Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms. All is well here and I am so happy to be getting my hands in the dirt. REAL DIRT!

My sister and niece came from KC to go plant shopping on May 8 so of course I went along. I picked up a few plants and scouted around to see what I could put in a friend’s planters. We made the round to all three local greenhouses plus two garden centers in Clinton. I needed more seeds for the garden which is why I wanted to go to Clinton. I will write more about the garden in another post.

What did I bring home?

Muddy Creek Greenhouse sells out quickly so they didn’t have many plants left. I spotted several Agave that I thought were quite nice. There were two cultivars I especially liked but I decided on the one named ‘Inkblot’. Of course, its tag says Mangave ‘Inkblot’ which means it is a hybrid between cultivars of Agave and Manfreda. Manfreda species have been absorbed into the Agave genus so I am just calling it an Agave… It hasn’t met the ‘Pineapple Express’ on the back porch yet.

I really enjoyed the Callisia repens in 2019, so I brought home another one from Wagler’s Greenhouse. These make nice mounds and eventually trail over the sides of the pot. The flowers aren’t particularly interesting in my opinion, but I brought it home for the foliage. I tried overwintering the first one inside, but it didn’t like it and eventually went on the R.I.P. list.

There were several colors of Osteospermum (African Daisy) at Wagler’s but I liked the white ones the best so I brought one home. Yeah, I know they would have looked better in a group in the flower bed, but funds were limited and we still had two more greenhouses to go (Wagler’s is always the first stop). I went back on the 11th and bought three colors for Kevin’s planters. These plants were in their greenhouse which usually has perennials, so I am assuming this plant is a perennial. There were no tags. If they were annuals they would be Dimorphotheca… Does that mean if it doesn’t return in 2024 it is Dimorphotheca? Hmmm… Likely it is a perennial that died over the winter and I will not be crossing my fingers.

You have to admit the white ray petals and dark center looks great! It won’t be treated as a wildflower so I don’t have to use botanical terminology…

This neat Penstemon digitalis ‘Blackbeard’ at Wagler’s wanted to come home and practically jumped in my arms. I agreed it could come home and knew just where I wanted it. I may go back and buy another one for Kevin’s planters. I had some problems finding center plants for a few of his planters, so one of these would be a possibility.

Hmmm… Have you ever brought home a plant you didn’t know what to do with it? Well, this Pulmonaria ‘Spot On’ from Muddy Creek Greenhouse kind of fits into that category. I had an idea in mind at the time, but then when I got home it became a “?”. I think I will have to shove in the north bed at some point. I think I will transplant it during the night so the other plants will be shocked when they wake up in the morning.

I wanted “A” Castor Bean for the garden, but was forced to buy four at Wagler’s. They are in a 4-pack so I had no choice. I had never seen these at a greenhouse or garden center before. No doubt if I had bought seeds on Ebay I would have wound up with more than 4. I remember dad always had a few of these in our garden when I was a kid. I always liked the huge plants and leaves…

Of course, you may know how I am about Salvia. I have grown other cultivars of this species before and they always did very well. So, we’ll give this SALLYFUN™ ‘Blue Lagoon’ a shot.

While we were at Skaggs Garden Center in Clinton, I ran across a group of Senecio candicans Angel Wings®. I had to have one then went back on the 10th to bring home 3 more for Kevin’s planters. I think they will look great in the planter with a Penstemon ‘Blackbeard’ (that I have to get).

What can I say? I found this Kalanchoe delagoensis (Mother of Thousands) at Mast’s Greenhouse when I went there on the 11th. Not like I needed another Kalanchoe that gives live birth, especially another one with the common name Mother of Thousands.

HOPEFULLY, her babies will be limited to the tips and not like the Kalanchoe laetivirens, the other Mother of Thousands.

If you were here in person, I would go ahead and ask you to slap me. Well, maybe not. So, on the 11th, Mast’s Greenhouse had A LOT of succulents. Most I have, have had or didn’t have adequate space for during the winter. Then there it was. A weird plant that screamed Senecio (the genus). I have had issues with Senecio before (now on the R.I.P. list). But, I couldn’t help myself… Knowing that several species of Senecio were moved to the Kleinia genus was my way out. 🙂 Now that I think of it, I think it is Senecio stapeliiformis that is on the R.I.P. list. I thought it looked familiar!

I think it was this that caught my eye. I PREVIOUSLY bought cuttings from a Facebook group member that preferred to rot rather than run (root). The snake in the above photo was likely the cutting that was stuck in the pot, which was apparently rooted and the cluster in the previous photo was the result. So, I think we may have a shot… (WE= me, myself, and I).

While I was browsing in another section at Mast’s, I stumbled upon an area with several succulents behind a rope with a sign on it… It said NOT FOR SALE. WAIT A MINUTE before you jump to conclusions. I did NOT take a cutting. If I had been at Walmart or Lowe’s and ran across a plant that I wanted that was expensive, maybe. Not saying I have ever done that… ANYWAY, I spotted three Crassulally-looking plants with interesting red and green leaves. I went back to the succulent section to see if I had missed any there. There was none. I went inside where Mr. Mast was and asked about the plants and if perhaps I could have a cutting. He said, “OH, you mean in the corner.” I said, “Yes.” He smiled and pointed to one of his daughters. We went back to the corner and she gave me a cutting. That was AWESOME.

I thought it was some kind of Crassula, so I searched online and found nothing even close. So, I put the photo on a Facebook group for ID. In no time, someone replied. She, who is also an administrator, suggested it was a Peperomia. SO, I checked online and found out it was a Peperomia graveolens with the common name Ruby Peperomia or Ruby Glow. I replied to her with that name and she said, “THAT’S IT.” This morning, she made the comment “I will be contacting you” followed by 4-5 hearts. WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!

I decided to move the Hosta and Heuchera (Coral Bells) from the shade bed to the bed on the north side of the house. I have been tempted to do it the past few years but just hadn’t gotten around to it. The moles are gettng crazy there (since the mole repeller shot craps) and the shade is not dependable during the summer (Chinese Elms=Japanese Beetles=no shade). The bed on the north side of the house gets sme morning sun and part of it gets afternoon sun. I planted four Colocasia esculents rhizomes here, so they will give the Hosta plenty of shade. The only issue would be slugs and snails, but most of the Hosta are supposedly slug resistant. There were 12 Hosta in the shade bed but only 7 came up this spring. A couple has fizzled out by last spring. I transplanted 5 Hosta and 3 Heuchera to the north bed, and kept what was left of H. ‘Krossa Regal’ and H. ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ in pots and put them on the front porch. Now I can keep an eye on the Hosta better since they are along the house instead of being about 150′ (or so) feet away. I bought 4 more mole repellers.

Well, that’s it for this post. Spring has sprung and summer is here so now I can get my hands in the dirt and go wildflower hunting…

Until next time! Be safe, stay positive, and always be thankful. Be sure to GET DIRTY!