While stranded in Carleton Place on Saturday (to make a long story short, our car is a craptastic bucket of bolts) I was intrigued to discover that hey, Canadian Tire in Carleton Place has different plants than my local one! I am tempted to run back there next weekend and snap up a couple of items:

* some asclepias (butterfly plant - I always thought this just meant milkweed, but no, it's much fancier, and likes part-shade to boot)



* a nice variegated green foliage plant, which turned out to be an artemisia called Limelight



...and some sedum, since everything is on deep discount.

As I think I've remarked before, Canadian Tire's garden section is surprisingly awesome. Loblaws is pretty good too. I've seen both places carrying the same plants from the same growers as one of the nurseries I like. (I wonder how badly nurseries are affected by the big-box places being half-decent. God knows they still end up with an embarrassing chunk of MY money...)

Home Despot, however, is pretty crappy and usually worth no more than a cursory look around. Wal-mart, that den of iniquity, is about as crappy as you'd expect for perennials, but is occasionally handy for things like cheapass 6' bamboo stakes.

I'm also trying to think of a possible use for a Globe Blue Spruce, which first caught my eye at the nursery, and then again on sale for $40 at Loblaws. I love blue evergreens, and this one is enticingly bushy and interestingly shaped, and mad drought tolerant to boot. Trouble is that although it's a very slow grower, it does eventually top out at around 8'. As adorable as it is, I don't think I have a spot for it. Bah.



Oh, and note to self: must remember to take a picture of the crocosmia, which is finally - and stunningly - blooming.