I’m glad you all enjoy my garden adventures, because I have more for you…

Before my vacation kicked off, Dave and I had a mid-week playdate. Last week, we had a French Drain installed in the basement (so it won’t leak again), and this past Wednesday, the basement guys came back to spray foam insulation throughout the crawlspace, and in the basement.

We had to be out of the house while they were spraying, so I booked the day off work and we hit the road. We headed down to Chatham (a town about an hour south of us) to do some antiquing. There was a little antique market we’d visited last summer, and Dave was keen to check it out again. Amazingly, I bought nothing! Dave found an old bakelite radio and a box of tubes, so he was a very happy camper.

Since we still had time to kill, we decided to check out Chatham’s Re-Store. And it was there that I found something cool!

And you can probably guess what I was thinking… “OMG that would look great in the garden!!!!” She just needs her flower sash removed (which is quite nice and can probably be re-purposed), and a fresh coat of rust paint.

By the time we finished in Chatham, it was only noon, so we decided to head to Strathroy (a town 30 minutes east of home, and about an hour and a half north-east of Chatham) to pick up one of Dave’s prescription. On the way there, I talked Dave into stopping at one of my favourite nurseries to see if could find a pretty vine for my new garden lass.

I didn’t find any vines, but I did come home with:

Two new Columbine – a stunning purple/yellow combo, and lovely pale lavender. There are so many colours of Columbine and I want them ALL!!!!

I also came home with two new shrubs. These aren’t my pictures, because neither is in bloom. But the first is a lilac called Tinkerbelle – a pretty pink, because I don’t have a pink lilac. The second is a Rose of Sharon. Normally, I’m not a fan of Rose of Sharon…. I kind of feel the same way about them I do about hostas…. Everyone has them and they are as little bit boring… But….

This one is called ‘Marina’ and it’s the most interesting shade of pale blue/purple. Like the Veronica I showed yesterday, it almost glows a little in the sun. I saw it at the nursery two years ago, and have contemplated getting it ever since. And now I have it!

After the nursery, we made it to Strathroy, picked up Dave’s prescription and had a late lunch. But we still had a few hours to kill before we went home. So we hit the road again, and headed to Sarnia (which is an hour west of Strathroy).

There we hit the Sarnia Re-Store. Still nothing for me, but Dave found some more speakers that got him pretty excited. Then it was finally time to head home. And on the way home, wouldn’t you know it… we were driving right past one of my other favourite nurseries. And I still needed a vine for my pretty garden lady!

And there I got my vine! I lovely new Honeysuckle! I have “Golden Flame” growing up the catio fence, and it’s doing really well. This one is called Mandarin, and it’s a lovely golden yellowy orange, where the catio one is yellow and pink.

I also came home with these. The Catchfly is new to me, but it looks pretty cool! Long-time readers will remember Cupid’s Dart from the townhouse. It was one of the plants that didn’t make them move well. I’ll be happy to have it in the garden again.

I also got two more Spanish Thrift. The white one did so well, I was hoping I’d be able to get some pink ones. These too, I’d tried at the townhouse, but they didn’t appreciate the clay soil.

I also snagged these two natives to add to my native plant collection. I really want some Trilliums, but haven’t seen them in the nurseries I’ve visited for a couple years.

Now… I just have to find a place to put them all! I see more digging on this vaction!