Gardening: It's Working

So, you'll remember recently I posted about picking up a few bulbs and roots, and was going to attempt to grow them. If not, click to read: Gardening: How Does That Work?  Having never grown actual garden plants before, I started everything in pots so I could control their environment and watering better, and make sure no animals dug the bulbs up before they got a chance to sprout. So here's how it's going.

Deaths: 

Tricyrtis 'Blue Wonder.' Not sure what happened. One day it was wilted, then totally collapsed into a rotten mess the next day. (Tricyrtis hirta was growing next too it, same soil mix, same watering, same few hours of evening sun. So I may get another and try it again, keep it slightly drier this time?)

Living:

Canna 'Pretoria.' Actually, the correct name for this cultivar is Canna 'Bengal Tiger.' They are the same cultivar, but 'Bengal Tiger' was registered 1st. I only started 2 of these bulbs, I don't have a ton of full sun spots for them at the moment, so 5 was too many. It doesn't look variegated though, so I'm hoping the right bulbs were in the package?

Ismene festalis. Started all 3 bulbs, all 3 have come up.
Tricyrtis hirta. What started as a root is now a small plant, and doing phenomenal. I'm working on the part-shade garden 1st so this one's going in the ground soon.

Ismene festalis from bulbs, Tricyrtis hirta in the small pot to the lower left.

I also made an order with Plant Delights Nursery Inc. Prices and shipping were reasonable, but I was a little nervous ordering from a large scale production nursery. I just ordered one of some things that looked interesting. I'll be ordering from them again shortly. Everything was packed well and looked great on arrival.

For the full sun spots: Canna 'Australia', a purple/black leaved cultivar with red flowers and Canna 'Phasion' (Tropicanna Canna,) purple/pink with yellow and red striped leaf cultivar (super tacky and fabulous, look it up if you've never see one before!)

For the part shade garden: Drimiopsis maculata, Asarum shuttleworthii var. harperi 'Velvet Queen', Tricyrtis lasiocarpa, and Helleborus x hybrida 'Black Diamond'. I'm primarily excited about the black flowered Hellebore. If it does well, I'll be getting more of the other black flowered cultivars out there.

Left: Asarum shuttleworthii var. harperi 'Velvet Queen, Right: Drimiopsis maculata (just emerging)

Left: Tricyrtis lasiocarpa, Right: Helleborus x hybridus 'Black Diamond'

Just starting out are some Crocosmia 'Lucifer' bulbs, as well, so it'll be awhile before we see anything of those. Almost everything went in the ground a few days ago, so give me a few weeks and maybe I'll have a decent picture of these growing to take.

Gardening, How does that Work?

I now have a yard, two really, a front and a back yard. The previous owners of my house landscaped the front a bit. Not really my taste, but it at least looks relatively nice and normal.

The back yard though, is a few trees, and some sandy, sandy, soil. The Sarracenia get the most of the full sun spot. So let's go with my yard is sandy and mostly partial shade spots to plant. What can you do with that. I don't know.

My husband mentioned he'd like to plant some things in the back yard and make it look nice for when we hang out back there. I guess I can start to make an actual garden right? Grow stuff outdoors and dig in the dirt (sand) like a normal person instead of having a billion plants in separate pots around. The more I started to consider what I wanted, the more overwhelmed I got. Help, I need an adult.

So the other night I went to Walmart at about one in the morning. You know, like normal people do. Ok, for me it's the only time it's reasonable to shop there without wanting to punch someone or run screaming from the building. While I was there, I went to the garden section having decided that this was it. I was going to browse the garden section like a gardener. Yeah.

What was the only thing I was confident I maybe, could have made a good decision about, and wasn't outrageously boring?

Toad Lily, awwww yeaaaaa.

$1.98! The back says it will be Tricyrtis hirta, I hope we'll find out.

According to the internet, Tricyrtis species do well in partial to full shade, and tolerate sandy soil. So on this one decision maybe I did ok, right? They were sold in this package as roots, so I started them in a few pots just because I feel more comfortable with that. This Tricyrtis species can grow in as far north as zone 4, and I'm at it's max heat tolerance in zone 9.

I then got over excited and stopped at Lowe's and Home Depot on my way home from work today. Small haul of Ismene festalis ("Perivian Daffodil/"Spider Lily"), Tricyrtis 'Blue Wonder' (a compact "Toad Lily" cultivar), and Canna indica 'Pretoria', (variegated, orange flowered Canna cultivar.) All are perennials that should do well in zone 9 if I pick out the right spots in the yard for them.

Ok friends, here we go. You know you're in trouble when you google something as lame as "how to make a garden bed," for ideas. Want to see my gardening disasters and point and laugh at the crazy decisions I make? You know I won't be planting my backyard with sunflowers and geraniums right? Not unless there exists to buy mutant 5 headed ginormous ones with thorns, in which case maybe that's exactly what I'll do.