Opps I Did it Again! - Grevillea Edition

Friday, on the way home from work, my Assistant, Yvette and I stopped at Xera.

We spent some time perusing the plants. I could tell Yvee was thinking "Oh geeze, not this again", as she kept ducking under the benches to lay down.  She knew this was going to take a while.

I looked at the small plants first and found a cute little variegated Carex.  We set that at the counter and kept looking. I kind of wanted another small Grevillea or perhaps a Callistemon.

Grevillea australis had to come home with me. She was small, cute and the sound of flossy white flowers reeking of honey sounded too good to pass up. 

Then I spied Grevillea x 'Neil Bell' and was intrigued. I was immediately seduced by his good looks. The down side was that the tag said "To 7' tall and as wide in 5 years". Crap! Where on earth could I put that!?!  I had to think about it a little. So I wandered around a some more.

Grevillea australis

Grevillea x 'Neil Bell'

Grevillea x 'Neil Bell'

So after hemming and hawing, and chatting with the lovely girl (Idinah) working there, I bought them both and said "F@#$-it! I'll figure it out when I get home".

When I got home, I wandered around the yard trying to envision what to dig up next. There was no hole in any existing flowerbed for this potentially big boy.

I opted to evoke the "at least I still have grass" mantra, and I dug up (in the heat no less) a new round out of the grass that burns to a crisp in the summer.  

Eventually, (if I know myself) all the grass will come out in this area and my Neil Bell can be as big as he wants. I added a baby Callistemon rugulosus 'violaceus' I got at the Hardy Plant Sale this past spring and moved around a few other things that were either getting hidden by other plants, or just needed a sunnier spot.

Still needs a few Sedums to fill things out a little more. Ugh, the grass is bad...

In a few years, this bed will be just another island in the hummingbird buffet that is my garden.