More flowers

About the only thing I'm getting done in the garden category is planting flowers. I ordered some perennials online and picked up some more at local garden centers.

I planted a couple "Magnus" coneflowers, which are pinkish purple.

I also planted a couple "Oranges and Lemons" gaillardia. These poor things were so wet when I took them out of the shipping box that the leaves were slimy. They never really recovered, but I planted them anyway.

We'll see what happens. I know there are a lot of gaillardia varieties, but I really like Oranges and Lemons because of the orange-ness. They were pretty hard to find this year. It seems like everyone has moved on to other varieties. Maybe O&L isn't turning out to be a good grower. One more shot with these and then I'll try something else. I'm used to fighting for my orange flowers, but even I won't waste too much time trying to grow something that won't grow (don't ask me how many orange butterfly weeds I planted at the old house - I lost count).

I also planted a good-sized New England Aster. I've never had one of these before, but the purple area has opened up some new possibilities for me. You can see the stumpy remains of one of the ugly shrubs in the foreground.

For what it's worth, this nice-sized specimen cost only a couple more dollars at a local garden center than those too-wet gaillardia cost me from a catalog retailer. I need to remember that in the future.

Lastly, I planted a yellow yarrow.

I got it at another local garden center, and it was 50% off.

I can actually show some progress.

before

after

September 1st

October 9th

The tree is still there, I just zoomed in for the second photo.