Scratching An Itch

Looking out over the newly visible under garden of winter interest has me chomping at the bit to do more improvements. Will I really have to wait until spring to do more planting? There is such a short window of opportunity between the onset of the Lush and the nurseries getting stocked and running at full speed. I have open space and bare ground now. I itch. I want.

This carex has been toying with me for years now. It was rescued from a tossed, potted annual display a long time ago. Despite it herbaceous appearance, it has proven reliably evergreen, holding its foliage all winter even in the most extreme cold. It has gotten a bit tattered looking some winters, but it is always still there.

I have considered dividing it and just never got around to it. Then I had a vision. I need to buy a whole tray of them. I know just where they need to go in my low mounding tapestry of texture and color on the slope below the cozy cabin.

These sprigs of junipers are the remains of plants badly damaged last winter by de-icing salt that were replaced with new plants. They still had some life in them so I brought them home, cut out the dead and stuck them in the ground. I have little money and a decent supply of patience, might as well try to save a potential free plant. A third one would be nice though as part of my low mounding tapestry of texture and color on the slope below the cozy cabin.

I've been itching bad. Today I scratched.

I went and bought a 'Daub's Frosted' Juniper to match the other juniper sprigs and the last they had of Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’. Hiding behind the Christmas trees my favorite local independent nursery is still sort of open with a greatly diminished stock.

The juniper sprigs were planted around June. They have survived so far. Maybe their new nearby relation will inspire them to grow fast next spring.

I had planted Japanese Blood Grass, a non-native invasive and now illegal to sell in North Carolina, with the thought of a river of blood for the snake in the grass. I moved the Blood Grass from its previous location were it was barely surviving to give it the wet feet and full sun it was supposed to want for invasion.

Well I have never seen a more pitiful invasive species in my life. It was no match for my Lush. I certainly did not have the time to be weeding out the competition. I decided it was pretty much a lost cause.

Now the snake in the grass will have some evergreen variegated carex. The native sedges and juncus that show up in this spot means it should do well here. I think I need more though. This cultivar is listed as non-spreading and well behaved, staying in tight clumps. The one I have has certainly stayed put. If a few drops of blood show up in the mix, so be it.

There, I feel better now.

A little bit of progress was made on the evergreen winter interest under garden of a low mounding tapestry of texture and color on the slope below the cozy cabin.

I still need more.