It’s that time again.

It’s time to do some plant shopping.

First stop is at Bluestone Perennials. I’ve been a customer for decades now and have never been disappointed with the quality of the plants. They are my first go-to for online plant shopping.

For today, I used their “Shop by Gardening Solution” functionality and focused on plants that are wet site tolerant. As many of you know, that is the biggest struggle in my garden. But that doesn’t stop me, that doesn’t slow me down. I’ve learned to embrace it.

I also filtered my search to include “deer resistant” knowing that isn’t always accurate but it’s a good start.

My search efforts resulted in 82 options. A good majority of these plants already reside in my garden but there were enough new options to get my gardening juices flowing.

Here are the top 5 plants I discovered, all now residing in my virtual cart on the Bluestone Perennials website.

Click on the photos to get specifics for each at the BP website.

Filipendula Flore Pena (Meadowsweet)

I have two different pink-flowering Meadowsweet in my garden already and was pulled in not only by the white blooms, but the fern-like foliage.

I like the 2-3′ size as it would appear to work in most gardens.

It blooms in June and appears to thrive with afternoon shade.

Eupatorium fortunei ‘Pink Frost’ (Joe Pye Weed)

A variegated Joe Pye Weed was all I needed to hear. I’ll take 5 please.

Tradescantia andersonia ‘Blushing Bride’ (Spiderwort)

This is a new addition to BP this spring and color me way intrigued.

The foliage is way different than the typical Spiderwort and check out those unique markings on the leaves.

Throw in the flower color and I’m sold.

Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Tiny Wine Gold’ (Ninebark)

I am a Ninebark fan and this is a sweet addition to my ever expanding collection.

While not deer resistant, I’ll do my best to find a good hiding spot. Or I’ll plant it in a container on my deck.

The effort is worth it for that leaf color IMHO.

PSST … it’s on sale right now. Half off. Jump on it.

Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Northern Lights’ (Tufted Hair Grass)

I was sold as soon as I saw the foliage colors in the photos.

This is a cool season grass (growth starts in early spring when the soil is still cool) which is on the smaller side 16″.

I see it kicking some booty planted in mass as a groundcover of sorts.

After much thought and in depth analysis, I finally settled on the six plants to include in my annual Bluestone Perennials order. Check that, it is my semi-annual order, one for spring and one for fall.

This is a very deliberate process. I use the Bluestone Perennials “Plant Finder” and immediately filter their full plant list to match my conditions:

Wet Site Tolerant

Clay

Full Sun

Deer Resistant

Once that is done and the list has been significantly cut down, I go through each plant one by one in order to cut the list down even further. Some are easy to immediately eliminate; those I already have, those I know I’ve killed in the past and those that don’t pass the eye test.

With the list that now remains, I do some cursory research on those plants I am not all that familiar with and if I think the plant is a viable option, it gets added to the shopping cart. From there I know which remaining plants are on the wish list and they get added to the cart as well.

When that process is completed, we review the cart and start to compare plants against each other with the goal of not exceeding the predetermined $100 budget. Sort of my own version of a plant shopping reality show.

“Honey, I really love that new Aster but that pushes us over our budget.”

“I know. And we can’t forget to factor the kids in here. How will they feel about living with that Aster?”

“Screw them, they won’t even know it exists. They never even set foot out in the garden.”

“Good point. Let’s take a risk and do it. I love you.”

(A great big hug follows and then collective smiles as we both click the “submit” button together).

After the list has been finalized within the shopping cart, I excitedly hit “submit” and immediately add all of the plants to my master plant spreadsheet. I also then start to map out where the plants will be located in the spring.

One hell of a good time.

So without further ado, here are the 6 different plants I ordered from Bluestone Perennials. If you click the photo for each, it will take you to the plant description on the Bluestone Perennials website.

You’re welcome.

RUDBECKIA ‘INDIAN SUMMER’ 

• Love it for the height 3-4′
• Love it for the larger flowerheads
• I’ve grown the annual Rudbeckia and it still reseeds ten years later. A little bit worried about it being invasive.

ASTER ‘BLUEBIRD’

• Another tall plant – 4′
• Not really deer resistant but I don’t care. I’ll hide it well.
• Will definitely be added among some ornamental grasses.

LOBELIA ‘BLACK TRUFFLE’

• Had me at those black stems
• Tall 3-4′ (sensing a theme here)
• A no-brainer for those of us with soggy soil

CEPHALANTHUS ‘SUGAR SHACK’

• A smaller Buttonbush. Why the hell not?
• “Loves a boggy wet spot”
• Multi season interest with blooms, berries and ever changing foliage color

PENNISETUM ‘FOXTROT’

• An ornamental grass I don’t have. Some times that is enough.
• Already imagining the breezes with this one.
• Another Kurt Bluemel creation, say no more.

CALAMAGROSTIS BRACHYTRICA

• I think I tried this one before and somewhere it got lost in the shuffle.
• I like grasses, like a lot
• Those blooms are killer

There you have it. What do you think? Solid choices? Do you want to ruin my bliss with any negative feedback?

Have at it.

The reflection of the snow has been giving me a brutal headache these past few days so to remedy that I decided I will now stare at a computer screen uninterrupted for the foreseeable future.

The goal is to finalize my online purchases at Bluestone Perennials and use the gift certificate that has been staring at me since Christmas.

So let’s work through this live and see where we end up. As I write this post I am listening to Radiohead and slowly drifting off into a world of birds chirping, bees buzzing, callouses forming and me placing winter on a cruise ship and waving goodbye to it and all of the other passengers as they head out to sea.

Bon Voyage you f’er.

If you aren’t a Radiohead hater, play this as you move through this post. You can thank me later.

Before narrowing down my search on bluestoneperennials.com to find plants that suit my conditions, I need to take a look at some shrubs and dream of a non-deer world.

Viburnum ‘Red Wing’

Sucked in by the foliage color, realize that it is fleeting since only on new growth each spring, have too many other young Viburnums  already that I’m hiding from the deer. Pass.

Cornus ‘Golden Shadows’

Love the leaf shape and color, I’ve killed a few Cornus in my lifetime, only option may be in a container where I can control the drainage and protect from the deer, seems to need shade which I don’t really have. Pass.

Sambucus ‘Lemony Lace’   

I love the foliage of this shrub, appears to like a moist soil, claims to be deer resistant (hmm …). I can envision a container this would look great in, good discussion piece, peeps will want to touch its leaves. Sold.

Clethra ‘Vanilla Spice’

You had me at Clethra … these have ALWAYS thrived for me so let’s try another one. Sold.

Clethra ‘Sugartina Crystalina’

Name sounds like a My Little Pony or an exotic dancer but again, me likey Clethra. Sold.

Spirea ‘Blue Kazoo’ 

I’ve been slowly phasing out Spireas over the years, but this has that blue foliage I am a sucker for, they are almost always care free. I want to say “no” but can’t move on. Fine, let’s give it a whirl. Sold.

Daylily ‘Christmas Carol’

How did this squeeze in there? I’ve bitched and moaned about the daylily for years now. No can do. Pass.

So now let’s narrow our search to wet site, deer resistant and mostly sunny since that is what I am targeting.

Damn I love this feature.

Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’

All signs point to this being a must considering my soil conditions but I have failed with these for too long to try again. Pass.

Monarda ‘Claire Grace’

Similar to Clethra, if you say Monarda I say “yes please”. I do however have a ton of these I can just divide. But I’m digging what appears to be dark stems. Cannot resist. Sold.

Ligularia ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’

I failed once with this one as it didn’t appear to like all the sun it received. But damn it is sweet. Although it is not deer resistant and I have nowhere to hide it from the wandering herd. Playing it smart here. Pass.

You know what? I’m good. I’m going to finally show some restraint and end it here. I’m pretty sure these purchases will be covered by my gift card and wasn’t I the one who talked about spending little dinero this year and taking advantage of divisions?

So there you have it. Time to check out and move on to other things. Oh wait, we are covered in snow and ice and it is 15 degrees outside. Never mind, I’ll just continue to navigate the information superhighway.