Feeding My Addiction to PINK

Hi Everybody! On Saturday, with a few hours to call my own, I traipsed over to what I call, "the posh nursery." You all know the kind I'm talking about. High end. Although the prices are often prohibitive, I go anyway just to see what's new and get a taste of their eye candy displays. Check out this Pink Flamingo theme at the entrance. Love it or hate it? Gorgeous or garish?


Look straight ahead to the chair on the left. See the plants? Wondering what they are? Look below.


At $15.00 a pop, I somehow managed to walk away empty handed. What would you do?


I didn't even check the price of this stone fountain. Real stones, mind you. Not resin. No siree.


I could have sat for hours staring at the conifer displays. Such luscious colors and textures.


Here is a Hebe variety I was unfamiliar with. Love the coloring.


This hefty Equisetum belongs in Danger Garden.


This entire flat belongs in Teza's garden.


'Golden Ruby' Berberis has the smallest leaves I've seen in the species. Reminds me of a Cotoneaster.


At $29.00, this Sobaria stayed put. But not until I offered it a good, long, lustful longing and a whisper that should it come on sale....

Of all the plants, this was my favorite. I can't remember how much it would have set me back but... well let's just say that the posh nursery isn't very far from home and I may have to go back and nab this puppy.

Among the plethora of offerings near the cash registers, this, um... interesting garden art caught my eye. So tell me what you think:

So, you'd probably like to know what I bought. Restraint kept me from buying everything I wanted. Clockwise from upper left: Calamintha nepeta, Cilantro, Diascia 'Laghtorn's Lavender,' Diascia fetcaniensis and Lamium 'Kate Greenaway.' All but the Diascias were in the bargain area at $1.50 each.

And finally, for Ricki, the crab apple drive-by. A week has passed since I took the closeup photos.

IT'S BLOOMING !!

Hi Everybody. What's blooming, you ask. Not the Diascia above. I just put it there 'cuz it's pretty.

The story goes like this. I'm just home from an errand. The air outside my car smells like, [gross alert] somebody farted cabbage. Is that graphic enough? It used to happen occasionally when the paper mill was in full operation. I don't know what caused it today. Nasty stuff. So imagine my surprise as I got closer to my front door and caught wind [and whiff] of a delicious, exotic floral scent. I knew immediately it was my Sarcococca ruscifolia. Sweet Box if you don't feel like rolling your tongue over several times. Below is my ten year old plant, measuring approximately three feet by three feet.

It grows in this stupid stacked rock planter some idiot decided to build along our house's facade long before we called it home. Very few things grow here because the lighting is weird and the soil--despite my efforts--is crappy [not the good kind of crappy either]. Sarcoccoa thrives in these inhospitable conditions. And not only that, it grows slowly, it keeps its foliage year round and produces dark berries in fall that persist until whenever they drop off in spring. Or is it summer? Catherine?

Lots of buds are yet to burst. My reference tells me is hardy in Zones 8-10 but since we've all admitted to a serious case of Zonal Denial, perhaps this treasure is in your future.

I have a vaseful of these diminutive jewels about five feet from where I'm sitting. The scent is the quintessential aroma therapy. I've died. I'm in heaven. There's hope. Things are right on cue. My January friend has wooed me once again. Gosh I love gardening.

The December freeze was brutal to one of my Daphne odora shrubs. Despite the lackluster foliage, she's got buds. So my February friend is also right on cue.

Before I close, I have to say that I'm miffed about Jay Leno's show. I enjoyed watching him at ten while touching base with my garden blogging buddies. I guess I'm in the minority, preferring comedy to murder.