The Kohmo Shekebu looks much happier in the ground. In fact, so far it seems to be thrilled with the place where I planted it.
Finally, rain that has been promised for the past 4 days. And so far, a nice, gentle, soaking rain and not the hard thunderstorms we were supposed to get - though they could still materialize tonight or tomorrow.
The poppies are in bloom at the old house. Here, they are still seedling size. They went in so late that I may only get tiny little short flowers. But as long as I get seed pods, I can sow more in the fall.
The shrubbery in front of the house is a mess and makes the place look bad. The plantings were poorly laid out to begin with, and all are in bad shape, or way too tall and lanky. Mostly boxwoods, with some forcythia that doesn't get nearly enough sun, fuchsia azaleas that are too dark, and old nandinas hugging the foundation that I may break down and use round-up on. I'm afraid they may have penetrated the foundation so don't want to try to dig them out - plus, they are too old and big to dig. (There is a dead stump of one growing up between two bricks on the front stoop, which is a good 5 feet above ground level.)
I'm trying to decide whether to dispose of everything and start over, or to heavily prune the boxwoods, slice around them now to stimulate new root growth, and then try to dig them up in the fall and incorporate them into an entirely redone border.
It would be the least work to simply cut them down to the ground, but would save a lot of money if I could use at least some of them in a redesigned garden. I dug out two small boxwoods on either side of the driveway a few weeks ago. They weren't that hard to dig out, but I wasn't strong enough to get them out with the root systems sufficiently intact to consider transplanting.
Somebody name some shrubs with a neat growth habit that like shade that bloom in summer and fall, or that have really nice evergreen foliage and that don't get big real fast.
I've never acquired a taste for cannas. Maybe because I have rarely seen them well-grown. (Not that I have the right conditions for them here.)