After all my plans of planting a dwarf willow in this ugly bare mud spot at the top of the garden terraces, my husband vetoed the idea. He pleaded for plants that were a) less expensive and b) not as deeply rooted in the soil. He has seen the Hill of Death claim too many of my shrubbery dreams in the past. Despite my reluctance to give up my plans, I could see his point.
So instead, I may have talked my neighbor into planting a dwarf willow on their side of the mud patch. Ha! And I got to work filling in our not-so-charming patch with perennials that I know can take straight clay.
My first choice were lupines.
We have wild lupines that grow on the slope already, so I know they can take it.
At least, I'm hoping the cultivated ones have inherited some toughness from their genus. I bought 6, all pink. The wild ones are all purple. I have hopes that they will someday hybridize and give me lovely lupines in many shades of lavender. If they survive, I mean.
I am more determined than ever to let every lupine live that tries to grow.
The 2 little lupines on the bottom left in the picture above are wild. Yes!
The wild lupines come in two shades of purple, currently.
Some are lighter purple, like this (from last summer),
but there are a few that are deep purple as well (below, last summer.)
I also put in 2 clumps of liatris (one 6-inch pot divided in half).
This variety is Liatris spicata 'Floristan Violet.'
From what I've read, it is also supposed to take clay without flinching.
We shall see.
I refuse to get my hopes up too high.
I also transplanted some daisies earlier in the spring that still seem to be alive. As I mentioned in the last post, I will start moving Echinacea starts up there as time permits as well.
Hey, at least the transplants are free.