Must...Go...Outside...

Well, we managed to make it through the first week of school with very few tears shed, and none of those by the kids :) Thankfully the kids have great teachers and love going to school - in fact, I don't think my oldest would ever come home from kindergarten if given the choice!  

The weather has finally gotten cooler, and the slight nip in the morning air makes it impossible to stay inside.  I have held off planting anything all summer with the heat and the voles, but no more!  It's finally time to plant the collection of plants that has been accumulating on the patio!  

I finally planted this young 'Santana' Butterfly bush that I had started from a cutting last year.

And I just couldn't resist adding to said collection during the recent open house over at Plant Delights Nursery this past weekend...

Kosteletzkya virginica 'ACE Basin' (Sea Shore Mallow)

With the beautiful weather I have been out gardening, so of course the housework is back to being on the back burner.  I rationalize my messy house away by telling myself that I'm pretty sure when I'm on my deathbed I won't be saying that my only regret was not keeping the house more tidy. (Well, unless I am there on my deathbed due to tripping on yet another toy and injuring myself, anyway...)

A vole-proof purchase: Pycnanthemum loomisii Campbell Co. TN, otherwise known as Loomis' Mountain Mint.  This type of Mountain Mint is supposed to be better behaved than others.   

I am one of those people who walk around with their head in the clouds, so I do tend to miss things on the floor and trip and fall. A lot.  But I'm pretty sure tripping and falling won't injure much except my beauty - for believe it or not, my nose always somehow gets the brunt of things.  

My nose is not even especially large or anything, just a magnet for clumsiness.  I used to have a perfectly straight nose, once upon a time.  Not so much any more..

I fell in love with this Chasmanthium latifolium 'River Mist' (Variegated Northern Sea Oats).

The most memorable time that I hurt my nose was when I broke it a week before my wedding.  And guess how I broke it?  By jamming my thumb in a door.  Yes, people, I am probably the only person who can manage getting a broken nose from a hurt thumb.  

Another one to plant:  Spigelia marilandica, known as Indian pink or Woodland pinkroot

How it happened?  Well, I was going into the office of my apartment complex (in the days before the Red House or any house at all) to collect a package.  I jammed my thumb on the door going in, making me light-headed.  I made it a few steps into the office and then passed out, hitting my nose on a chair as I went down.  In all the photos from my bridal shower, I sported a lovely set of raccoon eyes.  

Not an exact likeness..
photo source - Wikipedia

Thankfully by my wedding day, it had healed enough to be totally hidden by makeup.  Still, my poor nose has never been the same...

Anyways, forgive my rambling mood (it's fall fever, I tell you!)  Back to gardening, I shall leave you with a little video that I took this morning that explains why some of those plants in those clearance sections look so sad and scraggly..