Haul From the Royal Botanical Gardens Annual Fall Sale

There were a few empty spots in the garden after this brutal summer that I had hoped to fill by visiting RBG's annual fall sale.  I was looking for natives - specifically Vernonia.   Alas, no vernonia, but I didn't come away empty-handed.  

This sale is definitely quieter than the spring extravaganza.  While there are fewer plants and varieties to choose from, the advantages include more face time with the knowledgeable volunteers; all the plants are half price; far fewer shoppers and shorter line-ups; and for those of you who love iris - they were there in abundance at $15.00 for 15 plants.  Almost makes me want to move so I'd have a spot for them.

The iris were from the revitalized Laking Garden.    With not a lot of money, you could recreate your own iris paradise.    I love them when in bloom, but I just don't have enough room to give over space to something that doesn't add more to the garden when they aren't flowering.

I got there about 30 minutes early, and was able to just walk right in and begin browsing.

Altogether I spent $43.00 - this is what I got:

 Another Hemerocallis to add to my collection.  I've always fancied spider lilies.  I thought this sounded very pretty:

The choice was between this one and Helena's Blush - I'd seen H.B. in trial gardens, and it looked great, however, Ascot Rainbow looked much more vigorous on the bench.

There's a particularly vile spot next to my parking pad - I'm thinking that this little grass should work quite nicely.

I've come to the realization that I have Anemone envy.  On my morning walks it would appear that everyone seems to have Anemone that are more ruffled, better coloured, later, fancier than mine - so when I saw these three varieties, I decided I had to have them all.

This is something I've tried from seed, with little success - for $2.00, I figured, I'd just buy the plant.

I know that this can be a bit weedy looking - but need something that will handle dry shade and still look good.  Also, if I were to die tomorrow - at least I can say I've perennials from A-Z in my garden.

Thought it was time to add another Solidago to the garden - again for shade.

You can never have enough blue flowers.

My Belamcanda seems to have melted into the middle of the Hemerocallis bed and disappeared.  This is the new replacement.

I've been looking for a purple Campanula since I saw the gorgeous ones in England.  Those in my garden are a purple that I would equate with menopausal beige - boring, dull and listless.  Obviously these blossoms where eaten by the rain we had today, but I can assure you they are the most gorgeous grapey purple.

And last, but not least this replaces the Aconitum I moved from the back to the front garden - way too hot this summer, yet another plant to completely disappear.

And, finally a few garden photos.  I think this is my favourite annual from Loblaw's Solenostemon 'Wasabi'.  I think there are just 3 plants here - they've grown to be 1.5m high - amazing.

Great colour, form and look - no bug bites anywhere.

The Heptacodium is starting to bloom.  I can only hope that I had as many Monarchs as I did last year.

I'll be out tomorrow morning to see if they're tempted just yet.  So far they seem more interested in the Echinacea.

While I'm checking out my blossoms for butterflies, you may want to visit the RBG yourself tomorrow.  The sale continues from 11:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Arboretum.  There should still be a good supply of interesting plants to fill those empty spots in your garden - especially if you're an iris-fancier.