New things

I lost my Oakleaf Hydrangea; some of my garden fell prey to the long, hot, dry summer. But this was killed by workmen, and I was very upset about it. I specifically pointed it out, said that was the one plant in the garden that needed to be guarded, and they still snapped it off at ground level.

I replaced it, and this version is small as yet, but has a lot of nice looking branches. You can see it just in front of the bleeding heart.

The other plant that I lost, and was sort of happy about, was the cotoneaster. It was vigorous, but I wasn't that pleased with the overall look. So when it appeared that it had suffered lots of winter damage, I went looking for a replacement. And found these wonderful little woodland groundcover plants. They are a dwarf dogwood, called Cornus Canadensis. Or Canadian Bunchberry. They are native to North America in a band from Alaska to Newfoundland, and are apparently a favourite snack for moose. My challenge will be to keep them mulched, because they don't like really warm soil temperatures. They will have tiny white flowers, then berries, and the whole plant turns red in the fall. I am holding out great hope for these!