Plant-itis

I wasn't going to blog today, I just wasn't feelin' it and I decided not to push it. Things change...I came home from the grocery store and there was a van in the driveway that I didn't recognize. The Husband called to me from the barn to tell me who it was, it was one of my gardening buddies, Pete. About a month ago Pete stopped by to ask if he could have a division off of an unusually tall grass that I have. Most gardeners love sharing...it's who we are and what we do. I told him he was welcome to a division but he was going to have a challenge on his hands, we've divided this grass once before and it was not an easy task. Pete has tried to find this grass at retail outlets since he first saw it in my yard and hasn't been successful. I bought this Miscanthus giganteus ( Giant Chinese silver grass ) five or six years ago from my friend Mary. When I brought it to the counter Mary said "that's going to be a really huge grass...are you sure?" I love grasses , I aced my grasses classes (he he) when I was studying horticulture. I'm very fond of the way they provide movement in the garden. My garden is large enough that it can handle a ten foot tall grass, and that's what this giant does...wooo hoooo...it also "clacks" in the late summer, it makes a gentle clicking sound that I really like when the wind blows. A few years ago my friend Robin was here for a visit and she went crazy over this grass, she absolutely had to know the name of it. Robin is a garden designer and she used to be the garden design goddess here, now she has her own business. Anywhoooo, us garden designers and garden/plant lovers go crazy if there is a plant that we are not familiar with and the gardener can't give us the name. Robin spent that evening with her nose in my reference books searching for the name of the giant grass that had caught her fancy. I told her I was pretty sure it was a Miscanthus but I just wasn't sure of the variety....duhhh...really....how hard is it to remember that the giant grass is called giganteus, huh? Well....fast forward five or six years, my friend Pete wanted to know the name...do you think I could remember giganteus this time? Nope! I'm blaming it on mid-life-middle-age-meno-mind-melt...it's such a bummer not to be able to remember crap...arghhh....it's either that or I call things the wrong name. Ohhh well...moving on.
Pete brought a friend over to help with the digging., she had very cute and colorful rubber boots that I was going to get a photo of....dang....forgot that too!

Here's Pete digging and digging (sorry, the blogger-dog won't let me type now unless I type in italic...grrrrr). Then they started washing the soil off the root ball. Gardeners are some of the most determined people I know. The "I must have that plant-itis" infects us and we can't shake it until we get our paws on the horticultural object of our desire, for Pete....it was this grass.

It was such a muddy mess, and very slow going. I put puppy on a leash and went out there in my boots to visit...didn't grab a shovel 'cuz I didn't want to get in the way....lolol. I told Pete I was going to blog this and he's thinking he's going to be famous...I had to tell him I have about five or six readers...sorry buddy....you're going to have to find fame another way.

I wonder if he'll still be my friend when he finds out I posted the butt shot. Sorry dude, this was the best shot of the root ball and unfortunately your butt is there too. Pete did alllll the work, but hey....I shared my plant! Pete went home with several good sections and I have some here that I need to plant in other places where I've been wanting to put this grass. I also have a GIANT hole where the old grass used to be...PETE!