It started off as a trip to the Plant Lady to get a few colorful plants for my garden at home. We planted the window boxes at the shop last week and I was inspired by the bright purple petunias and yellow marigolds that now live at the bakery.
My garden at home, which is where I spend ALL my time when I am not at the shop is mostly perennials. That's because when I opened the bakery I had absolutely no time to deal with annuals or plants that needed a lot of care. My favorite plant book is still "Tough Plants for Southern Gardens" by Felder Rushing, a book that includes the Southern Bottle Tree (I have the multi-colored variety), among other easy and no-care plants.
So my garden is mostly green, with an occasional show of color when the plants are in bloom. White violets, yellow daffodils and purple wisteria first, then blue and purple iris, purple Spanish lavender and hot pink lora pendulum, then purple cone flowers, then yellow day lilies, then orange canas. In the fall I enjoy white evergreen clematis followed by yellow swamp daisies.
I was thinking yellow and orange marigolds and more bright petunias like the ones we got for the bakery. Then this cool looking vine caught my eye. Variegated lime green, yellow, dark green and white with reddish-orange new growth. I had to have it. It's called Ougon Nishiki, or golden Asiatic jasmine. It looked kinda like another creeping jasmine I bought a few years ago at Lowe's for $5.95, only that one was a softer green and ivory with pale pink new growth.
"It's $51.95," the Plant Lady said.
Ouch. But I still had to have it. Only problem now is that I also had to buy a nice ceramic pot to put it in. I couldn't possibly spend that much money on a plant and put it in the ground.
It's gorgeous, and purely by chance, the $60 ceramic planter I bought happens to match -- almost exactly -- the red chrysanthemums that survived the winter and are now blooming. I put it next to the fountain and ceramic fish in the center of my garden.
And that is how a ten-dollar trip to the nursery turned into a $150 adventure.
So what cool plants do you have?
Posted by: Mary | May 19, 2009 at 08:28 AM
We have a lot in common...I love my garden too.
So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager
Posted by: banquet manager | May 18, 2009 at 03:14 PM