A not so blank slate now

The large bed I mentioned back in August (and that's about the last time I was in the garden, as it got abominably hot and dry after that) is now planted with:

• Three hybrid tea roses 
• Variety unknown, these were there when we bought the house. I moved these from the edge of the driveway where they were interfering with entering/exiting vehicles.  Why one of the previous homeowners thought this a good site for roses, I have no idea.  Two of them had some massive tap roots and were really hard to pry up out of the ground.  This type of rose does not have a root ball so I watered them in very, very well and will continue to water them once in a while until they re-establish.
• Three winterberry hollies.
• two dwarf females 'Red Sprite', and one male 'Jim Dandy' which I was told is the pollinator for those.
• Andromeda 'Dorothy Wycoff'
• this was suffering in the Echinacea bed, it was far too exposed and may not have been receiving enough sun.  It's now living up next to a retaining wall and the edge of my vegetable garden to help shield it from the wind.  It is also now receiving full sun.

To replace the Andromeda in the Echinacea bed, I purchased a Fothergilla 'Mount Airy', which I hope will do well in that sunny/dappled sun area and provide some autumn color.  It should reach about 5' tall, well below the power lines.


Early fall is a good time to hit up the nurseries for 25-50% off perennial shrubs and trees.  There is pretty much enough time in Zone 6 for the plants to establish themselves before winter's grip.