"Let's build something together"

That's the Lowes motto, but it should be "We'll stay open late and lure you in to buy stuff after you've had 2/3 of a beer, you pathetic lightweight!"

And that's exactly what happened on the way home from South Frisky Town (aka South San Francisco), where we had gone to buy 8 clumps of Canna x generalis "Black Knight" from Ms. T. Corleoni, craigslist seller and very nice person.

So Lowes was beckoning from the freeway, all lit up and cosy looking (as cosy as a mega home improvement warehouse can look, I suppose) and in we went. Just can't get enough plants, I suppose, and the ones at Lowes are a) cheap and b) guaranteed for a year.

We got:

1 Pennisetum setaceum (purple fountain grass - yes, I like them. Nobody can stop me from liking them. Nobody!)
1 Trachelospermum jasminoides (Confederate, or star jasmine)
1 Juniperus chinensis ("Old Gold" juniper)
2 Thuja occidentalis ("Forever Goldie" juniper)
1 Euonymus japonica "Microphylla Variegata" (Variegated Boxleaf Euonymus)
3 Lavendula stoechas "Madrid Purple" (lavender)
1 Leptospermum scoparium "Red Ensign" (tea tree)
3 Stachys byzantina "Helene von Stein") (lamb's ears)
...and 120 mixed crocus bulbs (half off sale!)

So yes, we scored a few more massive Bay Area gardening cliches! Bring 'em on - it must mean they are virtually foolproof and can survive the kind of neglect that would shame a normal person to tears. My kind of plant!

We also got some mini greenhouses, rooting powder and perlite so Matt can revel in his self-appointed role as Cuttings Master, and provide me with more hapless plants to cast adrift on the mean streets of Frisky Town.

All in all a nice bit of consumerism and not a bad way to spend saturday night. Now, where to put them? It's not like we don't have room, but... the artistic arrangement is another whole ball of roots. To be decided tomorrow.