Being of an age when dejunking and downsizing makes more sense than acquiring, I don’t often buy new things for the garden. My tools will likely outlast me. Plants come and go, but somehow the place is always full of them. Fashion isn’t an issue. Unless something wears out or breaks, there’s no incentive to buy non-consumables.

But this spring a few new items have turned up here.

This birdbath was a birthday present in March. It’s a classic concrete model and looks right at home. The island in the middle is a rock. My garden is full of rocks picked up from various beaches. Birds have visited the bird bath. A few have actually taken baths.

I bought this plant of Heuchera (coral bells) “Timeless Orange” to replace a specimen called “Peach Melba” that unfortunately died over the winter. Then I thought it needed a suitable pot. Terra cotta wouldn’t work — too similar in colour to the plant and not frost-resistant. I thought this one, whose label said “Toga Bell Yama – Olive Black” looked pretty good. It was made in Malaysia. The one on its left was made in Vietnam. I didn’t realize garden pots are shipped across the Pacific from Asia.

I needed a small watering can for use at the far end of the garden, all of 50 feet distant from where the two regular cans hang out. It had to be fillable by dipping in a rain barrel. This pink one is perfect, not to mention cute.

I added a new tool a couple of years ago — the fearsome Hori-Hori Knife. Death to weeds and handy for fast planting jobs. I’m not sure what people passing by my place think when they see a shabbily-clad middle aged woman armed with this item — “Uh-oh, one of those crazy gardeners. Let’s get out of here.”