What's a Pintle?

Italian Arum seed pod. Once known as "priest's pintle." (Check the link if you must know what a "pintle " is. ) These are great for winter foliage in a shade garden. They sprout as the hostas are going dormant and vice-versa.

Looking Busy

Today I yanked the pansies out of the front bed. All of a sudden, half the bed was empty and bare, while the other half was jammed full of hellebores, hostas, astilbes, and ferns, all growing on top of one another. (Half the time, when I get hellebores, it is winter and I have no idea where the hostas and astilbes are sleeping, and so the hellebores invariably get planted on top of something.)

So I moved some of the shade plants into empty spaces. As long as I was moving things, I figured I may as well re-work that corner where the coralbells are. I noticed that the coralbells looked nice beside these chartreuse-leaved hostas; they looked even better after I rearranged them, plus it was a good excuse for postponing a number of less rewarding chores involving laundry.


The first Stella d'Oro bloom (May 2)