In the Garden

First a new picture of fish. Two-tone is getting more colorful everyday and is almost as large as his pond mates. I never dreamed I would become so emotionally involved with my fish.

Dave has decided that we need an interim truck while La Bamba is waiting for a new back end something or other. Whatever that thing is, all the Suburbans seem to need one after a while and if it is not replaced, it makes using the big truck chancy. So Craig’s List to the rescue. This red rust bucket, Pocahontas, at the very least makes us fit in more with the locals. And I can drive it easier than La Bamba.

We have already used it to haul 28 euonymus bushes.

 

We found that the mature existing euonymus in our shade garden is thriving which encouraged us to go with more, to line the beds along the driveway. I guess the vole doesn’t like euonymus roots. Both shades of yellow-green work for us and they stay that color year round, a nice feature.

Yes they are small at the moment, but it’s a start. And small bushes are much easier to afford and plant than bigger ones. If they should die out, only $7 a plant would be lost. How’s that for positive thinking?

I am much more optimistic about my heuchera, heucherella and tiarella plants in the front bed. Also known as Coral Bells, I planted specimens for their foliage which is way more impressive than their flowers. From yellow to green to caramel to pink to almost black, there is a real variety of color to collect.

This tiny heuchera plant below is Creme Brulee which almost got destroyed by the voles. I rescued it just in time and moved it to a safer bed.

The leaves are super tiny, as tiny as the weed sprouts nearby, but it has already gained five new leaves since it was moved here. It’s my baby and I watch it recover with pride.

 

 

 

 

Heucherella Kimono (left) has more of a cut leaf and a really boring flower, kinda beige. But I really like this plant and I discovered it’s one of those that I keep buying, forgetting I already have two others in the garden. The more the merrier.