Cait's Garden

Gardening is addictive. Not so much the toil (I could do without that), but the plant acquisition. The high you get from buying a new plant, especially one that you have a) long-coveted that is hard to find or b) is a new introduction, is definitely a rush. Then comes the hangover, sometimes financial and almost always in terms of toil (‘Dang it…I need to plant those now!’)

I curb my impulses. I don’t buy just any plant anymore. I am picky. (I have to be, I’m running out of room.)  But I can be seduced by the green leafy goodness. Case in point: today. A tip that the local Home Depot had the new Lo and Behold Blue Chip Dwarf Butterfly Bush for fairly cheap got me over there to buy one.  [This new introduction stays about 2-3 feet tall and wide and doesn’t need deadheading.] Then a new, brightly colored, column-shaped barberry bush called “Orange Rocket” caught my eye (just $12.98 each!…so I got 3) and there you go. Big high, lots of hangover. Have to move 3 large perennials to make room for these beauties. Had to stop and buy dirt. It’s going to be a big project. But the end result will hopefully be a season-long tall drink of color in a kind of underwhelming section of my garden (thanks to the new barberry bushes) and more happy butterflies in my yard (thanks to the new buddleia) .