Bigger isn't always better

A special delivery arrived in the mail yesterday and I’m expecting more of them in the very near future:

By the way, do you like how I added in my boots for artistic effect? Me too.

I love purchasing small plants online this time of year as I normally get a huge discount and know that the Fall is a great time of year to plant. The weather is cooler yet the soil temperature is still warm so the plants have a nice little environment in which to grow. This has been an unusually wet Summer, but normally the rains start to come in the Fall and that makes it even more hospitable in the ground for the new purchases.

Truth is, be it Spring, Summer or Fall, I love buying my plants all sorts of tiny so I can watch them from their infant stages all the way until they become functioning adults.

This spring I planted a bunch of Cimicifuga (Bugbane) that were literally two inches tall. I am more than willing to patiently watch them grow in size over the next few years and am OK with how they will look during the awkward early years. Here is ‘Brunette’ as of today:          

And ‘Pink Spike’

One day, I’ll look back and chuckle at how adorable they were when they were young and oh so small and how it made me proud to watch them thrive over the years and become responsible adults, standing at about 3 x 3 feet.

This ‘Fringed Ivory’ peony was just put in the ground two days ago and while she looks like nothing more than a weed I’ve forgotten, I know in two to three years she’ll be tough as nails and will bloom beautifully only to topple over and be eaten by the deer. Sigh:    

And yes, that is my large Darth Vader like cranium providing the shade for this picture. Yet another sign of my ever expanding artistic creativity.

Where were we? Oh yeah …

I remember the day this early Spring when I stuck this little plug of Echinacea (Coneflower) ‘Sunset’ into the ground as the snots rolled down my cold face and I could barely feel my fingertips:

And here is she only a few months later showing off her first blooms. A proud parent indeed:

Or this little Redtwig Dogwood that was almost an afterthought last Fall when transplanted:

And now look at her, probably quadrupled in size and ready to show off her beaming red stems this Winter:

Sure, it would be easier to purchase plants that are much larger in size so they make an immediate impact, but I’ll take the smaller versions so I can enjoy the journey. Not to mention the cash savings.

John