OK, I admit it. I’m a real sucker for sad plants that need homes. Last week I went grocery shopping and the garden center next door had perennials for a buck. Well!
Most of the plants were varieties I have already or am not looking to add, for example ajuga (aka bugle weed). There were a few plants that I had considered buying earlier this year but put off until 2014, perennial Salvia in a couple colors plus a few others that I couldn’t leave behind.
Bargain Perennials Ready to Plant August 29, 2013
Reading top to bottom, left to right, we have Salvia, a plant I thought was a delphinium but is a perennial geranium, a mystery plant, lavender, Lambs Ears, more Salvia in a luscious shade of vivid dark blue, Thrift (aka Armeria), and Sedum. You can see the plants are healthy and the Sedum and lavender are the only leggy ones. Usually by this time of year the plants left over from spring are leggy and looking sad. This garden center has quality plants and takes good care of them.
I love lavender for its smell. The plant can be attractive but its looks aren’t on the same level as its scent. I put this in the oval right near the front door to enjoy the wonderful smell. If plants could talk this one would say “Plant Me Please!”
Lavender Before Planting
That leaves seven plants that need to get in the ground. Here are my planting supplies, all ready to go. I learned my lesson from my peonies (read about Bunny Wars here ) and put the rabbit repellent in with each plant.
All Set to Plant! Close Up
The tall bag is plant fertilizer. It’s too late in the fall to fertilize heavily, but I wanted the plants to have sustenance. I put a little fertilizer in each planting hole under a layer of dirt so it would not directly touch the roots. The yellow bucket is Preen weed suppressant and the little white bottle is the Rabbit Repellant
stuff.
My garden before these new plants had peonies (at least the ones the rabbits did not eat), a few phlox, iris, daylilies and a few mums. I moved Rudbeckia plants from our old house but could not find them last fall nor this spring. I want to put in Rudbeckia (brown eyed Susans), Penstemon, lilies, asters and helenium, plus more phlox and daylilies. Oh, plus about a gazillion more plants. (Did I mention I like flowers??)
That makes for a bit of a challenge. There are several empty spaces, but exactly where to put flowers in between peonies and more peonies made it interesting. I wanted to balance the heavy spring flowering plus add contrasting foliage. Peonies have wonderful foliage and shapes so a plant with different foliage will stand out.
What I did was put each plant where I thought it would look good, then step back and evaluate. Here is the first attempt for placing the Sedum.
Sedum – Will This Be a Good Spot
As it turned out, I found a peony root when I dug the first hole and ended up moving the Sedum about a foot.
Sedum Planted, De-Bunnyfied and With Preen Down
Let’s talk a minute about Sedum. Our old home had a small strip of bone dry dirt right by the house with a few Sedum plants. They always looked like they ought to get pretty, but somehow they never did. Every year the plants would get big flower heads that turned pink – and stayed a boring, dusty gray pink. Every year I would see Sedum in flower catalogs with big beautiful red or copper or vivid pink flowers. Ha! Ours were wimpy.
This Sedum was marked with a picture of rich coppery pink flowers. Well! I could not resist that. Now, if these instead open to yet another dusty grayed out pink, well, then I could definitely resist! (Dave was pretty surprised I got another Sedum. Just call me optimistic.)
Sedum Buds Close Up
I planted Lambs Ears for the foliage. The flowers are nondescript but the leaves are soft, light green and low to the ground. They are a great contrast to the iris, daylilies and peonies. This is a plant no one can resist touching.
Lambs Ears Please Plant Me!
Here’s a good spot. It’s tucked in the front of the garden near the grassy looking daylilies and in front of the iris.
Lambs Ears – Here’s a Good Spot!
Here it is in the garden. What do you think?
Lamb’s Ears Planted, Ready to Grow
Here’s a better view to see in context with the surrounding plants. I like it!
Lamb’s Ears Planted
We had Armeria or Thrift in our first house way back. It’s a pretty plant although not one you can use as a foundation plant. It’s small and airy, making a pretty filler.
Armeria Thrift Before Planting
The plant is only about 6 inches across now, probably will get to about 10 inches across, with leafless stems about 14 inches in the air. The flowers are clusters of small pink flowers, pretty as they dance in the breeze.
Thrift – Planted and Ready to Grow
Here you can see it. The Armeria is in front of the Sedum, right next to yet another chewed up peonies.
Sedum, Thrift and a Chewed Up Peony
After I put all the planting stuff away I watered each section heavily, at least two hours with a sprinkler. It hasn’t rained since planting these a week ago, but they all look healthy and thriving. I think they were glad to get a new home.
That’s four plants! I’ll show you the other four in the next post.
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