Spring rolled into the Northwest on Friday a nasty rainy mess.  It was as winter had a tight grip on its dominance and was reluctant to give up.  Although, the people on the Kitsap Peninsula are probably saying, “what is this Spring you speak of?”  Winter relented (somewhat) for the weekend allowing me to get a few things done.

First and foremost, I squeezed in the Tacoma Rose Society Plant Sale.  The Rose Society works in conjunction with Metro Parks to tend the rose garden at Pt. Defiance park.  If you’ve never visited the garden I highly suggest that you take a moment and do so.  Just don’t do it this afternoon.  Unless you like looking at thorny twigs.  I suggest sometime in the summer.

This is the first year I’ve attended the sale and I was rather impressed.  It is not a gigantic plant sale by any means.  However, if you want some beautiful roses $8.00 a piece will get you quite far.  I have a tough enough time managing the ones I have so I admired their shapes and skipped straight to the buckets of perennials.  So many perennials need to be divided and what in the world do you do with all of those divisions?  If you are me you let them rot in your garage and then cry when you have to compost oodles of Dahlias.  If you are the Rose Society you sell them.  And on the cheap.  Most things were selling for $5 or $10.  Good sized divisions that really can be divided yet again.  While I was waffling about how I wanted to spend my allotted $20 the nice lady informed me that everything was 1/2 off… wait?  did she just say these huge divisions are now $2.50.  Damn!  I brought the Bug and not the truck.  Needless to say I walked out with only $15 worth of plants.  But for that $15 I purchased 2 Hosta, 2 Red Hardy Lobelia (which I later divided 1 of), 1 Bergenia and 1 Daylily (of an unknown color, my luck it will be orange).  Not bad.

I sweet talked my husband into helping me plant my treasure Sunday afternoon.  In addition to the planting I dug up both of my Sword Ferns and transplanted them to new locations.  I divided one of the ferns, planted most of my new plants (including a double Hellebore and 2 Primroses) and now my shade garden is nearing completion.  It was a lovely feeling.

——————————————————————

In bloom this week:  Heath, Tete a Tete daffodils (and a few other varieties), Pussy Willow, Snowdrop, Forsythia, Christmas Cheer Rhododendron, a blue flower that I forgot the name of, Primroses and Pansies.