I've just gotten back from the nursery. I've decided to grow sweet peas along the wall where the Cthulhu plant used to be. Sweet peas are probably the first plant I ever grew as a child. I like the way they take over an otherwise unlikely place and turn it into a riot of curlycue tendrils and bright flowers.
I planted more columbine, too. I placed them about 6 inches apart instead of the recommended 18 because I want them to crowd in there during the summer. I have a feeling they won't make it through the winter so I can just plant something else next year anyway. They are a darker mauve than the current blooming columbine, and should come into flower about the time the yellow corn lilies do.
I gave in to impulse and bought dwarf dahlias. I do not know if they'll thrive in my garden, but I can't resist trying. If they do, they'll be a huge splash of color right behind the dark red snapdragons. I swear, this is the cheapest shopping therapy I know. My tray of sixteen different plants cost me a big $5.78, and the results are beautiful all summer long.
I've been hanging out over at Xeney's garden forum in hopes of getting some help on growing both native and rare plants in Northern California. I am particularly enchanted by an odd little number called the mouse-tail plant (arisarum proboscideum) which makes pods that look like mice doing handstands. I am ordering one in hopes it will enliven my otherwise tedious shade garden up front. See?
Tomorrow John and I join Ceej, her boss Timo, and fellow journalist Michael for the SF Giants-Colorado Rockies baseball game. Afterwards, I am supposed to join Sei Shonagon at the San Francisco International Film Festival to see a particular Japanese film. If all goes as planned, I won't be updating until Monday night on account of I will be exhausted from so much bonhomie, culture, and coping with parking in the city. Ciao!
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