That Time of Year!

 

In case you've been wondering where I've been (besides recovering from our unfortunate highway incident!) take a look at the following pictures; they explain a lot! And ol' Trusty the Accord may not be the biggest car in the world, but boy can I pack the plants into him! (*1)

That's just yesterday's haul above. Our good friend Bob the plant guru called and asked if I'd like to go shopping with him. YES! was my resounding answer. Off we went... visiting a total of six nurseries and garden centers, spread out over quite a state-wide are. This was doubly an interesting day because it was the first time since last fall that I'd even seen one of our friends in person, due to COVID. Now that we're all vaccinated, in-person visitation is possible... without masks! Up close! Yay!!! (*2)

Bob and I are such plant geeks that we play "stump the stars" and often confuse even the employees at nurseries with inquires about what that one unlabelled plant is. Yesterday was no exception. The owner of the first nursery we stopped at noticed us perusing his "unusual" plant corner. "I'll give you this plant for free", he crowed, "...if you can identify it!" Of course we did, as it proved to be a Mukdenia (a member of the saxifrage family). I got the freebie as Bob already had a Mukdenia in his collection.

Bob's car was so stuffed full of greenery by the fourth stop that we went by my car, parked in a commuter lot and off-loaded the first haul. Then on to more nurseries!!

Look at this giant agave! It's big and blue and spiky! Love those exotics!

And a charming assortment of individuals for our containers! there's Bacopa and Angelonia and Calibrachoa and Spilanthes! I get goose bumps thinking of all my new friends! Interestingly, there seems to be a pink component to my selections this year; my palette does shift a bit seasonally.

I also have these plants from my first solo trip out last week- a couple of great Coleus and even a tri-colored Plectranthus! 

And how could I forget to mention the seeds I started myself?

                                    

Yes, Nasturtiums and Zinnia... See? I have been busy and this isn't even counting the plants tat Bob gave to me or that my friend Elanah sent! So many plants, so little time!

(*1) And yes, Beatrice and John. I carefully cover Trusty's seats in plastic before attempting to stuff him full of horticultural delights.

(*2) But it was weird, too! I haven't been in any other person's car in so long... except for that ride in the police car!

Ketchup

No, despite the title, this is not a posting about tomato based condiments. I meant the title as a catchy alternative to... catching up. Very funny, right? A busy time of year, hence my sloppy blogging habits.
I have been preoccupied with gardening and trying to balance the intense purchasing/planting/starting seeds. As I have previously reported, I initiated a couple of new beds (one for shrubs and one for asters) and also developed a fixation with different types and colors of lilacs. And to boot, I have rekindled a neglected interest in starting seeds of plants not readily available in nurseries (or way to expensive to buy the quantity I long for...)There's always something new in the horticultural world if you're a plant geek!
And studio time... I have two new major pieces going which I will post soon. One has a labor-intensive edge that I had to fabricate and took what seemed like forever but it looks great. The other piece is elaborate and simply requiring amazing amounts of sewing, through thick, shiny white vinyl. And in the midst of trying to get a grasp on studio time, I had to run into New Haven to pick up four pieces from a show that is closing. (I got a good mention in a newspaper review. Yay!)
And then, of course, there was Bob's birthday (which date he shares with the Buddha.) Bob made out like a bandit, getting all kinds of novel and nifty things including new striped shirts, a nesting set of French serving dishes and a smart phone. The phone is proving smarter than us, so it may take a while to unlock all of it's apps and marvels; that's where the plastic pretend phone pictured above comes in handy...

And then we have had to eat. Have you ever been blocked as to what to have for dinner? It's as if you've eaten everything at least five times and there's nothing left to try. And then the food that still exists untried is inedible because it contains hideous amounts of salt, high fructose corn syrup, GMO ingredients or is full of stuff that unpronounceable. (Never a good sign!) But leave it to Bob to explore the enlightened world of creative plate coverage. Just look at what could have been a banal beige meal! He rendered it lovely and delicious... fish sticks with onion rings and braised Brussel sprouts.
I am also on the verge on constructing that mosaic wall I've been threatening to build (I guess I am not the only one with a wall obsession). I think I have a sufficient quantity of busted and shattered dishes plates and platters to commence. I don't want to begin it and change my mind about decoration or pattern; it wouldn't be the easiest thing to amend! The wall will have to wait- much like the terrace project- until the frenzy of Spring has abated.

So I'm Nuts

I am providing another picture of the silvery-toned front border because I spent the last two days digging, dividing, moving and installing another border. See? I told you I was nuts! I guess I'm of the mind that you can't have too many gardens...

And I always wanted an aster border. I love asters: they've got to be one of my all time top ten flowers (The other big one on my list is Delphinium. Also tulips. And I do like lilacs! The list goes on.) Last fall, if anyone can remember that far back, in a saner, safer world before The Orange Menace ascended to the throne... oops! I thought I'd avoid politics but I guess that nigh -on impossible. Where was I... Ah yes. Last fall I conceived of the idea of a border devoted almost entirely to asters. I searched high and low and found a few nice selections but a few interesting varieties eluded me. It seems few garden centers offer a wide range of asters and there many to be had. I sense that by fall, many gardeners are on to Chrysanthemums and cabbages and don't think about planting asters. And I know by a couple that bought, they don't always enjoy living in perennial pots all summer. I got two Aster Novi-belgii "Marie Ballard" that looked so awful that the woman at the nursery sold me them for half price. But they came up brilliantly this spring! (As an aside, the nomenclature has chnaged. Confusingly, what had previously been called Aster Novi-angliae and Aster Novi-belgii are now known as Symphyotrichum Novi-angliae and Symphyotrichum Novi-belgii. The horticultural powers that be seem to get antsy and rename things every once in a while. Whatever!)

This spring I resorted to ordering "Bressingham White", "September Ruby" and "Crimson Brocade". The first two arrived looking just swell; they were so well packaged and nice strapping plants; hats off to that supplier. The "Crimson Brocade", reputedly the reddest of the fall blooming asters came looking awfully sad: bare root and wimpy. I sure hope they revive.

Anyway, I dug and ripped roots out and yanked Virginia Creeper vines and broke sod. We should have a pretty spectacular aster border this late summer/early fall. I crammed a mess of asters in there including "Harrington's Pink" (which I've had for ages),  Aromatic Aster "October Skies", Calico asters, Aster Laevis and a few asters that produced their own cross-breeds in our garden. 

But here's a nice tulip photo that Bob took to provide color as those asters aren't going to bloom until autumn. They're being protected  from Robin's marauding hooves by one of Bob's peony rings:

Welcome to New Members!

 

A hearty welcome to new members of the plant kingdom who will now reside in our garden! Yes, it's the time of year that has me drooling and slobbering over all the pretty leafy, scaly, flowering and otherwise exciting plant offerings to be had at nurseries, garden centers and giant box stores. As Bob carefully punned yesterday, "Whore-to-culture". That's me! Just call me a plant slut!
So above, we have a Salix Helvetica (sounds like a typeface to me). That's a lousy picture because you can't see how truly silvery and delightful the foliage is (but it's been rainy and overcast for days so I'm surprise anything is showing up.) It's a "demure selection" (their words, not mine) topping out ultimately at about three feet high and wide.
Next on our list is a shrub that I could not for the life of me figure whether it was lovely and interesting or just an awful color:

Well, I bought one so I guess I came down on the side of interesting and it will provide a jolt of color to a kind of monotonous area. (But it is a bit garish). It's Thuja plicata "Forever Goldy" and was a real deal at Home Depot.
Probably somehow related is the next beast to follow me home:

Yes, I do love a good Dr. Suess tree! This is a Cupressocyparus leylandii "David's Blue" (which I'm pretty sure is synonymous with "Naylor's Blue"). Look at the contrapposto on that baby! Going one way and another a swaying to it's own internal rhythm! He's going to live next door to the Blue Garden, acting as an important punctuation mark across the mosaic walkway from the Blue Atlas Cedar. The Blue Garden is getting quite blue! But it needs weeding...
And to top off our tour, here's my favorite garden twizzle:

Robin the Good's tail! Developing a modest fringe and the end of her tail still sports that dynamic and endearing twizzle. Fits right in with the rest of the garden denizens, all adorned with volutes, curlicues and arabesques!