It's a Red Letter Day

Yes, the Habs won last night. Yippee!

However, even better - while I was out working on the edging below (even a transitional bed looks better with a good edge) - I got a visitor. A very nice man from FedEx brought me....

A box from Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.:

In it there were 8 new plants to try, ohboyohboyohboy, all wrapped up in blue netting.

Girdle wiggled down you can see some of their little faces.

I moved their little arms to and fro so that I could see what they looked like. You can see just how big they are, and I think how happy they are to be here.

In the parcel was (and all descriptions from the Terra Nova Nurseries Site):

Coreopsis 'Ruby Frost'

"Large, deep ruby flowers are fringed with a collar of frosty white. Plant habit is choice, with its flowers held up elegantly. This plant has been prominently featured in Birds & Blooms Magazine. In fact, it was named by the readers in a recent contest. Truly a color-breakthrough in the world of Coreopsis. " Now, the Zone is USDA 6-9 - so we'll have to see what happens over the winter.

Echinacea 'Firebird'

"Sometimes it comes all together in an Echinacea - wonderful habit, compact size, and charming, red shuttlecock-shaped flowers that look like they want to fly away! Dark cones add to the appeal of this wonder. Attracts butterflies in summer and seed hunting birds in the fall. Mix with Rudbeckia for a great combo. " Colours of the flowers red/coral/orange.

Echinacea 'Tangerine Dream'

"Everything a great garden plant should be. Elegant 4” clear orange flowers have wide, overlapping petals. The bloom holds its color better than any we have ever seen and has a lovely honey scent. This is in our landscape series due to its multiple, wide-branching strong stems. Super for the sunny landscape, in mass or in a mixed planting. Great for cutting" Colours in the photos a great orange - also very nice branching think it might do well based on pictures as a good weaver with other plants.

Heucherella 'Sweet Tea'

"Huge cinnamon stars are surrounded by the loveliest orange tea colored borders. A new, instant classic for containers and garden. Undeniably the most intensely colored Heucherella ever! The big, palmately cut leaves darken in the summer and lighten up again in the fall. Its H. villosa breeding gives it a big bold habit." This plant is so cute, I think I'm going to sleep with it.

Heuchera 'Midnight Bayou'

They wanted a purple large leaved Heuchera for the South. They have it with H. ‘Midnight Bayou.’ Maple-like leaves of purple with black veins provide an excellent foil for silver leaved and light pink-flowered plants. Leaf color changes with the season from red purple to silvered purple. The H. villosa heritage adds to the appeal of this bayou-beauty.
Heuchera 'Shanghai'

"Tight mounds of silvery-purple leaves set forth white flowers on dark stems. ‘Shanghai’ had the best foliage through the worst winter in the last 40 years at the Terra Nova test gardens. Ice, snow and rain didn’t phase it! As Shanghai is a beacon to China, so Heuchera ‘Shanghai’ can be an inviting beacon of metallic silver to your garden. Reblooms all summer." Really metallic looking.

Sedum 'Chocolate Drop'

Upright mounds of lightly scalloped, dark chocolate brown leaves make a great addition to the border or the rock-garden. Soft rose-colored flowers top and accent the foliage. Mix with gold’s and bronzes for an unforgettable effect. So round and chocolatey, you’ll want to “kiss” them" Obviously written by a boy. Chocolate is meant for consumption not affection.

Tiarella 'Happy Trails'

We selected ‘Happy Trails’ for its profusion of runners and charming small rounded lobed leaves that are marked with a thick black band on the veins. It’s a vigorous trailer with short white flowers. Wonderful as a shade ground cover, cascading down a woodland slope, or weaving with other plants in a container or hanging basket. “Happy Trails to you…” Sort of Day of the Triffid-like - had started to try to escape the box and down the counter. I've got just the spot for this ambitious little crawler.

It's raining again - so no late afternoon photos of the garden today, but here are a few from this a.m. and yesterday.

This little fox jumped over a chain-link fence - almost as if it wasn't there.

Took this on a weeding break - a lovely Trollius.

Astrantia 'Sunningdale Variegated' Really nice colour in the leaves. The flowers, not so much, but I forgive it everything at this time of year.

And a last shot of the tulips looking oh so pretty next to Hosta 'June'.