Rewards for my efforts!

To date I have 78 plants in the ground, although a few need to be replaced due to squirrels digging them up. Grrr. Most of the plants are in shady areas, and are early bloomers. But the three Cardinal Flowers are in full bloom and already attracting the birds! Not a great picture since it was taken from 70 feet away, but the Ruby-throated Hummingbird has taken to them in a big way. I rarely see her at the hummingbird feeder anymore.

The landscaped area is still sparsely filled and I figure at least another 50 plants. The good news is that I have a lot of sunny area to fill and there is a much wider selection of plants.

I found a wonderful place to mail-order plants here in Missouri. (#1) This fellow has a huge selection and specializes in Native Plants only. (#2) The prices are much more favorable even factoring in S&H at 17%. (#3) The 43 plants I ordered from Missouri Wildflowers in Jefferson City arrived two days later and in excellent condition.

It sure beats driving all over town not knowing what any given nursery has in stock. But I do have say this: I emailed a list of plants to about a dozen nurseries in the area. I was shocked that every single one of them responded quickly. I bought plants from a couple of them and hope to patronize each of them in the near future.