Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

That thrilling line from Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is the most festive declaration ever and it is my credo for my long-awaited reward for revamping a neglected garden – the chance to plant anew.

Remember my darling Heuchera ‘Plum Royale’ that I bought before I had a garden, then froze it, then saved it? Well, it is safely tucked in the ground and has some new neighbours.


Yes, we laboured over selecting trees and shrubs for this bed – and there are more decisions yet to be made there. However, I have started planting one skinny, tapering end of the bed that I know will not be having any more major structural plant material additions.

So I put my little darling, the plant I promised a garden to, in a spot I can see out my kitchen window beside a selection that Hubby picked out. His plant choice was the Athyrium Otophorum (Eared Lady Fern). The tag says it is a “smaller, more compact fern with dramatic foliage…wine red fiddleheads…fronds unfurl to silvery blue-green, accented with maroon-purple stems.”

Sounds dramatic, hey? Well, it wasn’t really. When Hubby showed it to me at the nursery in the midday sun; quite frankly, it looked rather washed out and a tad sickly in colour.

What a difference the shade makes. Particularly the dappled evening light. It pops!

So we have a gorgeous plummy plant with shiny pewter highlights on the leaves and a glowing frond dancer.

Watching over them in the background is the lovely Astible x arendsii ‘Bridal Veil’.

I think my new little garden is starting to grow!

If, like me, you enjoy seeing a gorgeous example of just how beautiful an addition to your garden the Heuchera can be, check out the very talented Northern Shade's post here.