It's Mail Order Plant Day!

I love mail order plant day! The day my online orders from January show up at my house fills me with excitement - this year it was April 12. I got some more exotic and fun plants that you don't typically see at Lowe's or Home Depot.

My mail order plants arrived from High Country Gardens on April 12 this year

Last year I stuck the plants in the ground the same day they arrived. This year I did something a little different - I let them get some sun after being in the box for 4 days, and gave them some water. Then I took them inside and put them on my windowsill to firm up a little before exposing them to the wild outdoors. Hopefully they perk up a little and catch their breath before trying to adapt to the clay soil.

I got 4 dwarf red hot poker plants - Kniphofia hirsuta 'Fire Dance'

I got 1 false indigo after reading they are good in clay soil - Baptisia australis v. minor Blue Rocket

I got this for my rock garden, a cute little succulent that self seeds with purple flowers. It looks very delicate and I hope my dogs don't mess with it - Fame Flower - Phemeranthus calycinum (Talinum) Judith's Favorite

And once again, I'm trying my favorite little sunny moss look-alike after the one last year all but died. I've got a new location picked out and we'll see if the 2nd time's the charm - Arenaria Wallowa Mountains - Mossy Sandwort (Desert Moss)

Last but not least I've got purple coneflower 'Magnus' down by the utility boxes. This one is supposed to get 4 feet tall so it should do a better job hiding things than the Pow Wow that only gets 2 feet tall - Echinacea purpurea Magnus - yeah this one was the runt of the package and might not make it. Luckily High Country Gardens is pretty good about refunding if your plant dies right away.

Winter Solstice Yard Update

It's been a warm December so far, drizzly and 50's all week and predicted high of 64 on Wednesday. It always seems wild, but then again I remember playing golf on Christmas Day before - so that's just Midwest weather. Today is the December Solstice, the shortest day of the year. I was going to put a rock out to mark the shadow of the fence at noon and compare that to the shadow in summer, but it's gray and cloudy.

I did stroll around my yard, and wanted to post some photos of things I thought were interesting.

First up (above) I like the color contrast of my dwarf mugo pine [Pinus mugo var. pumilio] turning slightly golden yellow in winter alongside this dwarf lavender [Lavandula angustifolia 'Wee One'] that is an icy blue. Very nice!

Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' looking a little less than stellar but still alive

I checked in with my favorite little Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' and it's not looking so hot. I'll probably order another and try to get it in the ground quickly this spring so it can have as good a chance as possible. Maybe this one will bounce back, it's rated for much colder zones so maybe it will be fine. 

I took the erosion barrier off the storm drain at the bottom corner of the yard. The grass still has to grow in around it, but it already looks nicer not having that 3 foot tall black square in the yard. I'm thinking about putting a few clumps of iris around it to see if they take off in the damp low spot.

At the bottom of the yard we've got vole holes in the tallish grass near the neighbor's fence. They're all aiming toward the neighbor's yard, so I bet they have more tall grass on the other side. You can even see some hamster size poops outside the hole on the right.

Now this is pretty cool. When I got the iris clumps from my dad they came with little tiny succulents that were long and stringy probably from the shade. I had them in the side yard all last year and they remained long and stringy (big surprise). I took a couple pieces and broke them off, and put them in the rocks. What do you know! They took and now I have a couple little succulent babies in full sun so they look much nicer, darker, and like little buttons. Hope they last the winter!

Unknown succulents hitchhiked from Ohio on some iris, now I have to identify them. Can't believe they are dark green and thriving in December here in central Indiana.

Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' Turning Brown

I have a special place in my heart for Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' because it's so super cute and it was $10 for 4 square inches of this stuff. It's recommended for the dryer western states, but I'm giving it a go in Indiana. This was probably the worst summer to try something normally suited for high elevation. We had record rainfall in June, and now we have humid hot weather with very little actual rainfall - even the lawns are turning crispy brown up and down the street.

So that's where we currently find my Wallowa Mountains, turning brown probably from getting full southern sun all day with temps in the 80s-90s and sticky humid.

This side of the plant seems to be doing okay, I wonder if it rooted in better or if it avoids some of the direct sun.

Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' Turning Brown

On the High Country Gardens website (where I ordered mine from) another customer wrote a review. His name is Denny and he's in southern Michigan which is pretty close to my same weather. He wrote "Plant may partially die off, but be patient. It will grow into an attractive plant." That pretty much sums it up! I wish I could get in contact with him to get more information, but we'll see what happens.

Measuring New Growth: Darkest of All, Purple Dome, Wallowa Mountains

A few plants aren't growing much at all, and a few are really taking off! Let's check in on some plants with new growth and new changes.

Erigeron speciosus 'Darkest of All'

Remember when this one was a sidewinder plant? It's now sending up 5 brand new stalks from the base and leaving the old sidewinder stalk out to dry.

Let's see what else we have. This Aster novae-angliae 'Purple Dome' was super tiny when I got it, now it's turning into a small bush and is becoming much more dome shaped. 

Finally, check out my favorite little plant Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' Mossy Sandwort. It's not only expanded and rounded out its edges but it changed texture as well - the tiny longer leaves died off leaving little tight clusters of green. It looks like green coral.

Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' Mossy Sandwort

Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' Mossy Sandwort

I've had my eye on this Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains' aka Mossy Sandwort aka Desert Moss since December. I love the photos of it creeping over rocks like a bright green moss blanket in full sun. It's exactly what I want spilling over the rocks in my south facing backyard. I ordered mine back in February and it was sold out online by the middle of March.

Of course it looks fabulous in marketing photos, but I haven't seen many close ups or photos showing the young or just-bought plant. I also noticed that there are basically the same photos being recycled over and over - so I thought I'd tag the hell out of this post and hopefully people looking for it will find what they can expect.

This 2 square inch chunk of Arenaria Wallowa Mts was $8.99 from High Country Gardens, whew! I knew it shipped in a 2.5" deep pot but I guess it's just smaller when you actually get to look at it. I hope it grows quick and fills in the space around my rocks.

It came in very desert-y gravel-y soil, so instead of putting it in my Indiana clay, I dug out a trough and filled it with about 2 inches of succulent potting soil about 15 inches wide. Hopefully that gives it some well-draining soil and room to spread.

I'm a little nervous about growing it in Indiana, but I was reassured after seeing a photo of it thriving in Wisconsin.

Ready, set, grow! Let's get going!

I can picture this as a lawn replacement in California, especially considering their new water restrictions

Unpacking my mail order plants. They came all the way from Colorado in about 4 days.