Mother's Day Plants Take Over the World!

A few weeks ago Mrblocko asked what I wanted for Mother's Day. I decided that last years gift of plants would be a good gift this year as well. Since Mrblocko is even more clueless than I am when it comes to plants, I went to a few greenhouses and picked out some stuff that I wanted.

Last year I bought marigolds, strawberries and violas. This year I opted for herbs. The sage, oregano, thyme, chives, lavender and strawberries all came back this year. My parsley, cilantro and basil did not. So I picked up some flat leaf parsley, cilantro, and sweet Italian Basil. I also bought 2 cherry tomato plants, peppermint, and rosemary. Then at the last nursery I went to I saw this guy:
It's purple curly leaf basil. I never heard of such a thing! It may be just a shorty short pants guy now, but it is going to get to be hugemongous. Aaaaand it's going to get pink flowers in the summer. When I told Blockette that they were going to get pink flowers and we could eat the leaves, she said "Oh Mommy, you gotta get that one."

Then in the same aisle, there was this little cutie: Aw, don't you want to just eat it up? Well you can, cause it is ginger mint. Yes. Mint with an under note of ginger. I never heard of that either. I love the stripy yellow and green of the leaves. In addition too all that great stuff, it's going to spread and be great ground cover.

Speaking of ground cover, I bought one non herb-y plant. It called to me from across the nursery. Seriously. I saw the orange five or six aisles away from where the herbs were. I had to check it out. It's a Houttuynia cordata, or a chameleon plant. Please don't bite my head off if you are a gardener. I know this plant likes to spread and spread and spread. I guess it's illegal to plant in Australia and New Zealand, as it is such a pest there. The climate here is nothing like there, so I "think" I'll be fine. I also planted it in partial shade, so hopefully that will help keep it in check. If not, you can say "I told you so" and I will acquiesce.

Seriously, I must have a thing for invasive plants. One of my favorite plants at our old house was the vinca, or periwinkles. Those babies wanted to go everywhere. There were lots of them that we had all over the front, side and back of the house as ground cover. The chameleon plant is just one solitary lonely little fella. It won't get as crazy as the periwinkles. Famous last words right?