Fall is for planting!

At least that's what the local garden centers all remind you, as most casual gardeners plant in spring and that's it for the year -- or that's how I perceive it. Of course fall is a great time to plant perennials, shrubs, trees, and bamboo, with the ground staying relatively warm for a while still, cooler temperatures and more rainfall (in theory).

Although I pretty much plant new stuff during spring and summer too, I've been spending some time recently getting plants into the ground. Some of them have been growing from seed all summer, but others are brand-new plants picked up on sale as nurseries try to reduce inventory for the winter.

***

Let's look at those new plants today, and where I ended up putting them. That's right, contrary to my usual behavior, I bought plants and got them into the ground within a couple of days!

I shopped this weekend at Sugar Creek Gardens, since every perennial and vine was 50% off. I like this small nursery as their selection is quite good -- you'll find things here that you won't at other local nurseries. Unfortunately their prices are quite high -- most gallon perennials are $10-$12, with some quite a bit more. That's why I really like these sales!

To start things off, I got a couple more Clematis. I love vines and although I just added five Clematis to my garden this spring, I already decided that I want more. Here's 'Wildfire':

I know exactly where I want to plant this one:

In the front, where I will give it a trellis to climb up to the roof if it wants to (envision it in front of the downspout). I had to remove some of the pesky vinca and a Euonymous, but this vine will be nice here I think!

Not much to see right now, but hopefully next year you'll be able to notice it without getting up close -- if you can take your eyes off the Hakone grass that is.



This next Clematis is 'Piilu', a small vine that I already have:

The one I already have is planted next to the mailbox but has been mowed down by rabbits twice this year, and is just a tiny stem with two small leaves on it. I decided to get a backup plant in case it doesn't come back in the spring.

I'm not sure what to do with this one for the winter, as it may not be needed on the mailbox. Pot it up and keep it in the garage I think.



Speaking of Clematis that I already have, I got another 'Sweet Summer Love':

The one I bought earlier this year is languishing in its pot and doesn't look nearly as healthy as this specimen, so I couldn't pass it up at 1/2 price.

I'm not sure where to put this yet. I'm thinking of here:

On one leg of the pergola over the patio. I usually put a hyacinth bean here, but this year the maypop has sort of taken over:

It grew throughout the patio area this year, instead of staying on its designated pergola pillar:

My main concern with planting the Clematis here is lack of sunlight. That and deer exposure. The similar "Sweet Autumn Clematis" gets pruned by deer every year. I'll decide by this coming weekend.



Moving on to plants that I do not already have, I was really excited to find this one in stock:

Echium amoenum 'Red Feathers'. I've been wanting an Echium in my garden since I saw the larger and not cold-hardy Echium wildpretii on both Gerhard's and Loree's blogs. Loree sent me wildpretii seeds but I didn't have success overwintering those indoors -- trying again this year though. She also sent me Echium russicum seeds this year, which is as suitable for my climate as the amoenum is apparently.

This one is going right out the front door:

Not the best shot of this late-in-the-season bed, so here's a view from the other direction:

It's going to work really well here I think, among the Polanisia dodecandra (redwhisker clammyweed) that will fill this area next year due to my lackluster deadheading:

Not much to see right now...

...but I'm looking forward to seeing something exciting here next year!



Next up is a plant I've wanted for several years, but never got around to buying: 'Rozanne' Geranium:

The fact that it seems to flower all season long and is pretty much carefree attracted me to it, and now I finally have one! It's also going in the front garden, next to the sidewalk that connects the driveway to the porch:

Photos of plants that just come out of their pots are usually pretty underwhelming. This one does nothing to break that pattern.



The last plant is another Salvia (I have several already) called 'Ultra Violet':

This looks like a Salvia greggii cultivar to me, but the tag was not very helpful:

Undetermined hardiness? That's a bit worrying, but they gave me this plant for free so into the garden it goes!

Only a touch of its color was left:

But I think it will be a nice addition if it survives the winter. I'm putting it on the south side of the house, where things bake in summer:

This area got really neglected this summer, and I'll need to do some thinning in the spring.

I have two S. greggii 'Wild Thing' planted here and they seem to love it, so I'm hoping 'Ultra Violet' does too.

Not only did I get six great plants for a total of $42, I got most of them planted already. Now that's a productive day!


Are you doing any planting this fall? Find any plant bargains? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

.