Piece by Piece

Sometimes, after you've had some plants in the same spot for years, they intertwine. In this photo are a few plants in what is only a foot or two wide.

The bottom left corner shows a Hosta 'Tea and Crumpets' which is a very small hosta. There's the Primula siboldii 'Alba' that I posted about the other day and poking up through everything is Polygonatum humile (dwarf solomon's seal).

This photo was taken last year, if I took it today it would have looked the same except it's almost impossible to find the Hosta 'Tea and Crumpets". I'd really like to divide out everything here without losing anything. Tomorrow or Monday I'd like to lift the whole area, pull out each piece and replace the Hosta with lots of compost.

This shot is taken closer to the Hosta. Those spiky plants are Tradescantia seedlings. I've grown a number of hybrid Tradescantias and on the whole have been ecstatic with their behaviour. Unfortanetly, the prettiest Tradescantia here, is also the most aggressive at spreading seedlings.

This is the same bed, just a foot or two away. The bright chartreusse is Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate'. I've written about her before, she isn't very sweet here at all. Last year I went around and dug up every one of her seedlings that I could find. It wouldn't be bad at all if they had the same coloring but every one of them reverts back to green with a standard blue flower.

It looks like this is going to be a job that eats up lots of time and only makes a change in a very small spot in my garden.