Monday, May 30, 2005

Plant Crazy!

Here is an update on the plants being added to the labyrinth. I found a great Bay Area Nursery (and heard about it through the grapevine) called Annie's Annuals. You can see them on the web at: www.anniesannuals.com. I copied some of the pictures from the website so you can see first hand what plants are coming my way via UPS! Bring on the plants.

First is a Puya alpestris "Sapphire Tower":
puya_alpestris.jpg

A five foot stalk will bolt up in spring revealing these flowers:
puya_alpestris01.jpg

Around the Puya I am going to plant Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba) to go along with the drought tolerant scheme of plants. I am hoping to find the purple smoke version too:
babtisia_alba.jpg

In another corner I am going to plant some Salvia or Sage plants. Here are the three varieties I ordered:
salvia_clevelandii.jpg

salvia_candelabrum.jpg

salvia_spathacea_cs.jpg

Today, I planted Japanese Blood Grass and some Blue Fescue grasses. These plants are near the Lavender. I will fill the gap around the lavender with Mimulus or Monkey Flower:
mimulus_puniceus_rmf.jpg

I will post a picture of the grasses tomorrow. I am having so much fun I don't know what I will do when I am all done with the backyard!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think my Mother-In-Law is rubbing off on me. I went to bed last night so excited to plant my new grasses that I was up by 6am the next morning and had them in the ground by 8am! I had to wake Andrew up too! I can remember being at Andrew's parent's house thinking they were crazy for getting up to work in the garden so early. Now I get it!!!

Anonymous said...

WhooHoo, getting up early to plant...just about the best thing. The plants you are getting are going to make you yard beautiful. It's fun designing a space that makes people happy just by walking into it!

Anonymous said...

Shannon and Andrew,
Your yard looks so great! I love the plant choices and especially the colors and different textures and sizes/colors of the leaves. Beautiful. The labrynth is cool, too. Do you remember Betsy, from Rocklin? You helped her to organize? She has a list of nurseries in your area, and also in Petaluma, etc. area. Maybe give her a call sometime and she can give you some info. She gets some very special, remarkable plants at those places. I love gardening; just wish I could do more. It hurts my back too much. But thank God we got things in before it got very bad. I got a bunch of books on gardening, landscape design, etc. and got ideas. Also, about having "rooms" within your yard, and the "flow" of walking out the back or side door or area, and which way it leads you, what you see, what draws you to see more, etc. There's alot to it. I love the ornamental grasses. Do you have purple fountain grass? That's a cool plant, and it doesn't require much water. Beautiful, and even in off season, in winter, the "tails" blow in the wind and look great. Really looking forward to seeing your yard and house. Hi to the "kids" from our "child". Are you feeling better, Shannon?
P, P and C

Anonymous said...

You guys ROCK!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Paula! I can't wait to see you guys. I am feeling better now. Those germs from Aden are lethal at times.