Something for shade

Panicum virgatum "Shenandoah". A North American prairie grass, and this variety one of my favourites for its red leaves and seeds heads. I wasn't buying, just showing David Bayne, a recent addition to HWandV, the nursery ropes. We were out there to buy trees for a big crane-lifting operation in SoHo tomorrow...gulp.

This lovely gypsophila in full bloom in the rockery at Atlantic Nursery.

And tricyrtis, or toad lily, belying its name. The flowers are small, upturned, and breathtakingly beautiful when given due consideration. They like dappled shade. Who doesn't?

And then it was down to business, and rather nail-biting. Buying trees, good trees, at short notice is not my favourite thing. It helps to have a bobcat, though, to push them around.

The friendly guys at my favourite tree nursery were very obliging. We picked up four Bloodgood maples (Acer palmatum atropurpureum"Bloodgood"...phew). Quite overused in this city but very popular.

And then. At the last minute, having resigned myself to smaller Kwanzan cherries, we found some giants at a nursery I'd never visited.

They were loaded.

And then our truck said, Thththththththpffffffffffffffffffffff. Or something to that effect.

Too heavy. Out they came. So they will be picked up at sparrow tomorrow morning while we head out to the job site with the other six trees (also a magnolia and a big lilac) with some strong men and some virtual rabbits' feet to keep us all safe.