The reflection of the snow has been giving me a brutal headache these past few days so to remedy that I decided I will now stare at a computer screen uninterrupted for the foreseeable future.
The goal is to finalize my online purchases at Bluestone Perennials and use the gift certificate that has been staring at me since Christmas.
So let’s work through this live and see where we end up. As I write this post I am listening to Radiohead and slowly drifting off into a world of birds chirping, bees buzzing, callouses forming and me placing winter on a cruise ship and waving goodbye to it and all of the other passengers as they head out to sea.
Bon Voyage you f’er.
If you aren’t a Radiohead hater, play this as you move through this post. You can thank me later.
Before narrowing down my search on bluestoneperennials.com to find plants that suit my conditions, I need to take a look at some shrubs and dream of a non-deer world.
Viburnum ‘Red Wing’
Sucked in by the foliage color, realize that it is fleeting since only on new growth each spring, have too many other young Viburnums already that I’m hiding from the deer. Pass.
Cornus ‘Golden Shadows’
Love the leaf shape and color, I’ve killed a few Cornus in my lifetime, only option may be in a container where I can control the drainage and protect from the deer, seems to need shade which I don’t really have. Pass.
Sambucus ‘Lemony Lace’
I love the foliage of this shrub, appears to like a moist soil, claims to be deer resistant (hmm …). I can envision a container this would look great in, good discussion piece, peeps will want to touch its leaves. Sold.
Clethra ‘Vanilla Spice’
You had me at Clethra … these have ALWAYS thrived for me so let’s try another one. Sold.
Clethra ‘Sugartina Crystalina’
Name sounds like a My Little Pony or an exotic dancer but again, me likey Clethra. Sold.
Spirea ‘Blue Kazoo’
I’ve been slowly phasing out Spireas over the years, but this has that blue foliage I am a sucker for, they are almost always care free. I want to say “no” but can’t move on. Fine, let’s give it a whirl. Sold.
Daylily ‘Christmas Carol’
How did this squeeze in there? I’ve bitched and moaned about the daylily for years now. No can do. Pass.
So now let’s narrow our search to wet site, deer resistant and mostly sunny since that is what I am targeting.
Damn I love this feature.
Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’
All signs point to this being a must considering my soil conditions but I have failed with these for too long to try again. Pass.
Monarda ‘Claire Grace’
Similar to Clethra, if you say Monarda I say “yes please”. I do however have a ton of these I can just divide. But I’m digging what appears to be dark stems. Cannot resist. Sold.
Ligularia ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’
I failed once with this one as it didn’t appear to like all the sun it received. But damn it is sweet. Although it is not deer resistant and I have nowhere to hide it from the wandering herd. Playing it smart here. Pass.
You know what? I’m good. I’m going to finally show some restraint and end it here. I’m pretty sure these purchases will be covered by my gift card and wasn’t I the one who talked about spending little dinero this year and taking advantage of divisions?
So there you have it. Time to check out and move on to other things. Oh wait, we are covered in snow and ice and it is 15 degrees outside. Never mind, I’ll just continue to navigate the information superhighway.
Don’t you love the Internet? It makes summer dreaming so much easier. My garden buddy has ‘Britt-Marie ‘ and it’s huge and luscious but it does wilt in the sun. I have ‘Othello’. At least I did last year. We’ll see if it makes a return. Slugs you know. … Spring isn’t too far off now. Hang in there.
Grace – it is all about the dreaming isn’t it? I love Britt-Marie and so tempted to give it another try. Thanks for stopping by.
I have similar conditions to yours, except with some areas of shade (and, right now, a lot more snow, like 4+ feet), and thankfully no deer. You are right about the ligularia, it does well with afternoon shade. I also killed one that was in a very soggy spot – they like moisture but definitely need some drainage. Beautiful plant though, if you can meet its requirements.
I’ve had no luck with anemones either. Pass too.
Clethra grows wild here in SE Mass. by the millions so I just go dig it up.
That Lemony Lace has caught my eye too. I’m thinking I’ll try it in a new bed this year. Will be interested to hear how yours does.
Why are you phasing out your spireas?
Kate – glad to hear I’m not the only one failing with anemones. Give ‘Lemony Lace’ a shot and we’ll compare notes. I honestly just got sick of spireas so allowed them to die off on their own. Thanks for stopping by!
So funny about all the daylily hate…I still can’t resist their siren call and end up buying new varieties every year. Here’s an entertaining rant that I saved from a reading a while back. It might amuse you. It did me even though I blushed with the guilt of being a daylily glutton.
http://www.renegadegardener.com/index.htm?content/108damndaylilies.htm~mainFrame
I, too, wonder what your beef is with spireas? I love ‘Magic Carpet’ and a little dwarf called ‘Lemon Princess’.
I need to get on the clethra and monarda train…I’ve been missing out.
Michaele – I love that post! I think those are my sentiments exactly. Not that others can’t still enjoy them … ha!
I think I have just grown tired of the usual spireas. Maybe I just had too many but I’m hoping i’ll be invigorated with this new one and the blue foliage.
That viburnum is pretty darn tempting. So is the spirea. I, too, like the ones w/blue leaves.
Jo Ellen – I can’t get that Viburnum out of my head still. Don’t know how long I can hold off.