mute_witness's Rusty Ol' Stove garden

Shady spot under a 25’ cedar tree. Lilacs grow on one side, pointlessly, as there’s not enough sun for them to bloom. Under them is rambly vinca vine. We found an antique iron stove at a yard sale one weekend…it seemed like a perfect garden ornament.

To the right of stove, planted 3 crazy-leaved ferns purchased at the amazing Plant Delights Nursery…a housewarming gift from my #1 GARDENING BUDDY, like, two years ago. Finally decided and got those three just this past April. Growing nicely. A “Tatting Fern” and a couple crazy Lady Ferns…I forget the names. Stuck three columbines (“Origami Pink and White”) to the left of stove.
The stove burners are perfect medium pot sized…both now holding a potted impatiens “Butterfly” in salmon. Lots of small, dainty flowers on these plants and sort of spready shaped. Then a pot inside the stove holds a regular wild fern that I yanked from my yard, plus a bit of varigated English ivy on each side…all this cascades out the front opening of the stove.

Other than that, rather than mess around trying to be a hotshot and waste money and murder plants, I surrounded the side plantings with about a dozen or so good old impatiens in salmon and orange. Boring? Hmph. Easy, reliable and will look damn good later on, effortlessly, while I am busy killing every other “interesting” thing in my yard! Long live Impatiens!

Thinking of sticking a few “Non-Stop” tuberous begonias in that lovely, rich candy pink shade called “rose”, in a line along front edge of stove.

They are just so dang brittle and breaky….if the chickens even go near them in their evening rambles, they will be anihilated. The begonias. Well, then the chickens too, once I get a hold of them.

Someday I’d like to get fancy in the shade. But for now, I lean on good, old, cheap, crazy-colored impatiens. It seems nothing else blooms so tirelessly! And they have such interesting, different ones out there now. Anti-impatiens snobbery is a tragedy and YOUR loss!

In the same area, turning away from the stove, are some bleeding hearts (planted this spring from gallon nursery stock), wild ferns, a couple rose bushes bought at the grocery store last year, a birdbath and some Egyptian “walking” onions. Interplanted more impatiens in all of this…