Must get - small cardboard palm

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We've just gotten a pretty big shipment of tropicals from Florida and there's a lot of interesting things. I'm most likely to get this: a small "bonsai" cardboard palm. Also of note are some Vandas, a nice "bonsai" ponytail palm (nice, but a little more common so I can wait to pick one up) and a whole lot of nice Euphorbias (which I'm also willing to wait on).

Of course things haven't been 100% unpacked so I'll have to see if anything else jumps out at me. Space is limited so I need to make sure whatever I get is something I really "need." Maybe also a few of the more interesting Euphorbias...

More shade container combinations.

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I love how this container has come together. The Impatiens are fairly boring, I'll admit, but I mostly just added them (two cell packs) for a bit more colour and they've filled in very nicely. It was also my first time using 'Diamond Frost' Euphorbia which has also impressed me. For perennials I used Heuchera 'Cinnabar Silver', Carex 'Evergold', Athyrium otophorum ‘Okanum’ (I should have used a larger plant, it's grown in well but hasn't been able to keep up with the Impatiens so it's sort of lost in the whole thing), and a Toadlily (barely pictured here) to replace an Astilbe that had finished flowering. I think there's some Ivy in there somewhere too.

New Plants!

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Had a fantastic day today - Visited a friend's nursery* and wow. It may be a small (tiny) nursery compared to where I work be there was just so much that was so exciting and generally just all around different from what I'm used to seeing day to day that I may have gotten carried away.

* When I started out and only really knew that there were annuals and perennials and one of them came back and the other didn't he was my... not exactly supervisor but basically. I'd say I can blame my love of plants on him so it's only fitting I can count on him to carry plants that can still excite me even though I'm surrounded by thousands of interesting plants on a daily basis.

My goal was to find, and purchase, maybe 3 blanket flowers of some sort, one of the compact varieties like 'Arizona Sun.'

Here was the first thing I found that I needed to have:







Arum cornutum

I had to have this. Now I have one. I never would have expected to just stumble on it like I did. So happy. He also had a very exotic looking Arisaema I'd have gotten (if the Arum hadn't been there). Maybe next year.

The next plant I needed with no questions asked was this stunning Euphorbia 'First Blush' that I will underplant with Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco.'


Euphorbia 'First Blush'


Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'

I also ended up with a Hosta 'Frosted Mouse Ears,' Tiarella 'Happy Trails,' and two Echeveria (It's not my fault, they were on sale!).


Hosta 'Frosted Mouse Ears'


Tiarella 'Happy Trails' - I'm counting on this for a terrible dry shady corner where nothing else will grow.





And if you're wondering, no. No blanket flowers came home with me. I have terrible luck with them anyway and at best make it 2-3 years for me I do love them though and they perfectly pick up the yellows and reds in my Opuntia (which is also flowering right now) but really I can get them anytime. Not so much with Arum cornutum & Euphorbia 'First Blush.'

I even get tomorrow off to plant everything. I wonder where it'll all go...

Assorted pictures from work

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Euphorbia polychroma


Pyrus calleryana 'Aristocrat' - Other than their unpleasant fragrance these trees are great.


Petunia 'Potunia Cappuccino' - Playing off the pink and yellow seems to be the best way to bring out the best in this new Petunia.


Centaurea montana 'Gold Bullion' - Not that attractive a plant when in flower or not, but the buds are amazing yellow with black details. Doesn't make up for its problems in all other areas.

Euphorbia myrsinites flowering & Hosta 'June'

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This opened a few days ago.

It's actually the only thing that bridges the flower gap between Daffodils and Dwarf Iris.



Euphorbia myrsinites

The blues and yellows play off beautifully with my Hosta 'June' while the sharp texture of the Euphorbia is a nice contrast to the larger leaves of the Hosta.



Hosta 'June'

Consider this a bonus post for the previous wall of text. I have my computer hooked up to my mom's monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc. and it's working well enough right now (I did clean it out a little while it was on the move and that may have helped). I'm going to try to get lots of pictures taken and cleaned up while at the same time backing up a lot of files onto an external drive. I have all day off tomorrow (last day off on a weekend probably until mid to late June) so I should be able to get a lot done. It sounds like it'll be a really nice day so we'll see...

Pretty Euphorbia myrsinites picture

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Euphorbia myrsinites

Even though I decided I would be getting rid of this plant it's been looking better by the day since the weather warmed up. I'm now undecided again.

I have been doing some reading though and this is apparently a pretty bad one for the intensely irritating and potentially dangerous latex. I should get rid of this plant for the nephew I guess. He's getting old enough and curious enough about things it could be a problem. I've been pruning mine with care but without gloves for the past 5 years and apparently I've been lucky and never come into direct contact with the latex.

Maybe I'll solve all my problems by getting rid of the Euphorbia and replacing it with a Sedum morganianum instead of the cactus or orchid... plus I'll be freeing up about a 3' diameter patch of my garden in full sun...

Ok, decided again, this has to go, but after it finishes flowering.

Euphorbia myrsinites

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Euphorbia myrsinites, Donkeytail Spurge

With the melting snow (after a second day well above 10 degrees there's not much left... in by backyard anyway - rain later this week should take care of the rest and help clean things up a bit) I was able to get a good look at the plant that's normally the first in my yard to flower. The pink seems to be winter colour, it will fade to blue once the weather warms up. I also cut back the Panicum you can see to the side, normally it stays upright all winter but that first storm was killer. It's now got full sun for most of the day which should help speed things along.

It grows well in full sun with no extra water. It sends out long (1-1.5') branches that will flower the next spring. I cut all the old growth back as soon as possible as much as possible once the new growth begins to take off. It will seed like mad if you let it and the hard pruning helps keep the plant looking a little neater. While it makes it through the winter well it does tend to look a little rough by the time it's done flowering, and the new growth fills in fast enough.

I think about once a year I say I'm going to get rid of it but maybe because it is first it gets by me in the spring, and then because it keeps looking good for the rest of the summer with absolutely no effort it gets to stay. It's not a favourite but it has definite strong points in its favour.

It is a Euphobia and the sap is an irritant. I have been careful with mine so I can't tell you how bad it is but proceed with caution.

Wish list addition: Euphorbia lactea

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Today I saw a fantastic White/Grey/Crested Euphorbia lactea. It was big, maybe in an 8" pot and very full. What surprised me most (other than the size on a Grey/White Euphorbia lactea) was how little light it would be getting. It's in a basement, away from any windows and apparently it's been there for a long time (years? I don't know). It was starting to grow two new green crests.



I don't remember if it looked exactly like this or not. It wasn't very different but maybe it was green instead of pink at the tip.
(Photo by graftedno1 used under CC license from here.)

I don't think I'm going to go right out and buy one but don't be surprised if I end up with one one of these days. It'll be small though. One time at work we had a big green crested plant for $99 (5 gallon pot?). It was beautiful but way out of my price range.