Why I Oughta...

Last year, we planted a pair of heart-leaf brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla) from Roy Diblik's Northwind Perennial Farm up in Wisconsin and planted them in the understory garden of our backyard.  This is the little section that my middle child has been planting with various low and mid-height perennials.   These managed to avoid the rabbits last Fall and then went dormant.  They've sprung up this year - a bit behind the other cultivars like Jack of Diamonds  and Queen of Hearts - and have their small flowers putting on a little Spring show.   Here, below, are both of them showing up for their first Spring: This one below is interplanted with tulips:

We have a couple of clusters of Brunnera in our garden - a trio of Jack of Diamonds on the southside .  And a trio of Queen of Hearts on the northside .  Both of those sets have done well and are quite striking in their silver-tinged foliage.  They work well in shady spots and have seemingly established themselves over the past growing season (plus).  Last week, I showed a photo of one of the new perennials that the Bird bought up at Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin (White Wanda Speedwell - maybe White Wands Speedwell... ) and mentioned that she bought a few other things.   This post is about a pair of Brunnera Macrophylla - Hearth-leaved Brunnera - that she bought and planted in her little garden in the backyard.   Below is the sign from Roy Diblik's nursery in Wisconsin: And, here (below) shows the location of the pair of these Brunneras in her garden.  They're planted in front of the Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum (you can see one of them at the top of the photo.  Al

Mid-July is when the big box stores start to put some of their perennials on 50% off sales.  They have their trees and shrubs that have been picked over out on pallets with big 50% off signs, but they also begin to put some of the perennials inside the garden center, including shade plants on discounts, too.  On one of my trips to one of the Home Depots near us, I found some of these Jack of Diamonds' Brunnera in 1# nursery pots from Proven Winners that were marked down 66% - making them three for the price of one.   These are the second set of Brunnera that we now have in the yard with the first ones (a trio of three) were these Queen of Hearts ones that I planted in June of this year in the shade of our backyard .  These are new to me this year, but were on the list that Laura from Garden Answer published of her favorite shade perennials.   The Queen of Hearts Brunnera are planted in a border mixed with some hostas and they've done well this first year.  The leaves are getti