New plants for Fall!

Fall is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials as I'm sure you've heard, but my trip to Greenscape Gardens this past weekend had a specific purpose. I wanted to get some kale into the veggie beds so I could overwinter it -- my most productive and successful edible strategy.

I walked past the ornamental kales (still edible, but too pretty to munch on!) and found some nice 4-packs of 'Red Russian' -- exactly what I was looking for! So I was in and out of the nursery in less than 5 minutes...

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Okay, I'm lying. The only time I've ever been to a nursery or garden center for less than 5 minutes was when they were closed. This was a special Saturday at Greenscape, as they were not only having an Eco-art exhibit -- where more than a dozen local artists showed their garden or plant-inspired works -- but the Pie Oh My food truck was there and I had a taste for pie! (My wife is a baker in that pie shop so I had advance notice that the truck would be there -- my favorite bakery combined with my favorite garden center!)

So I ate pie and looked at some great art and of course, bought a few more plants. My most exciting find was Persicaria 'Chocolate Dragon':

Look at those stems!

You can't read everything that the tag says...

I like that this is an "ornamental" Persicaria. A reminder that
the weedy ones found everywhere in my garden may be edible.

...but it indicates that this has "Better branching over 'Red Dragon'". My 'Red Dragon' did not survive its first winter a few years back, so I'm hoping this one is hardier or I site it better. I think I'll take a couple of cuttings to overwinter indoors too, just in case.


I also got another Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) to put into the prairie beds:

I couldn't resist as it was on sale:

Greenscape is a leader in the area for Monarch plants -- which is great -- so I picked up another type of milkweed, Asclepias verticillata "Whorled Milkweed":

The tag says "Due to spread by moderately aggressive underground rhizomes, not recommended for small or tidy gardens."

Perfect! It can battle it out with the Asclepias syriaca next year.


Another great thing about Greenscape are the free pollinator plants you get with any purchase.

I chose the native Salvia azurea.


Speaking of free plants, I received a Hydrangea to trial in my garden recently:

It's Grateful Red Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'McKRed') and was sent to me by Nature Hills Nursery. I'll plant it out this fall and report on it next season. (Nature Hills is pretty much the exact opposite of the types of nurseries I usually buy from -- it's a huge operation -- but I couldn't resist the offer.)


And my friend Michael has given me a few more plants as well, things that I should have gotten into the ground a week or more ago but I haven't been able to get motivated. Acanthus spinosus:

I'm hoping I can find a good spot for these, as although I'm not a big fan of their foliage I'd love to see those bloom stalks in my garden! (Note that he also gave me Acanthus mollis earlier this summer, which has much nicer foliage but is not reliably cold-hardy here.)

He gave me more Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) too:

My goal is to have this in enough spots in my garden that the deer won't be able to eat every single bloom stalk that emerges. (They were 2-for-2 this year though...)


It doesn't contain any new plants, but I'm ending with another photo of my deck, which I'm so pleased with right now:

That Cyperus involucratus on the left took a while to get going, but looks so happy now! Drinks an amazing amount of water every day though, unless the pot has a leak...


Anything new in your garden this Fall?

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