European wild ginger

http://www.perennials.com/plants/asarum-europaeum.html

During my nursery crawl a couple weeks ago, I found these at one of my favorite nurseries - Ambleside Gardens in Hillsborough NJ (www.amblesidegardens.com), and like the crazy woman I am, I picked up three.

I'd been on the lookout for wild ginger, though and they're rare as hen's teeth to find at any of the nurseries, so I pounced despite the price tag (which I only noticed when I got to the register, actually).  Not cheap by any means - a single 4" pot was $14, which is usually what I'd be paying for a quart or even gallon pot of something more common.

Yeah, it's not the native Asarum canadense, but I like the shiny dark green that's reminicent of English Ivy, without being invasive like ivy, better than the more matte and lighter green Canadian wild ginger.  Though, if I spot some I will get it, too.  I have a lot of shady understory to populate, after all.

When last I checked, they were still alive through the nightly frosts, unlike the two sweet potato vines I picked up that same weekend - hey, it was nearly 80 degrees out!!  Silly me, thinking winter had finally given up the fight.  After this morning's frost, however, I'm confident that the temperature will stay above 40 at night from now on - or at least through the current week's forecast. :P

And yes, I lied about this being the year I didn't buy any plants.  Winter was so brutal that I needed some retail therapy to keep myself sane.