What constitutes a planting frenzy? In my case, it means more than 6 hours in the garden in one day with scarcely a break, preceded by one or more expensive trips to nurseries or garden centers, and followed by exhaustion and painful joints. It also means doggedly facing unplanned planting obstacles, which in my garden usually means digging out pockets of rock, apparently left over from the 1940s when this property was part of a large quarry. Sometimes I think I should give up gardening altogether and just go into the rock quarry business.
The planting exercises I described earlier (in
Frenzy-Part I) and now here were preceded by trips to 2 nurseries the weekend before last, another one this past Saturday, and a mid-week mail order delivery. The buying is the easy part - reckoning with one's spouse about one's seemingly out-of-control spending habits can be another matter. Arguments about the importance of fall planting and the value of planting prior to a forecast of rain don't seem to carry as much weight as they should. I fully expect to receive one of my husband's infamous pie charts showing how much I've spent on plants this year any time now.
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| Annie's mail order delivery |
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| My plant purchases from Saturday's trip to Rogers (minus the 2 Phormium and a few other things) |
Many of the plants shown above went to fill vacancies in the backyard border created when I tore out a mass of lavender. I'd also torn out an overgrown patch of common lamb's ear (
Stachys byzantina) but, in that case, I'd like to note that no purchases were actually required to fill the area. I managed this with divisions from
Stachys byzantina 'Helen Von Stein' growing elsewhere in my garden and yarrow (
Achillea 'Moonshine') relocated from an adjacent area. (I can only hope the lamb's ear transplants take - they were looking a little bedraggled when I finished.)
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| Lamb's ear transplants up front with relocated Achillea 'Moonshine' in the upper left |
Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green,' purchased by mail order from Annie's, and
Digitalis x mertonensis "Polka Dot Pippa,' obtained from Roger's Gardens, filled in the larger mid-border gap, along with some
Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid' moved from another area of the border. A
Salvia mexicana 'Limelight' from Annie's was tucked into the back area (in front of the
Agapanthus in parallel to the mint bush) just to try it out.
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| The mint bush is no longer obscured but I hope my new additions gain size quickly so the area doesn't look so bare |
Phygelius x rectus 'Salmon's Leap' replaced a
Chorizema 'Bush Flame' on the right side of the border; however, now think I could use 1 or 2 more to fill in holes created by moving the
Euphorbia.
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| Phygelius 'Salmon Leap' complements the Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' on either side much better than the poorly performing Chorizema |
For the most part, I stuck to my list in making my recent plant selections, at least as long as the
Phygelius counts as the "orange flowering perennial" on my list. However, spouses must forgive the occasional deviation to pick up plants you don't know you need until you see them. Such was the case with
Uncinia uncinata 'Rubra,' a low-growing grass-like plant grown by Annie's but purchased through Roger's Gardens. Look at the pictures below. You understand, don't you?
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| 3 Uncinata placed near the front of the border, where they should get the moisture they need |
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| Sure, it's small, but look how the sun already lights up the foliage |
I still have vacancies to fill in both the backyard and side yard borders. I need more
Phygelius and perhaps more
Euphorbia for the back border, as well as additional succulents and some low-growing grass for the side yard. Oh, and I think I've found a good space for that
Grevillea 'Superb' I've been coveting. Luckily, my friend and I have rescheduled our nursery trip to Carpinteria for early November...
