Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all well and out and about. Spring is a great time of year and filled with so much energy. The grass and other plants are growing, but so are the weeds! I know I have been absent from posting for a while, but I am still alive and well.

I did have a couple of setbacks last year but I seem to have recovered well. From past posts, if you remember, I normally always avoided going to the doctor and taking natural food supplements, trying to eat well, etc. I thought I was fine, but I injured my shoulder last April and things got weird from there. I had insurance, then not, then again. I went to the doctor and my blood pressure was VERY high. He put me on blood pressure medicine and gave me a shot in my shoulder. Well, it helped, but not always. Some nights the pain would be unbearable, so I would take a couple of pain pills and go to bed. The pain would stop and I would be OK for a few days. The blood pressure thing persisted and one day I had to go to the walk-in clinic locally. My blood pressure was WAY HIGH and my medication was doubled… One night, the pain wouldn’t stop and was all across my chest and up to my chin. I drove to the ambulance garage, it was around midnight. They checked me out and rushed me to Research Hospital. Once there, they were ready and waiting… They said I was “having a heart attack. Hmmm… Anyway, they put in three stints on October 4 and I was ready to go home after surgery. I felt great! Well, they had other plans. I had to stay for a few days and was told I needed two more in a month! My blood pressure meds had to be decreased by half, but I am taking a total of 10 different prescription meds! GEEZ! They want me to take that many for a year! Let’s just say I have a new respect for modern technology.

I’m not sure what happened, but I think the shoulder injury and pain contributed to the high blood pressure in the beginning, then somehow half of my heart wasn’t working due to my arteries being plugged or something. How can I feel GREAT until my shoulder issue? Well, I had a lot of questions and my shoulder issue is is still somewhat bothersome, but usually no pain. Still taking a shot for that once a month or so. An X-Ray showed arthritis back in April last year, but the insurance company wouldn’t pay for an MRI. Still can’t have one because of the metal in the stints, and the magnetic pull from an MRI wouldn’t be good for a while… GEEZ!

Then a couple of months ago I came down with the flu which led to more meds. I thought I was going to die for a few days, but after a week I felt better. Then, one day my breathing was weird. Went back to the clinic and they took another X-Ray and said I had bronchitis… More meds! The X-Ray showed I has a nodule on my lungs and some other weird stuff. That led to a CT scan and a visit with a pulmonary doctor… He said all that stuff was likely from the flu. He scheduled a breathing test (can’t remember the name of it) followed by another visit with him. He said the test results were perfect but wants another CT scan in July.

Thank God for insurance! Thank God for the doctors, the surgeon, and all the staff that have cared for me and all they have done. I’m still alive and I feel great now.

My main computer started going whacky a while back, so I transferred all the photos and documents to the old computer (2009 iMac). That took a while… I took the main computer, which was a 2012 iMac, to the shop. I called a couple of days later and the tech said, “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” I’m not going to tell you what happened to the computer, but I wound up with a newer 2017 iMac out of the deal that cost me $100. It works like a charm so far. The few days I had to use the old computer almost drove me batty… If I hadn’t transferred all the stuff to it, though, it would have been a disaster. The only problem is that hundreds of bookmarks I saved from research were lost as well as an important document that seems to have disappeared. Well, it was an entire list of species I have identified and all the notes that went along with it. The document was transferred to the old computer fine, but somehow it disappeared after I transferred it to the new one. Between the photo folder, another list, and the blog, I am making a new list like the one that disappeared.

I am now teaching the new computer botanical language. It thinks I’m illiterate… I haven’t installed Grammarly on this one yet because it also thinks I am illiterate… So, forgive me if I have misspelled something while on a roll typing. The spell check works very well without Grammarly and it doesn’t try to correct my grammar. 🙂 We all have our own style of writing and at 64, I think I’m doing OK. I can spell just fine, it’s just that sometimes I hit the wrong button and don’t notice it. Enough babbling and on with the post!

I moved the Achillea x arendsii ‘Fanal‘ forward last spring because it was getting covered up by the increasing size of Hosta ‘Empress Wu’. Now it has the Achillea millefolium to contend with… Maybe I moved it to far…

I was very glad to see the Geranium pratense ‘Boom Chocolatta’ return this spring. I really like its dark leaves!

I was just as glad to see the Geranium pratense ‘Johnson’s Blue return. It is in a spot nothing has ever returned before for more than 2 years. Hopefully, it will continue to enjoy it here. Both of the above cultivars were new last spring. Ummm… I don’t have a page for either one YET…

The old Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill) is still alive and well after being here for over 40 years! I planted it in a bed I made behind my grandparent’s old house in the early 1980’s and dad moved it here when they built the new house. There are several clumps of it in the north bed now. Soon it will be alive with color!

The Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’ is ready for 2025. I brought this one home in 2014… I like its dark leaves! It is a later bloomer…

All four Heuchera (Coral Bells) returned for 2025. Well, they are kind of evergreen, so I knew they would spring to life once temps warmed up…

The Heuchera ‘Venus’… Kind of at a loss for words! All winter, no matter how cold it was, this plant was letting me know it would’t stay cold forever. On warmer days, it would perk up a little, and on cold days it would be flat. Once the temps were more agreeable, its color came back and it started growing like mad. It is getting close to flowering now… I brought this one home in 2017.

I bought the Heuchera americana ‘Dale’s Strain’ and the one below last spring. This plant has grown A LOT and has its eye on ‘Venus’. The plant above didn’t have a tag but there were some flats that did. Well, the tags were all mixed up and I wasn’t sure what was what… Being they were small and in May, they didn’t bloom last year. There were three different tags to choose from, so I brought home one of each to try and figure them out… Well, I ruled one out.

I thought the one in the above photo was H. sanguinea ‘Coral Forest’ but apparently not…

This one is “likely” Heuchera sanguinea ‘Coral Forest’. Information online says it is supposed to have red flowers and ‘Dale’s Strain’ is supposed to have white flowers. The leaves of both species are also different and so on… If the one I am calling ‘Dale’s Strain’ doesn’t have white flowers, I will still be confused… Heck, with the tags at the greenhouse like they were, neither one may be right. It’s not the greenhouse’s fault. They came that way from the grower and the flats were bought at an auction… No page for either one until I make up my mind… GEEZ!

NOW, for the Hosta! All 10 came up!

I brought this Hosta ‘?’ home from one of the local garden club’s plant sale several years ago and put it here in the north bed. It was unlabeled, so I have no idea what cultivar it is. It has aways done GREAT and has a great color and awesome leaves. There are so many cultivars that look so much alike I will likely never figure it out. As long as it is happy, I am happy. 🙂

The Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ made it up but the clump isn’t as big as before. It had its ups and downs in the shade bed the last couple of years it was there, but it did much better here last year. I brought it home in 2017 and I really like its leaves. It was the American Hosta Growers Association Hosta of the Year in 2014.

I had to bring home a new Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ last year after the old one had a battle with the deer and didn’t make it through 2022. I was really glad I found it because it adds so much brightness. I was glad to see it return this spring. Just look at how bright it looks nestled among the Viola sororia (Common Blue Violet).

The Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ didn’t raise any time strutting its stuff. It keeps growing and growing. It was reportedly the largest growing Hosta in the world, but I’m not sure if that is still the case. It is a spectacular plant for sure! If you can bring one home, I would highly recommend it!

The Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ is looking great!. Actually, I couldn’t find it at first and forgot where it was until I saw if behind a photo of the Heuchera sanguineum ‘Coral Forest’ from last year. I went and checked and found it starting to come up. The tag was gone on several of the Hosta, including this one, so I made a new one for each plant… I have had this one since 2017.

I replaced the old Hosta ‘Guacamole’ I had since 2014 with this new one last year. The old one had issues with moles in the shade bed and didn’t return in 2023. The new one was a good-sized plant when I brought it home and took right off. As you can see, the new one is off to a great start for 2025! Always a nice plant!

This Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’ is another one I brought home in 2024 to replace the old one that didn’t return in the shade bed in 2023. I had the old one since 2009 and brought it with me when I moved from Mississippi. I was glad I found this one in 2024. I always like the vase-shape growth habit of this cultivar and its leaf color. I grew my first H. ‘Krossa Regal’ in the early 1980’s.

This Hosta ‘Patriot’ was new last year and doesn’t have a page. It was a great performer in 2024 and is already looking bright and lively. This one was easy to spot when it started coming up because it had purple sprouts. Now I need to make a page for it…

Hosta ‘Potomac Pride’ now has the privilege of being the oldest Hosta in the group. I bought it in 2012 while I was in Mississippi and brought it with me when I moved back here in 2013. It likes it here much better! It also likes it here in the north bed better without the deer nibbling on it leaves and the moles playing with its feet in the shade bed. It is a great cultivar for sure and one worth trying.

The Hosta ‘Whirlwind’ has always been slow to come up, so I was beginning to wonder. Finally, it showed up! This is a new plant with kind of twisted leaves with a great color. It is a smaller Hosta that doesn’t take up a lot of space…

That’s it for the Hosta so far. There is always room for more…

I should mention the Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldilocks’ (Creeping Jenny) since it is an important part of the north bed and it has been here since 2014. I really like the way is meanders through the other plants. It has a very shallow root system so it doesn’t compete for moisture from the other plants. It hugs the ground so it doesn’t cover up other plants. The bright chartreuse color is an added bonus.

Last, but not least, is the Matteuccia struthiopteris (Ostrich Fern). When I started taking photos of the plants in the north bed on April 9, the Ostrich Fern hadn’t even sprouted yet. The “stumps” were firm so I knew there was something in there. Then rained for a couple of days, and the next thing I knew they were a foot tall! Now they are growing like mad and spreading a little. I planted one root here several years and it came up but then didn’t come up for a couple of years. Then, in 2022 it came back to life and has done fine since…

That’s all I have for this post! Until next time take care, stay positive, stay well, and always be thankful! Oh, yeah… GET DIRTY!