Fairy Plant-Mother!

My new friend Dana (check her and her admirable costuming skills {among other things} out at only-zuul.com if you like) was unable to come to my housewarming back in October? and she was going to give me some babies from her plants, so she harbored them all these months so they would survive the winter and just recently was able to bring them to their new home with me!

It was a glorious day made even more glorious by finally getting to meet this wonderful lady that I had bonded with for months and months online. She and her lovely little family dropped by my home with a bounty of planty wonder.

I knew that she had some succulents to give me and when she came out of the car (looking exactly like her lovely photos by the way) carrying this amazing bowl of splendour I was as pleased as I thought I could be that day.

But lo, I was in store for even more delights as she brought pot after pot out of her car with the help of her nice husband. Here, Max checks out our new airplane plant and a lamb's ear succulent (I'd never heard of these before, they apparently sprout new little planties all along the ridged edges of their leaves- neat!)

Also, a super fat aloe which we promptly split and repotted:

Here's a shrimp plant which I was vaguely aware of before now. I'm trying to figure out where best to plant it.....

Dana called this a Giant Monkey Plant and it does indeed look like a giant version of the monkey grass my sister and I gleefully yanked out of the ground as fast as my mother could plant it when we were wee. I've since moved this pot out by my mailbox, testing the sun there before I plant it.

This is an Arrowhead fern, looks a lot like an elephant ear (astutely pointed out by Dana's cool daughter) and it has this airy light green freshness to it that I am loving right now. I don't know whether to plant it or leave it potted though...

Dana thought this was a Japanese or Oriental primrose? It looks to me like what I have always called yellow jasmine and it gets big and tall and bushy with yellow flowers all over it. It is trying out the sun on the side of our house where I hope it will add a bit of style to a fairly nondescript un-used area.

Max was having a great time checking out all the new plant friends and being outdoors

Plus I finally got a chance to bust out some of these plant stands that have been hanging around virtually useless for a while! I am loving the way my front porch looks right now. It's a huge improvement and I just have to sincerely thank Dana- these plants have brought so much more enjoyment into my home and yard for me- more than I would have guessed. It was an overwhelming and wonderful gift and a real treat to finally get to hug this super lady.

Red Barn Nursery

I'd been seeing this charming nursery off the highway close to our home for a while now and had been meaning to go. We finally got around to it and were totally delighted! Firstly it is HUGE!!!! This picture is maybe a fourth of the whole space? All the plants were happy and healthy and the selection was great. What a pretty place to even just go and take a walk with your family- plus you can give a good home to some gorgeous little planties too if you like.

I had fun putting Max up on the big tables to check out the fleurs- he was pretty gentle actually- so that was nice.

There was this gorgeous hanging wandering jew- this has got to be one of my all time favorite plants- there are so many lovely varieties.

Max had grand fun when we got to the shrub area- he kept grabbing the pots and trying to run off with them. This first one that he's holding is a type of Nandina, (I don't know how to pronounce that i) but I'm glad to know the name because I want some of these for our front yard. They are evergreen, fine in sun or shade and they have every color of fall foliage in one bush all at the same time! They are just amazing.

He was also pretty jazzed about this hose on the ground.

Still in productive-sunshiney-day-happy-plant-mode I saw this lovely tree on our way home and had Jack stop so I could get a quick picture. I've heard many names for trees like this one and I just adore them. SO pretty!

We got home with our new little plant friends and set to work getting them into some larger containers - Max was very excited about playing with our collected rainwater.

We got a purple variety of sage, some sweet basil (yum!), catnip and a sweet 100 tomato plant. Very excited about all of these. There were so many different kinds of herbs there. I'm particularly interested in the lemon basil and the CINNAMON basil!!! Both smelled divine. They have some really nice mint variations as well. I have never had an herb garden and have always wanted one. I'm really hoping that it does well. Advice welcome!