Why I Oughta...

Last month, I went to the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant sale and was (surprisingly) restrained in what I brought home.  I'll get to posts about each of the perennials (and one vine) as they go in the garden, but I also wanted to share a few things that caught my eye at the sale.  As usual, there's far more at the sale than one could ever imagine planting in their garden.  Due to the conditions in our garden, I was more focused on trees/shrubs and (mostly) shade or part-shade perennials.   Here are a few things that caught my eye at this year's sale.   They had Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress trees for just $33.  This is an upright version of the Bald Cypress.  At $33, you might imagine they're pretty small.  But, a super unique tree. A tree that has been on my 'wish list' for a while noe:  Chamaecyparis Soft Serve - This is the 'Gold' cultivar - which makes it even more unique.  At $25, this is another rare evergreen tree....

I've mentioned over the years that plantsman and gardener Roy Diblik up in Wisconsin has turned me on to a variety of plants - but mostly sedges.  ( Insert Voiceover from Sam Eagle:  "A salute to all plants, but mostly Carex." ) Via ImgFlip - Sam Eagle Muppets - A Salute To All Nations Meme The photo at the top of this post is a trio of Carex Albicans that are planted on the border of our firepit area that is mostly full shade and pretty dry.  They are performing REALLY well in this spot and one of them (the one on the left) is the largest of the three. Looking back at the post when I planted these in August of 2022, they were just 'plugs' and small at the time .   They were purchased at Roy Diblik's nursery:  Northwind Perennial Farm where they had this sign describing Carex Albicans: You'll note that I described the site for these (by the firepit) as mostly full shade and dry.  What's the sign say?  "An excellent selection for dry, shaded sites...

Earlier this week, I p osted some photos of our four (current) Hellebores in the backyard and talked about how our plan called for even more in the borders in a few areas .  As I wrapped up that post, I mentioned that there were (now) a few perennials on my 'plant wish list' and that I should do a proper post showing the mix of trees, shrubs and perennials that I have on this standing 'want' or 'wish' list.  That's what I'm doing here:  taking that first list and add shrubs.  As part of my 2023 garden planting, here's my current (as of early December) standing plant wish/want list below: Perennials, groundcover and grasses: ( previously posted - but I added a few more here)  1. Hellebores . Up to 16 more. 2. Even more Autumn Ferns and Ghost Ferns . Probably want to replace (gasp!) my Ostrich Ferns. 3. More Hakone Grasses - Japanese Forest Grasses . 4. Pulmonaria ground cover . 5. Pineapple Lily bulbs . 6. A couple of Disneyland Roses for IB2D...