentra is a native honeysuckle:

Redwood sorrel has also been added and is quickly forming a large mat. I dig up bits and move it about the woodland garden:

Oregon grape also grows on on the stumpery and has these lovely yellow flowers every spring:

Erythronium has been planted here as well and like all that I plant, it disappeared for a year, then came back with a few leaves this year, and will likely bloom next year. Seems to take a few years to get settled in my garden for some reason:  

The stumpery also hosts twinflower and starflower:

The starflower is spreading like mad and the twinflower has really begun to spread. Off to the right is a nice clump of hepatica media. The hepatica has lovely blue flowers in early spring and is ever so slowly forming a nice little mat:

I pile leaf litter over this stumpery every year and the plants stay snuggled under it in the winter and devour it during the growing season. Don't toss those fall leaves! They are garden food at their best and provide homes for many beneficial insects.