My friend Sara has a beautiful lush garden. Her backyard is a paradise of plants mixed among old apple and pear trees. Her blueberry bushes are so big and tall they nearly reach the sky and everything is loaded with fruit. Sadly, her home is for sale and she knows she’ll have to leave her gardening passions behind. Her weekends are spent lovingly tending to the yard and keeping everything even more beautiful to tempt the potential buyer.
Sara called the other night and wanted to know if I’d come over and take some of her plants as she needed to divide some of the perennials. I happily agreed and spent Sunday morning walking through her garden choosing favorites to take under my care. We agreed that whenever and wherever she lands for the next part of her life she can always come by and we can divide perennials and take cuttings, returning the generosity of plant sharing.
I chose several Hostas as I knew I had the perfect spot for them. I have a very shady walled garden that I built several years ago. It’s kind of triangular shaped and I planted a small maple tree, hoping to help shade our bedroom from the late afternoon sun. The garden is shaded by the house most of the day. I tucked in a variety of Hostas, choosing the largest blue green leaved ones along the side of the house. The white edged leaves of the others look great directly under the tree. I always enjoy using a white edged or tipped leaf in a dark area to lighten things up. I’m already anxious for next summer when they’ll settle in and fill in that awkward area with their lovely, graceful green leaves.
The other plants look a bit dreary and spent due to the heat and the fact that they’re done blooming for the year. I’m working to keep them well watered and cool during the day, making their transition into my garden as smooth as possible. Wouldn’t you know we have a couple of 100+ degree days coming up. There are three small roses I planted in the raised bed of the cutting garden. Astilbe, Yarrow, Lysimachia Alexander and a couple of hydrangea round out my collection. My arms, hands and back are all sore but I think I’ve given my new foster plants a good home. I hope I can repay the generosity one of these days. Thank you again Sara!
How nice that you are inheriting some of your friend's wonderful plants! It sounds as if you are knowledgeable about where to put things and what they need to flourish. You are getting some heat now, and we have been having some record heat ourselves here in Los Angles. Good luck to you with tending your new plants.
Posted by: sunday taylor | 08/15/2012 at 08:01 PM