A Few Plants

I flipped a coin. Heads I go to the garden center, and tails, I forget what tails were...It was a cool morning and the greenhouses can get really hot, so I thought I better get there and get back before it got beastly. No perennials this year, as I am full up on those, but I do need my fave bedders. The blue salvia, Victoria is always sold out. I lucked out and snatched up a whole tray, as well as a whole tray of Midnight Blue Lobelia. Yay! My blues are captured.
Then I gathered a bunch of Calibrachoa which did so well in last year's garden. Red, pinks, purple, white and pink-yellow.
I will wait a couple of weeks until the last frost date to put these in, and  meanwhile collect more. I find it best to have all the necessary plants on hand, to properly space them in the beds, all too close together anyway!
These Superbells, Picasso in Pink were posted on Pinterest and when I saw them at the nursery, I succumbed. Green edges on pink flowers. Too fun.

Since we had that downy mildew on the impatiens last year, none of those will grace the garden this year. Instead I am going with multicolored coleus. There is enough color here to satisfy, but no doubt I will also add begonias to the front. Glossy dark begonia leaves against the non-shiny colors of the coleus will make a sweet arrangement.
Sweet Tart Superbells, in pink and yellow. I eschewed the regular yellow superbells, as they were too wimpy.

The lobelia are a dark royal purple, but look like blue here. Trust me, they are dark!


The back deck is color coordinated, with a new umbrella. And our magnolia, which we planted five years ago, at 5' high, is now towering over the house, providing much needed shade. Our Japanese Maple looks better than ever this year.

One last thing. I couldn't resist buying this poor reduced for clearance hydrangea. I think it still has a lot of life and will no doubt be bigger than my other ones, judging by the thick stems. It was only $6, so why not take it home?