coral bells, a new fave

 7/17... Arg... No rain.. AGAIN!!! Everywhere around me is getting rain, but in my 10 mile radius, everything splits up and it rains around me. West rain looks good, then North and South by a mere mile or two gets rain, then East the hole closes up again and they get rain.
What gives Mama N? Do I need to do a rain dance or something?
The barrels are low, the jugs are all empty, plants far out are languishing... gack.

And a fave new plant of mine is Coral Bells- Heuchera.
 These are frilly leaved evergreens native to North America, and have been heavily bred to bring out specific traits in coloration. These are great in full shade, dappled shade, and even some full sun action depending on the variety. Likes to be coddled moist for cuttings, but once established can be one of the hardiest perennials in the landscape that offer year round color.
And extra attractive, changing color year round too.


I purchased two more coral bells yesterday at work, they finally were on sale :) Cinnamon Curls and Caramel in gallon pots. Both can be split, and the Cinnamon Curls is actually from last year, and seriously needs splitting up.
On Friday while running errands in BH, I got a Peach Flambe and Purple Petticoats in quarts on clearance- both can be split.
Earlier this year, I picked up a pair each of Palace Purple, Marvelous Marble, and Firefly. But those need to go into quart pots to plump up for splitting next year.

Cinnamon Curls: Compact, 9-12" mounds, 18" flower spikes

Caramel: 12" high, 12- 15" wide mounding habit, 14" flower spikes

Peach Flambe: 7" tall, 14" spread, 16" flower spikes

Purple Petticoats: height 12", spread 24", 28" flower spike

Palace Purple: 8-12" wide, 12-16" wide

Marvelous Marble: 8-12" high, 16" wide, 24" flower spikes

Firefly: 15"w, 18" high, 20" bloom spikes

I'm getting into the reds, purples, blacks, and silvers right now. Not much of those color pallets going on right now on the property.

Great resources on growing heuchera-coral bells:

http://awaytogarden.com/the-best-heuchera-and-how-to-grow-them/


7/19.  We finally got in some rain night before last, about 15 minutes of super storming. Enough to fill all the tanks. We might have more rain in the forecast, so I made sure to drain all the tanks off today.

Also decided to take a couple pounds of fresh mushrooms to make up a big batch of duxelle. Gonna use some tonight, and freeze some off for future use. I had already filled up both dehydrators with mushrooms to help replenish dry stocks, and needed to use those mushrooms up! I was originally intending to pickle up a bunch, but they were just too big to work well. So alternatives are going on. Duxelle takes a while to make, but freezes up well, and is worth the time.

Gonna use some of that mixed with a wild grain medley, and a chicken and spinach mix to stuff a bunch of tomatoes with that I picked up the other day at one of the local produce stands.

And say, I was told yesterday that my final day at the Fruit Exchange would be the 31st. I knew it was coming since it was just a summer job and business has super died off. But still sad about it, this has been a fun job in a lot of ways. But it's a good thing too, I got GenCon coming up, and the elections too- and I really need to seriously start reading up on all the stuff I've been given to read up on, lol.