Plant obsessed or just marginally insane?

Planting outdoors during a downpour might look like one definition of insanity, but I had a bunch of plants to get into the ground before I fly out to Raleigh, NC, on Wednesday. The Garden Writers Association’s annual meeting is in Raleigh this year.

You might ask why I have so many things left to plant this late in the season.  It’s all because I’m plant obsessed. When I was at Lowe’s (on Memorial) last week , I saw a small sign which stated:

“Any plant with a bloom is half price. This excludes Asters, Mums, and pansies.”

Like a moth to the flame, I headed to a table full of perennials.  Fall is a great time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials.  Most of the containers were unmarked (this was a box store), and when I went to check out, the plants were about one third less than I thought.  Of course, I went back for more.  Wouldn’t you?

What did I buy?

‘Blue Danube’ Stokesia laevis (three), ‘White Swan’ Echinacea purpurea (three), Solidago canadensis ‘Baby Gold’ goldenrod (one), Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ (three) and Buddleja davidii nanhoensis ‘Nanho Purple’ (one).  I only wished I had room for more crapemyrtles because they had a boatload of them, and they were also on sale.

These were really large plants and nearly all were $3.34 or under.  The butterfly bush was $8.86 and was in a five gallon pot.

Where did I put all of these?  In the much neglected front garden bed.  It is in full sun and is tailor made for these easy-to-grow plants.

So, we’ve had rain every day since, and this morning, there was a break in the weather.  I ran outside, dug some leaf mold out of the shredded leaf piles and went to the garden where I had already placed the pots in their appointed spots.  It’s not often that I have three plants of a single variety with which to work.  I feared  the weather would dry up while I was gone, and all of these bargain basement beauties would die a nasty death.

That’s why I stayed outside when the rain started again.  It was a soft rain, and the biggest problem was that the mud clung to the shovel.  Still, I got everything planted.  I also dragged two daylilies from under the deck where I’d nurtured them in pots all summer.  With their height, ‘Pretzel Power’ (Stamile 2002) and ‘Dancing on Air’ (Stamile 2004)’ will anchor one corner of the bed.  (If you do click the links to see these daylilies, please note that I did not pay those prices.)

I felt like a kid making mudpies, and was sorry when the family called me indoors. It was with a happy heart that I washed up before going to get Bear who’d spent the night at her friend’s house.

What did you do today to make yourself happy?