New Plantings.

11-2-09 SHORT HILLS: I’ve been back here for about a week. The painters have finished painting the outside of the house, except for a few shutters awaiting replacement. I spent a day working on the gutters and leaders which had been removed by the painters for painting, but some not reassembled in quite the right way.

After Halloween, I started planting the big area from which I had removed all the evergreen trees under the living room windows. So far I have planted 15 deciduous shrubs, almost all will not be more than 3-4 feet tall. All the stock came from The Farm in Chatham Township. They are clearing roses, usually in the $40 range for $5 and the rest of the shrubs are 20% off. I have spent about $400, and I need about 5 more pieces. Their available stock is still plentiful and looks healthy.

Here’s the list to date:

• Spirea-1 ‘Snowmound’-Spirea nipponica
• 2 ‘Shirobana’ (S. j. ‘Shibori’)-Spirea japonica
• 1 Goldflame-Spiraea bumalda
• Abelia-2 ‘Little Richard’-Abelia x grandiflora
• St. John’s Wort-1 Hypericum x ‘Hidcote’
• 1 Hypericum ‘Mystical Beauty’ PP#13532
• Hydrangea-1 Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lady in Red’ PP#15175
• Butterfly Bush-1 Beddleja davidii ‘Potter’s Purple’
• Pheasant Berry-1 Leycesteria formosa ‘Golden Lanterns, Notbruce’ CPBR#2318
• Roses-2 White Out ‘Radwhite’ PPAF
• 1 David Austen-Rosa ‘Crocus Rose’ [yellow]
• 1 unlabeled red rose

The weather has been seasonal, there was two inches of rain over the last two weeks. The planting has been a muddy job. I have had to cut and saw out a lot of roots from the previous occupants of the space.

New blooms: witch hazel.