More Plants?

You guys are going to get sick of me continually blogging about the plants I haven’t killed yet.

You might recall that I got several plants from the resident Plant Guru at work last year. This year, she included her plants in the White Elephant Sale to benefit the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life, rather than just giving them away. Everyone who placed a “bid” on her plants was guaranteed at least one plant, since she brought in about 30. It ended up that I donated $7.50 (not including what I gave for the dress-down day and the potluck) and got six plants. Not a bad deal.

Thankfully, Melissa labels her plants, and labels them well, so I knew what I was getting myself into before I selected which plants I wanted to take home. I tried to get plants that would tolerate partial shade, but I *had* to get the lamb’s ear.

Yes, lamb’s ear. It’s pale green and fuzzy.

Today’s haul consisted of:

  • (2) Lamb’s EarStachys byzantia
    6-12″ tall, full sun to part shade, perennial, fuzzy pale green leaves with purple flowers
  • (2) Veronica “Georgia Blue”Veronica umbrosa
    6″ tall, full sun to part shade, perennial, creeping ground cover with small blue flowers
  • (1) Purple ConeflowerEchinacea purpurea (?)
    2-3′ tall, full sun, perennial, magenta flowers
  • (1) Black-Eyed Susan “Goldsturm”Rudbeckia fulgida
    1-2′ tall, full sun to part shade, perennial, yellow-gold petals and brown/black centers

As always, getting plants from other people as opposed to making a planned purchase makes my garden planning a little more interesting. I don’t have much full-sun space, and what I do have is in the front yard (where everyone can witness my neglect).

I hesitate to plant anything of value to me by the mailbox, as I don’t have much faith in the permanence of our inexpensive cheap mailbox post. I’d hate to have to try to move established plants so we can install a new post someday in the future.

I also hesitate to plant anything along the driveway, as our driveway isn’t terribly wide, and I end up walking on the grass when I get in the car (on the passenger’s side, anyway), especially in the wintertime. There are also moles galore (OK, maybe it’s only one, but he’s a busy one) on the other side of the driveway, so I don’t think I’d be keen on planting anything there, really. Although it probably means that we have good soil there, and grubs, and nummy things for moles to feast upon.

My sunny choices are on either side of the sidewalk leading from the driveway to the front door. Either I bite into our front lawn proper (where the best sun is), or I take the foot or so in front of the bushes (which wouldn’t exactly be full sun, since our house faces north; the plants would sometimes be in the shade of the bushes).

The plants I picked seem to have good reviews on Dave’s Garden, though: the lamb’s ear is hardy and potentially invasive, the purple coneflower grows tall and doesn’t need staking, the veronica is evergreen, and the black-eyed susans are also evergreen and seem to be fairly low-maintenance.

I need to sit down and make a battle plan. The time is coming soon when I’ll need to put all these plants in the ground, and I’ll need to have an idea of what this little arrangement should look like when I’m done. I’m not averse to filling in any empty spots with some annuals (impatiens was my friend a couple years ago), but I don’t want my flower bed to look stupid. Y’know?

We’ll see how this goes…

One thought on “More Plants?

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  1. Kris Plants Grass Everywhere · 28 April 2006 at 11:22 pm ·

    I think that you have a nice area there in the front yard that you could ceate a planter in. You’d have to dig up some grass to do it(which isn’t fun) but it beats digging out shrubs!
    There’s also that area in front of the sidewalk going up to the house, but it might be too shady.
    If you ever need a new mailbox post, just call. I can show you how to beat the mailman!