Dirt makes me Happy!

On May 7th, in honor of my 52nd birthday, my dear husband treated me with a trip to Green Things, my favorite local 'Mom & Pop' nursery. I enjoyed the browse, but left with only 2 plants! However, I was delighted to also leave with the following:

2 Bags - Black Gold Cocoblend Potting Soil (I love this stuff! It holds moisture well in outdoor containers because of the cocofiber, contains worm castings, one of the best fertilizers available, and is Organic to boot, which is very important to me! )
1 Bale - Peat Moss
1 Bag - Sunshine Organic Planting mix
2 Bags - Glacier Gold Potting Soil
2 Bags - Chicken Manure (for my squash!)
1 package of Rootone hormone powder (for taking cuttings)
1 Bag - Perlite

Some say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but this girls prefers dirt! (in all it's many forms!)

As for the plants, you may be marveling at my great restraint in only buying two, so you might be curious as to what I chose. One was a Swan River daisy (Brachyscome multifida - 'Metallic Blue' ) which has tiny bluish purple daisy-like flowers. I always grow this in an old enamelware teapot which sits on the corner of my deck railing, near the front door. It is a sort of ritual for me, I guess.
The other plant I brought home was a real jewel that I have been admiring for a couple of years now. It is from the new Big Sky series of Echinacea and is called 'Sundown'. The description on the tag reads, "many blooms with overlapping coral petals tipped in salmon." The colors of these new coneflowers are stunning, and I hope to eventually collect a few more. Coneflowers play an important role in the flower garden in late summer. When other plants are languishing, they bring forth their bright and long-lasting blooms, adding their much needed color in our hot August days.

To round out the evening, we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant and took a liesurely stroll around the block. All in all, it was a special birthday...... Thanks, Honey!!