Free plants at Curbside page
Today's pile of plants, 12-June-1999... (more added 13th)

Some of what I put out this week has been out before, see the previous weeks pages for details. Specifically, there's: Lamium, Geranium, Bluebells.

New plants this week:

Crocosmia

These plants may be yellow ("Jupiter") or orange/red (probably "Lucifer"). They seem to put out new bulbs around the main plant each year, so you'll have to pull some of the newer ones.

They don't seem to need a lot of water, though they're happiest near the drip hose in a dryer area. Partial sun is fine. They'll get up to about 3' tall, but need very little ground space; they're fine to intersperse with other plants. Keep an eye out on the front of the house in a few weeks, several are likely to be in bloom.

Digitalis (common name: Foxglove)

Flowers may be deep purple, pastelish purple, or white, coming up in June. I don't believe a given plant's seeds will be true in color from year to year.

Though gorgeous, they're practically a weed. After flowering, they'll scatter piles of seeds (easy to collect by shaking over an envelope). They will overshadow most enything else in the garden, so you'll need to thin to just a few as they start poking up each Spring. Not at all pickey about conditions. This is a biennial -- it flowers on the second year.

This will become a monster tree with a 3' diameter trunk, 60' tall if you let it. While facing the house from the curb where the plants sit, there is one to the left, along the property line with our uphill neighbors. It's the biggest tree there.

It has long willow-like tendrils. Every few years it becomes infested with aphids -- enough that all the leaves and the plants below it will be sticky/slimy with goo. In Fall storms it drops millions of little sticks on the ground below to tangle up smaller plants.

On the other hand, it is a sturdy tree which provides lots of shade. If you've got time and space, perhaps this is the plant for your yard.

Oregano
The cooking spice.

Salal
Low plant, no flowers, small berries, turn to solid dark black. Extremely sturdy, will cover lots of area very slowly. Excellent for keeping a rough hillside that you don't want to spend much time maintaining from eroding.