First Plants in the Ground

Yesterday my order from Spring Hill Nursery arrived. I enjoy their catalog and gardening emails, and the best part about them is the money back guarantee. For instance, last year I ordered 4 hydrangeas. I planted 2 hydrangeas in my porch, one in partial sun, and the others on the south side of my house, but the conditions were too dry, hot and windy. Needless to say that 2 of them didn't make it. So, I called up the nursery and they offer a replacement or refund for the plants. I chose to just add my refund to pay for my order this year. It is a great company and really takes the worry out of ordering plants by mail. Plus, no trip to the store with the kids (at least not for these plants, I love going to any nursery), and they are shipped at the time ready to plant for your area.

The plants I purchased in this order are:

Green Envy Coneflower- I love coneflowers, and this color green. It arrived as a 4 inch tall plant, will grow 18-36". Blooms midsummer I think. I'm also going to get some Pink Double Coneflowers from another catalog, which have 2 sets of petals, one coming out of the top of the cone part. I'll have to post that next after I order it from the Michigan Bulb Co.

White Blazing Star- I thought the shape and texture would make a nice backdrop to the green coneflower, they are bulbs. I only got 6, but I may get more next year after I see how they do.

Susan Prichard Daylily- I love pink and green and yellow (hence the colors of Leah's room), and I'm excited about this daylily. I am slightly concerned about the deer eating it, so I planted it on a pot on my front porch, hoping the deer won't walk up the walk for a snack.

Stella de Oro Daylily- This is a very popular daylily. I ordered a few of these last year, and also had an established one already in my garden. They are delightful. Playing up my love of bright colors it blooms constantly summer to fall. I also put this in a light blue tin pail I got from Wal-Mart last year. I drilled holes in it for drainage and it looks cute. Wally world has a lot of cute buckets, pails and stuff cheap in their seasonal picnic/dish that can make great planters.

I'm excited for a few more perrenials I'll be ordering from the Michigan Bulb Co. The prices were slightly better than Spring Hill, but without the guarantee. I'm going to get some "Lily Trees", that grow 3' the first year, and up to 6' the third year, for the back of my border. Happy Gardening!