In Which Jenn Arrives Bearing Plants

Good houseguests bring hostess gifts.  Really good houseguests read your blogs and dig plants out of their garden to help your blogging projects.

My friend Jenn and her son Jack arrived today, and this is what they brought me.

Yes, that's right, a yogurt container with plastic bags in it.  So why am I so excited?  Because in those bags are two new acquisitions for my garden, and neither of them is dead.

First up: the Bleeding Heart.  Latin name Lamprocapnos spectabilis - a member of the poppy family, native to Asia.  One of those rare shade-loving flowering plants.

These grew behind our house when I was growing up, by a wall between the patio and the kitchen window, right below my bedroom.  So I've always liked this plant, and I'm completely delighted to have something in my garden that's actually blooming.  (Though it may change its mind when it realizes it's just moved a couple of hundred miles northeast!) 

The second plant Jenn brought is a Hellebore (Helleborus orientalis, I think), also known as a Lenten Rose, though it's not actually in any way a rose.

In cold climates, Hellebores bloom in late winter or early spring.  They come in many colors, and I think I'm not going to ask Jenn what color this one will be, so that I can be surprised if and when it blooms.

In thinking about where to plant my new acquisitions, I took some notice of the fact that my Polka Dot Plants are looking pretty frizzled.

I water them daily, but some of the leaves are getting crispy.  I have to assume it's the wind.  Did I mention that in addition to being shady and ugly, my garden is kind of a wind tunnel?

So I walked around, and the least windy place in the garden appears to be on top of my air conditioner.

The new plants, plus the crispy little Polka Dot Plants, are now living on top of the AC.

  

As always, I will keep you posted.  Thanks, Jenn and Jack!