New Additions

I went around to some of the local greenhouses, looking for some houseplants Sunday, but I didn't really find what I was looking for. I have an old 55-gallon aquarium that I want to turn into a terrarium, so I was really looking for small plants.

I went to one greenhouse, but a lot of their plants were outside and looked like they had been frosted, so I didn't buy anything there. They did have some nice hanging baskets inside their greenhouses, which I may go back for next weekend, to hang off my back porch.

So I left there and went to another local nursery, but they seemed to have more trees than houseplants. After walking around among all the beautiful, tall trees they had there, I kind of forgot about the terrarium, which was my real reason for going plant hunting. I came across some very nice Silver Variegated Maples that they had near the back, and there were these two that really seemed to want to come home with me. It's like going to the humane society; there are always those puppies that just seem to want to come home with you. These two trees were definitely up front and vying for attention.

After loading them onto a wagon, I started the battle of getting them out. On top of the wagon they were taller than the structure they were housed under. I finally got them out and loaded into my van, they took up the entire length of the inside. They say if you hug a tree it will bring you good health, but what does it mean when a tree hugs you? The smaller of the two hugged me all the way home, making it somewhat difficult to drive. I thought "just like an excited puppy, happy to go home."

I planted them side by side just behind my house where they will eventually help shade the walkway and the back porch. They have an unusual two-tone leaf and I believe they are a hybrid, because the instructions (do trees really need instructions?) say if you get any solid colored leaves you have to trim them out. I don't know how they expect me to trim them out when they get 35 feet tall.