Over the Blue Moon

I awoke on Sunday and felt a chill in the breeze through my window. I think, oh good, I can plant things & they will not be shocked by hot weather! But there is breakfast to make...and Jon is suggesting we go out which is tempting me seriously. I know I am sacrificing my cool weather window, but, I cave. He also has a list of errands we could run after breakfast...I narrow them down to the 2 fun ones in my opinion: a trip to Tita's for plant delights, and a trip to McLendon's to find two Arborvitae globes. We drove an hour and stopped by Tita's late in the morning to find her not at home. We visited McLendon's, Lowe's, got lost looking for Alpine Nursery, drove 30 minutes to Squawk Mountain to find it closed, and somewhere else I'm quite sure...in search of 2 dwarf globe 'Danica' arborvitaes to match the one my mom bought me for my birthday. Mom & I bought one of three at Mclendons, and decided after planting it, that it needed it's 2 sisters to create a nice repetition down the path, giving your eye something to bounce on...Repetition gives a calm visual rest from an otherwise tangly landscape. Upon returning to the nursery with Jon, it's sisters were missing and after all the running around this weekend, I have given up on finding them. Jon doesn't seem to tire of running errands, but I have a low tolerance for such escapades. Must come from too many road trips and desert concerts in my twenties. Took me a decade to realize these travels are extremely unfulfilling for me, tiring, and usually downright irritating.

Regardless of my reluctence, on Sunday afternoon Jon talked me into going back to Tita's. If I was in my right mind, I would jump at the chance, but with all the errands we ran all day and nothing to show for it...I wasn't feeling optimistic. So, he lovingly pushed, and I relented after he threw in a trip to dairy queen for a treat. By the time we got to Tita's, I was in tears...(surely my visitor is on it's way?) I was just sure I wouldn't find anything I liked. And, I would have this sweet woman wondering what is wrong with me? But I sucked it up.

I discovered Blue Moon hostas nestled deep under some shrubs in Tita's garden. Luckily they were for sale & I took two nice size plants. Jon liked some greener varieties, and tried to persuade me to take some variegated ones. They didn't look quite as round, plump and healthy as the blue moon. I did concede to take a nice green one though. He insisted they were all green, that the one I called blue was just a dark green. Okay...! When I planted the green one the next day in my shade garden, I realized it was quite a bit taller than the blue moons, and it had a tag that read "guacamole". I looked it up & it
promises to be a big plant. Now I am very excited I got that one. My heart still belongs to the blue moons though...they are a nice chalky blue with big rounded leaves.

I also bought another Brazilian Verbena, four small lavenders, a Russian Sage (another I've been craving!), two Ajugas (I grew up with these & love them), the hostas, a variegated white sedum and the real star...a lace cap Hydrangea. A real beauty! This will be a first in my garden...I'm excited to experiment with color/soil variations. So, it ended up being a very good day with a lot of nice new plants. I have many of them already in the ground...hope they will do okay in todays hot sun.

Trying my Mom's genes

I have this blank slate. And I have my landscape plan...my planting plan, my paths, beds, out buildings...many copies and revisions too. I have the plantings planned according to many factors, soil needs, sun aspect, water, trying to find a balance and harmony in regards to final plant height & size, foliage combinations, bloom color combinations, beneficial insect/repelent combinings (like allium in the rose bed discourages suckers like aphids.), plus who could deny the beauty of the purple pom pon floating over the deep red roses! I'm also trying to be good & pay close attention to the seasons changes, having some winter interest in each area for example. This all takes extreme patience... Rock placement, calculating plant locale based on viewing the beds from the house windows...leaving some prominent spaces empty for something spectacular that I will probably bring home in the near future...

I have a successful planting started I'm calling the rock garden. My mom directed & guided me in designing and planting this one last week. My gracious mom is seriously talented and she is on my team thank god. She has always had a knack for placement...staging accessories, setting a dinner centerpiece, arranging flowers. I study & copy, study & copy. Then, when feeling less patient, I act impulsively and am somewhat disenchanted with the results. Certainly, in comparison to the bed she helped me create. So as I continue to plant in her absence, I keep looking over at that stellar rock garden bed...remembering to be patient. Wondering if I should call her. Half hoping, when she visits next, that she won't judge my other beds too harshly lest I have to replant & labor too much, then again, I need her to help me make it gorgeous to look at...and so I keep trying.

Meeting Tita

Tita...an especially lovely little lady who propagates perennials & sells them to you right out of her garden. Quite cheaply & very lovely specimens. We discovered this gem one day when we were snaking through a neighborhood trying to find our way home (somewhat but not actually lost)...avoiding the highway, finding a new way, etc. When we came upon a "plant sale" sign on a side street and followed it a block to find a house absolutely hidden by blooms, planters all the way out to the side walk...Rose bushes, Dahlias and Brugmansia's shouted to me until I walked closer & saw pots overflowing with succulents, baby's breath, hibiscus and plants I've never seen before. This was just the carport. She pointed through a gate and invited us to walk into the rose garden & look around. We stepped onto the narrow path & started admiring. At the end of the yard a sign invited us around the corner: "more plants --->" A shade garden! About 6 feet wide-packed with all sorts of experiments...recovering cuttings, and the most beautiful lace cap hydrangea's I've seen so close. Fuscias, begonias, mopheads, hostas. Another "more plants--->" sign takes us through a few more slim yet overflowing garden areas...past a deck labled "nursery, please do not enter", down to a sunny garden spot next to a Eucalyptus tree. Here I found some healthy apple green sedums in daisy rosettes over flowing their 4" pots, $1 each. These being the first couple of items I picked up to purchase. Jon happily carried these for me, he is always proud & satisfied to see me spend money on something that is (how can I say this... isn't a necessity?) Oh let's face it, it brings me happiness & joy. And he values that more than the dollar.

On the first trip, I bought Verbena Bonariensis (something I've craved since discovering it over 5 years ago!) 5 feet tall stiff & thin stems dotten with tight knit purple flowers-looks like the purple blooms are floating on air when your just a few steps back. This excites me. It reseeds too which is a welcome delight for this charming one. The apple green sedums and another bronze that has partially dried up...not sure how to make it happy-I've concluded it wants less sun, some cool protected conditions...must remember to plant that one in the East garden next to a big bully of a rock for protection.

Ever since that first accidental buying trip to Tita, I have been looking forward to the next visit....I had to wait until I had ground for the plants...it's not nice to buy & then move them...and the move was uncertain and I didn't want to run the risk of having
to put my plants into a sunless storage bin. I have waited so patiently...since August 2nd...until now! We are in, I have ground...lot's of it. All I need is patience.

my gardens have begun!

Months of planning and patience are giving way to planting! After studying the backyard at different times of day for a week or so, I realized there is some nice shade after all, from some neighboring trees that line our fence. So I have a few areas to plant the shade lovers. Bleeding hearts, ferns, calla lilys, small japanese maples, and a cape blanco sedum that seems to create beautiful colors (chalky white over lavender & green) in the shade. I have one of the maples in the shade bed now...not sure of it's placement since it's size is somewhat wimpy...no offense, you lovely little red maple. I think it will grow tall...but no doubt very slowly...well, it is in the ground at least.

Yesterday I had to argue with a brown spider about who owned the terracotta pots. Neatly stacked by the fence in the shade, I had them earmarked for mint corralling. She had already moved in & set up shop when I came to call on them yesterday. I understood her position, myself being the proud occupant of a new home that has not yet closed. In the end, after spiderish tantrums of running around her room like a mad person that I had to stand back & respect (out of fear), I won...I was bigger, I guess. She has promised to trap & devour the bad bugs & I have promised not to murder her. peace.

I planted spearmint in the terracotta pots and nestled them into the herb garden soil. Instead of dreaming of mint juleps, I'm already worrying they will jump over the pot's edge & take over the entire garden including Jon's lovely lawn. In fact, I think I remember seeing a runner already jumping...In retrospect I don't know if this is my imagination...could a mint be that quick? It's been planted there only 2 days. I think, I better raise them out of the dirt at least half way...to force them to make a dramatic jump over the edge that I will not mistake, and be able to nip in the bud before they touch down. The garden at my last house was over run with mint, lemon balm and oregano...the lemon balm was the worst to contend with-I've developed a hate for it's smell, so weeding was a real chore. I have the best intentions to keep the mentha family runners out of my soil in my new garden...here's to trying. Do you think they might even find the tiny drainage hole at the bottom of the pot & sneak into the bed that way? I must get them or my mind under control, I think.