Seedy Saturday Purchases

- curry plant -

 I dashed from one side of Vancouver Island to the other yesterday to attend Seedy Saturday in Qualicum Beach. What a fun adventure at this time of year! I wish I had taken some photos while there - but there were hordes of people, barely room to maneuver from booth to booth in search of treasures or the perfect plant or even rare seeds.

What I did find was a couple of curry plants. They remind me of lavender or rosemary with the shape of their leaves, but the smell!! mmmm - exactly like curry!! Too bad these are NOT edible (despite what the tag says). I have to check them out some more in the Internet, as I have already forgotten what, if any, flowers this plant might produce. I do know that they grow quickly & I should be able to take lots of cuttings from them this fall to share with others next spring.

'Mary Flemming' & 'Blue Baron'

My next investment was 3 rhododendrons for $25. Yup - these 3 plants cost me only $25! I have been hesitant to purchase expensive shrubs for the property - even though I really need them to start filling in some of the bare spots - mainly because: 1) I'm really frugal and 2) the deer eat everything I plant, regardless if they aren't 'supposed' to.

We shall see what happens with these, although I'm taking strong pro-active 'anti-deer' steps & will put fencing or wire or something around each one!!

The 2 in the foreground (left) are 'Mary Flemming' rhodos. They both have buds & should bloom this year. I am expecting them to be yellow with salmon streaks. I might already have one similar to this that I received as a gift from a friend & planted last year. That one is still in recovery mode as it was not very well cared for & it still might 'not make it'... (fingers crossed).

The 3rd rhodo in the background (right) is a 'Blue Baron' which should produce blue flowers. Yeah... I'm doing more research on that one. I think it will be a compact rhodo while the other 2 should get quite large.

I like the small leaf rhodos - they look very similar to azaleas, but will have the larger rhodo flower. I'll wait a few more weeks before planting them.