Plants at Finches House in Des Moines

Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis) 72% confidence per PlantNet app
Evergreen Bushes Near Front Door. Start pruning yews in late March or early April. See also “Pruning A Yew Shrub: How To Prune An Overgrown Yew Plant.”

Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) 63% confidence per PlantNet app
Tall front bushes near windows. WAY overgrown. Pruning should be done in the early spring, before they leaf out.

Mountain (Alpine) Rose (Rosa pendulina) 83% confidence per PlantNet app
In the front garden, near the front door. New leaves are a purplish read. It’s getting choked out by overgrown neighbors. Pruning Time: Early spring, Late winter. Transplant time: Spring.

Japanese Spiraea (Spiraea japonica) 72% confidence per PlantNet app
All over the front gardens; invasive. Video about early spring pruning. Plant care.

Dwarf Yellow Daylily (Hemerocallis Minor) 74% confidence per PlantNet app
(Even the purple one was identified as Dwarf Yellow Daylily by PlantNet.) Transplant daylilies any time of the growing season. Many people choose to transplant during the spring or early fall, allowing the plants ample time to establish themselves before the next blooming season. Daylilies are able to withstand being divided during the heat of summer.

Orange Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) 36% confidence per PlantNet app
Transplant daylilies any time of the growing season. Many people choose to transplant during the spring or early fall, allowing the plants ample time to establish themselves before the next blooming season. Daylilies are able to withstand being divided during the heat of summer.

Purple Moor Grass (Molinia caerulea) 56% confidence per PlantNet app
Shorter grass by driveway. Grows long, narrow “spikelets” in the midsummer into autumn that are purple or blue in color (Wikipedia). The increasing dominance of the invasive purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) on blanket bogs is a growing threat to diversity and carbon storage.

Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinensis) 97% confidence per PlantNet app
Taller grass in front and east side of house, including next to the garage. The variegated leaves seem to require a lot of sunlight, so those that don’t have a lot of sun tend to be thinner, shorter, and solid green. Miscanthus sinensis will spread somewhat invasively in the landscape, particularly in some of the milder areas of its growing range. It often initially spreads to disturbed sites such as roadsides, railroad right-of-ways or woodland margins.

Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) 61% confidence per PlantNet app
Near front garden Zebra Grass. In the context of our garden, it’s a weed, though it’s considered a nice tree (not invasive) with tasty berries. Just not here.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) 52% confidence per PlantNet app
In front gardens. Speading aggressively into other established plants. Tall wildflower that’s often used in ornamental gardens. Polinated by bees and butterflies. Purple coneflower is a perennial that can be invasive in the garden or flower beds as the plentiful seeds of this composite family member will sprout the following year into many small plants. Deadhead the flowers through the summer for appearance and to prevent the flowers turning to seeds. Prune in the fall when the plants start to look ratty. Needs to be dug out to get the root, which is 8-24″ long.

Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) 47% confidence per PlantNet app
Weed at corner of front walk. Also removed a big one where the trellis is located now. Grows in abundance on the south end of the property. Aggressive and ugly, but they smell good and provide greenery and privacy outside of the winter months. How to get rid of it. (Needs to be dug.)

Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens) 75% confidence per PlantNet app
Beneficial wildflower in front. Host plant to Monarch butterflies.

White Walnut (Butternut) (Juglans cinerea) 51% confidence per PlantNet app
Weed in front corner. Dig it out.

Field Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis) 37% confidence per PlantNet app
Weed in front. Ugly, invasive, and mildly poisonous. How to get rid of it (roots can grow to 10 feet!). Dig it out.

Common Nightshade (Solanum Americanum) 50% confidence per PlantNet app
Weed in window well. This invasive, non-native weed is known by many names such as “Climbing Nightshade”, “Woody Nightshade”, and “Bitter Nightshade”. It is a semi-woody shrub that can also act as a vine that uses other plants and objects to support itself. Use Round-Up.

August Lily (Hosta plantaginea) 90% confidence per PlantNet app
Hosta in window well and under deck. The ones in the window well have variegated leaves. Both versions are August Lily, but different varieties. Best divided and transplanted in Spring or Autumn.

Tatarian Maple (Acer tataricum) 90% confidence per PlantNet app
Trees between houses, and in front yard. There also is one growing in the bed on the east side of the house (very tall, very close to the house, near the window well). For tartarian maple, optimal pruning involves removing dead or diseased wood and thinning out crowded branches to encourage strong, healthy growth. The best time to prune tartarian maple is in late winter or early spring before new growth starts. This timing allows for better wound healing and vigorous spring growth.

Japanese Pachysandra (Spurge) (Pachysandra terminalis) 84% confidence per PlantNet app
Purchased 5 in June 2024 from Earl May in West Des Moines.
All planted to the left of the deck stairs. Sold to us as Japanese Pachysandra (Spurge). More info.

Clematis Rebecca (Clematis ‘Evipo016’). They’re supposed to be resistant to deer and rabbits. These Clematis vines should be pruned in late winter or early spring before new growth starts and after the first flush of flowers in early summer. If it ever blooms, we’ll know which species is correct. (It did bloom twice shortly after being planted, and it had small dark red flowers.) It’s supposed to have very large very bright red flowers. Midnight Clematis has white or purple flowers.

American Burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius) % confidence per PlantNet app
Weed under deck and in the east side garden, and near the air conditioner compressor. Easy to pull out; shallow and fibrous tap root.

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) 71% confidence per PlantNet app
Tree in back yard. Prolific at dropping walnuts onto the deck and yard.

Jackmanii Clematis (Clematis x jackmanii) as purchased, winter 2024
Purple Clematis (Clematis viticella L.) 89% confidence per PlantNet app
“Gladys” on the trellis near the front door
Disappeared in June; presumably deer, rabbit, or squirrel. Unclear whether it will re-grow. Not much left of it (leafless stem, about 1cm tall) as of July 2024.
Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ is a Group 3 clematis, which means it requires regular pruning for repeat flowering because the flowers grow only on the current year’s growth. Prune in late winter, when the buds are starting to emerge.

Rattlesnake Weed (Daucus pusillus) 31% confidence per PlantNet app
Possibly Bishop’s Weed (12%), Queen Anne’s Lace (6%), etc.
Weed found at the Finches house August 6, 2023. Don’t recall exactly where.

Schedule for Care

Late Winter / Early Spring: Prune the Mountain Roses, Clematis Rebecca (southeast corner of deck) and Tatarian Maple trees. Prune the Canadian Yew, Spiraea, and Burning Bush (before the Burning Bush leaves out).

Spring: Split and transplant Daylilies and Hosta. Do the same with Pachysandra if desired, but water thoroughly 24 hours ahead of time.

Early Fall: Split and transplant Daylilies and Hosta.