Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What was that plant?

Barry, a.k.a. Teza, made a comment about the Tricyrtis in my last post asking if I knew what they were.  So, I went out to the garden, crawled through the stems and leaves, pulled the plants this way and that in search of the illusive plant tag.  I found one, but the rest of them appear to have been either a) eaten by fairies, b) raked out in either spring/fall clean-up or c) are still there, hiding from me. 

No fears thought I - providing I'm looking at an over-enthusiastic rake - Option B - this was the moment I was waiting for - a reason to open and catalogue my Bag of Tags!!!!  This past spring, when I'd cleaned out the garage, I found the errant tags everywhere and decided in a fit of brilliance that I would consolidate them into a special repository.  Just look how tidy this all is!  However, even now I can see that look in Bart's face that sort of says, "Are you nuts?  Just leave the Bag of Tags in the garage, and go back to your old life...."


O.K.  So, he's just a dog, but he had a point.  Not only did I not find any of the Tricyrtis tags, I'm finding tags of the dead, I'm mourning the loss of plants such as Monarda 'Oudolf's Charm ('08),  Eremurus stenophyllus, and Dryopters affinis 'Crispa Gracilis'.  This is so stupid because I don't even remember why that Monarda was so charming.  And, if that wasn't bad enough, I now have a GO FIND IT column in my preliminary database for plants I'm sure I have, but I'm not entirely sure where they might be, or if they're still sending green leaves above ground on an annual basis.


 You would not believe how many of these Tags from the Bag are hosta tags......mercy save me.    And, notice how many of the little top bits separate themselves from the metal bottom bits (look over toward the adding machine - that silly piece of machinery I'm supposed to be working on).  I'm thinking very seriously about arranging these tags by shape, putting elastic bands around them and sending them back to the Bag of Tags and filing it once more in the garage where it belongs.

So Barry as I mentioned mid-rant, I did find one tag - the yellow Tricyrtis is 'Moonlight Treasure'.  The leaves are interesting with their spots.  The yellow flowers are unusual - overall I'd give it a 4 on 10.  Not enough flowers, not vibrant enough colour, and leaves turn to brown slime in the fall when the plant should be looking fabulous.


Alas, just one garden photo for the day - Blogger will not let me load any more....perhaps it knew just how many I had planned to share.  It is a Solanum laciniatum or Kangaroo Apple and it's poisonous.  I was able to put its name in this blog, because on my left side beside my computer is a box of seed packages and I found the original package.  (You really don't want to see that box.)  Although listed as a Zone 9 plant, it lived through a winter in my unheated garage.  It had nice purple flowers over the summer and now these yellow and orange fruit.  And now that I have its name top of mind, I'm thinking I'm going to try to erase one of these tags on my desk and see that it goes back into the garage with an X Tag from the Bag to keep it company.

5 comments:

Barry said...

Barbara:
Thanks so much for making such an exhaustive search for the name of the white Tricyrtis. Your post brings back so many memories of my finding tags everywhere..... even in the underwear drawer! You mentioned slimy leaves on the yellow one..... I have T. Miyazaki - same thing.... really makes the flowers seem somewhat out of place. Of course this didn't stop it from coming home from work with me this evening!

Christine B. said...

Ah, the old bag of tags. I thought I'd gotten rid of said bag after I hunkered down and committed them all to a computer spreadsheet. But alas, they keep accumulating every year. They're like rodents or something. Measures must be taken.

Christine in Alaska

Northern Shade said...

I have a bag of tags for backup, just in case I need to refer to them, a whole binder of little maps that I make after I plant, and a spreadsheet for keeping track, but I wish they could all be cross referenced easier.

Bart looks like a dog of action. I'm sure he is willing to race around the garden circuit a few times to look for any stray tags.

Barbarapc said...

Barry - anytime. Nothing like a gentle nudge from an on-line buddy to help me organize my life a little!
Christine - from one side of the continent to another - just shows how small this world is and how devious those bags and their tags are.
NS - You know I've actually got software that will generate a list based on mapping - it's a professional design program called Dynascape - the only problem is - is with the operator - when I move the plants, I often omit to do an update on the system.

Bart truly is a dog of action - I've notice there are more tags lying in the dirt, rather than standing at attention since I got him - if the tag is planted on one of his crazy runs - there's no dipping or dodging - he just rolls right through!

Gail said...

Barbara, You have to see my Bouquet of Plant Tags! They are artfully arranged in mismatched coffee mugs. The natives have there own cups! You are so right~going through them opens up the garden losses! The money I've spent on plats that have no business in my garden~Btw, Bart is a wise dog and very cute. gail