Why I Oughta...

Just a month ago, the Lemony Lace Elderberry Shrub in our backyard was showing-off some neat-looking purple buds that were about to burst open with a mix of foliage and berries on the stems of this shade-tolerant shrub.  Fast forward to today - 30-or-so-days-later and the foliage of light green (lemon-lime color) and light purple is showing on the shrub that is tucked in against our fence.  See below: This Japanese-Maple-look-alike is something that I've grown to really appreciate and I'm planning on tucking in some groundcover in/around the base this year.  

For the past few years, I've been a 'stick to the plan' gardener.  That plan was a layout/design, but it was also a plan in terms of sticking to plants that I know and understand how they'd perform.  It also was VERY limited on flowers.  I've talked about foliage gardening and thanks to our deep shade yard, I've mostly had foliage plants over the years. But, this #FallPlanting season, I felt a little moved to step out of my comfort zone and decided to buy a couple of things at the various end-of-season sales including a number of new (to me) flowering perennials.  The first one that I put in my cart was 'Midnight Masquerade' Penstemom or Beardtongue.  That's the 1# container at the top of this post.   It is a Proven Winner and here's what Walters Garden has to say : This Penstemon will help fill the gap in your lineup for a taller, attractive foliage option. 'Midnight Masquerade' produces a sturdy clump of deep burgundy purple leaves. The...