Coronation Calamity

Yesterday I decided to dig up and divide the beautiful Coronation Gold yarrow by the driveway. I've been planning all summer to do that, and plant one division by the garage door next to the turquoise pot, and replant the other division back in the driveway strip. 

Here was the plan.

Alas, the Coronation Gold move turned into a Coronation catastrophe. 

It had gotten so big and it flopped over but I loved its big presence in front of the fence. After the bright yellow flowers went by the tawny flowers kept their structural form and looked great. It filled the tight space.

But as I dug it up I realized the reason it was so big and floppy was that there were four emitters under it and a large irrigation conduit line too. 

I knew there was some irrigation there and never gave it any supplemental watering. 

But that yarrow was getting way too much water for its needs.

The emitters were totally entwined in big woody stems, and the plant had grown on both sides under the conduit line, not to mention out under the fence too.

The roots were tough and thick and I could not lift the plant without bringing up the irrigation and snapping off the quarter inch emitter lines. Or digging out under the fence.

So I chopped it to smithereens and disposed of the poor hacked thing.

I now wish I left it alone and just pruned it in stages and more agresssively next spring, using ring supports to hold it up. It really was beautiful with all that water.

I will get a new Coronation Gold yarrow plant in spring and put that by the garage, I do still want that look. 

But guess what -- when I dug out the area to prepare to plant there, I found two irrigation lines in the exact spot where the yarrow will go.

There are no emitters in that area, just the big lines going somewhere. So the new yarrow will be much drier, although the roots will still be sitting on and entwining those lines I guess.

So this turned into a bit of a calamity.

I'll plant the new yarrow as planned, but the driveway strip now needs a re-do. It will no longer be anchored by a big full sunny looking plant.

Since the strip was all dug up, I planted the last remaining Radio Red Salvia greggii that was still sitting in a pot. I put it where the four emitters are, where the yarrow had been. Salvia is a plant that likes dry, but not as much as the yarrow, and it actually looks and flowers better with some water.

Even with irrigation, this strip is hot and sun filled.

I put the stone owls back where I had them previously, but need to move them, I'm not quite there with the placement yet. The littlest one lost both eyes and just looks like a random small rock, so I didn't use that. The second largest has also lost an eye -- I need to hide her, placed partly behind a plant.

On the left next to the gate, not seen yet, is the brand new Rocky Mountain penstemon, which should give some height if it lives. On the right of the salvia I transplanted a non flowering sedum I had been keeping in a pot. Next spring I'll see if I can get the blanketflower seeds going and put some in among these plants -- that will add height and color.

None of this looks like much, and once again I need to find a solution to drape over the metal edging. The veronicas aren't doing it. Maybe some Angelina sedums?

It needs more visual weight than what I have there now.