Why I Oughta...

Last Fall, I bought and planted two (at that time) new (to me) Heucheras:  Dolce Silver Gumdrops.  They were at Lowe's end-of-the-season sale and I said that I was going to plant them in over by the Guacamole Hostas .  Today, there's just one of them.  And, I don't really see *where* I could have planted the other one as there isn't a ton of empty space around.  But that one?  It is showing up well right now - Late Summer/Early Fall with silver foliage and tiny pink blooms about to arrive.  See below for a photo of the current state of this Silver Gumdrop Coral Bells: I've had mixed results with Heucheras over the years.  Some that I've neglected have done great.  Others that I've baby'd have perished.  This one is small, but that's by design.  The listing talks about this Heuchera's size this way : Silver Gumdrop’ is a smaller scale Heuchera, the perfect size for a container. Growers and gardeners alike will be pleased that it is a vigorous gro

Over the weekend, we popped into Lowe's to find that their entire garden center (aside Fall things like mums and kale) has been marked down 50%.  Lowe's isn't super convenient for us, but one of the things that I've noticed over the past couple of seasons is that they do a nice job with their garden center and usually carry things that are not normally sold in the Orange Big Box store nursery.  Last year, I planted a couple of purple Heucheras that I bought at Lowes that were 50% off and they've done well in the garden .  Those Purple Palace Coral Bells/Heucheras have all managed to survive this growing season and have put on growth.  This post shows all three of them and talks about the decline of another variety - Dolce Apple Twist .   My experience with those two - the common Purple Palace doing well and the more exotic Apple Twist not so much - was front and center when I came across a couple of plants at Lowes 50% off sale.   As I was walking down the nursery

Last Summer, I added six Brunnera plants to the garden.  Three on one side, three on the other.  First...I started with a variety called Queen of Hearts.  Those were planted on the northside in a little cluster amongst some various hostas. Here's the post showing their initial planting .   They seemed to do just fine last year and appear to have established themselves.  Below, you can see how they look today - with about a year of growing and putting down roots: All are doing well and if you look closely, you'll see some spent flower stalks emerging from the crown.  Each of these had some nice blue-ish flowers that bloomed on their tips.   If I'm looking at adding more shade-tolerant perennials to the backyard and I come across even more Brunnera on sale, it is a no-brainer to pick them up.  They are simply performing for me.  They also can use a focal plant that sits right in the middle of these three, right?  

The photo you see above shows a trio of Brunnera Queen of Hearts planted in the north side rear bed surrounded by some transplanted hostas in a sort of 'ring' or 'hoop' shape.  How these Brunnera got to my yard is a story about YouTube gardening and the influence of creators like Laura @ Garden Answer.   A few weeks ago, I watched this video where she talked about 15 perennials that every garden should have that included a mention of Brunnera .  So, it was suddenly on my radar.  And, when I found myself at Home Depot on a recent visit where I came across this Queen of Hearts cultivar, I grabbed three of them and knew where I'd plant them - despite them NOT being in our plan.  Here, below, is a look at the tag from the Proven Winners version and what it looked like in the nursery container: As I mentioned above, the plan doesn't CALL for these, but this area is what I called Priority Area #2 from this year - the woodland area.  These are now to the east of the n