Although there’s no threat of frost in this week’s hot and muggy forecast, this is our traditional time to start bringing Container Bed plants back into the greenhouse. Because we have so many tender plants it’s better for us to have to do a little extra watering once they’re inside than be caught in a frost warning gotta-get-them-in-right-now!-panic. As anyone who’s ever moved knows, it’s good (cathartic even?) to throw unwanted, useless things away first to make the load feel a little lighter. So we’re culling the herd. It’s tougher to throw out living breathing plants than pants you haven’t worn since 1983 though. There’s always the temptation to save them – maybe this year it’ll be beautiful!… Maybe this year it won’t be infested with mealybug!… Maybe this year pinstriped pegged jeans will be back in style…

Our first casualties were the Agapanthus. They were gorgeous once upon a time and we’ve been holding on to them as they’ve gotten more and more pot bound and more and more infested. It’s time to let go. So we asked Nick to do it. Nick The Willing (I think that’s his Viking name), one of the Deadheads, says “Sure! I can do that!” every time we ask him to do some hideous thing. In order to not throw the baby out with the bath water (ie. save the pots), he carved away the poor old roots and took a saw to the pot sides. Now what will we get to fill the empty pots?

Fred spotted somebody else making a move this week. Never-ever, not ever have I ever seen a slug this big outside of a Pacific Northwest rainforest! I’m not sure where he’s been this dry summer or where he was headed but Gail couldn’t help herself and took him home so that her 8 year old could impress the heck out of his classmates. I wonder if they’ve named him yet … He looked like a Jerome to me…

And froggy went a courtin’. The Rockettes found this one in the Rock Garden. The pond has dried up again but looks like a Nepeta nest makes a next best second home.

Anyone else making a move?