A quick 3 hours in the garden

It's amazing how time flies when you're in the garden. This morning Matt and I went up to potter around a bit and before we know it, 2pm had arrived.

Matt worked on potting up more cuttings, and I set sprinklers around all the new plants. I also realized I'll be out of town soon and some plants need to go from pot to ground and get settled in before then. So I pulled out a few plants and forced myself to pick spots for them.

Kniphofia northiae - this massive Kniph was one Emily picked up recently and it's going to be a stunner. Where better to put it than in the middle front bed?

The area under the first cherry plum tree has been a source of annoyance for quite some time. Various Oenotheras seed there and in the summer I think "well, they're flowering - better than nothing!  Then they start to look awful and I rip them out. Bare spot! The Achilleas I put there needed more sun and almost died out, and the Amaryllis belladonna (Naked Lady) bulbs are almost done flowering. I'll move them next month when they're dormant to a place where they won't flop over the path.

I ripped out all the Oenotheras and decided it was a great spot for 2 plants we had waiting: Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) is a trusty xeric plant, with silvery leaves and yellow flowers. We had potted up a cutting ages ago and it went in under one of the cherry plum trees. Next to it went a Choisya ternata "Sundance" (Mexican orange blossom) that I got at the Flowercraft scratch'n'dent section a while back. These two ought to fill the area with evergreen silver or chartreuse foliage respectively, and will both manage a part shade spot fine.

 3 Lithodora diffusa went in along the front of the brights bed, a Coreposis gigantea in the middle front bed, everything got a good soaking, and the day was done.