Getting rid of the unwanted, and planting the wanted

This morning, my wife and I went to Guelph, to have the Toyota emblem replaced on the back of our car. We had a rampage of vandalism the other night with about 20 of us on our street having the emblems removed from our cars in the silence of the night. Some of the cars had paint damage as well ( mine included ), but that is another frustrating story.

After visiting Toyota to order the emblem, we decided to go to the famous St Jacobs farmers market, near Kitchener. When there I noticed a chap selling perennial hibiscus. I had been on a garden tour recently and saw a gigantic perennial hibiscus, but the lady didn’t know what it was. I have figured out that it probably was a Lord Baltimore ( because of the unusual leaf formation ) which grows to about 6 feet tall with large red dinner plate size flowers.

The chap did not have them, but did have a new cultivar with a similar leaf shaped like a maple leaf ( very different from my other perennial hibiscus). What he showed me was a new cultivar for him, – something called Peppermint Schnapps. Then he had another one called Cherry Brandy. Both of these are hardy from zone 5 – 9. He had some in flower, which he used as show pieces, and others loaded with buds, ready to explode into colour. I was interested in three of them, so he made me an offer of $13 each. That was a bargain that I couldn’t resist. So, I bought them, and brought them home.

I have always been upset with the 3 juniper bushes that the builder planted in front of our house. Today, I exacted revenge, and dug the ugly plantings out. The roots of these things go forever, it seemed. I think I lost 5 pounds today, just digging them out.

This ugly thing is GONE, and now resides in the compost pile in the bush.

Anyway, I planted the Peppermint Schnapps and the Cherry Brandy, and moved some lilies, making room for some fall mums and spring tulips.

I am rather excited about doing this, as I think it will make a much nicer street vision for passers by.

I’ll edit this and post better photos in the near future when these guys open up. They grow to about 4 feet tall and a couple of feet wide.

-- jroot