I'm definitely leaning into the retail plant therapy right now. Garden Treasures Nursery has some great finds, including big espalier fruit trees, the 'Koto no Ito' Japanese maple I've wanted for ages, and a variegated osmanthus! The fruit trees are huge, and Kate and I both hurt our backs trying to install them. And the osmanthus just excites me because I don't normally see the variegated one at nurseries (this is the one that blooms in the fall, and has a strong fragrance).
I'm installing a new, mostly ornamental bed on the north side of the property, just to the east of the driveway. The featured specimen tree of this bed is a Japanese maple, 'Koto no Ito' ("harp strings"), and it's surrounded by a hydrangea, a couple rhododendrons, a couple leucothoe, some blueberries, and some native huckleberries, among other things. It's a combination of purgatory plants that badly need a home and some recent acquisitions. I don't have a strict design in mind -- just going with the flow and seeing what happens.
