By Gardennia nutti
The past few years I’ve made a concerted effort to introduce more fall and winter interest plants to my front garden. Part of that effort included planting a mass of asters which replaced diseased-ridden and lack-luster roses. I really enjoyed the late season color the asters brought to the garden the first few years, but this past fall decided some ‘extreme thinning’ was necessary to retain the look I wanted. I didn’t get around to moving them in the fall as I’d hoped but the beautiful weather we had this past weekend gave me the inspiration I needed to don my dirty clothes, get out the shovel, and make my design aspirations come true!
Why am I telling you all this? Well…I dug up most of the asters and carted them to my backyard for transplanting. In the process of digging new holes for my lovely asters I unearthed many plants I’d forgotten about. I’d dig a hole in an area that looked like it needed some fall aster pizzazz…and presto…unearth healthy roots associated with a plant I’d long forgotten. How is it I can completely forget a plant in only a few short months?
I’ve read article after article describing methods to combat the challenge we all face when trying to remember what is planted in our gardens; staking and labeling, taking photos of your yard throughout the seasons, or drawing a planting plan. These are all great ideas, but for some reason I just never take the time to implement any of them; I’d much rather spend my time digging.
For now I’ll just have to hope that the new homes I found for the plants I’d forgotten and accidentally unearthed are appropriate for their shape and size. If not, I’ll make a note to move them this fall, run out of transplanting time, don my grubbies next spring, and proceed to move them to a place where I have other forgotten plants…. It’s the circle of forgotten plants that brings me added surprises every year.
What plants have you unearthed accidentally? Do you have a method to combat the challenge of remembering all that you’ve planted in your yard? Let us know!