Tree Out, Tree In

Adam and I visited the local nursery again. I told the girl, who was displaying her Christmas wares, that I'm always only interested in what's 50% off :) So I bought some perennials. (Who wants to waste time on annuals that die?) I got the following:
Three artemisia that are quite spindly from the wet weather we've had. They'll come back in the spring.

Two sedum of the stonecrop variety. I usually get Autumn Joy, but not this time. I love sedum.

These we put in the newly tilled sun bed on the side of the house.

And one hardy amarylis that will handle the winter weather.

I know some of you are bored by photos of green tufts in pine straw. But some of you know the excitement I feel. And I bought three astilbes and put them in the shade bed that already has lambs' ears and hostas:

And then! I saw what I wanted for Christmas!

A eucalyptus tree! I adore eucalyptus -- so unusual-looking, so lovely, delicate. Rather tropical. We have several in the area, so I know it can thrive here. Sometimes the cold temps will zap the leaves, but the trees survive.

We perused the yard when we got home, looking for the perfect spot for her. At last, I knew I'd found the location -- no wires overhead, lots of sun, center stage. Problem was this: a large crepe myrtle already occupied the spot. That meant Adam would have to dig out the crepe myrtle, root system and all, and do it the next day (Saturday), so we could put the eucalyptus in before the cool weather came.

I came home from the market and found he'd already made good headway.

He used a mattock and a shovel. Toward the end he put a car jack under the root ball, 

and shoved it out that way.

Meanwhile, the puppies played. Sandy and Maggie have stick wars, in which they bark loudly at each other, back and forth, proclaiming ownership of the stick. Sandy wins.

The eucalyptus waits for her place. I didn't want the root ball to sit out in that pot when it gets cold. I want it in the ground, watered in and snug.

Just around supper time, he finished. He was exhausted. That was back-breaking work, and without either of his sons here to help him!

 Well, he might wait until Thanksgiving to let them help him haul it away to the burn pile.
It's quite heavy.

He will keep the branches, which are straight, for various poles and stakes around the farm.
While digging it out, we found many, many (about 100?) daffodil bulbs. Just tons of them. I'd been told there were many daffies on the property. I put them in a bucket, separated them, and planted about half of them new in the sun bed mentioned above. I still have a pile left to put ... somewhere.
And there she is!

You'll all be glad to know:
The roof is fully fixed. At least we think so, so far :)
The septic system is fine. The whole system is actually owned by the company, and they came and checked and worked on it twice, no cost to us.
We got a total of six Knock Out roses for the front of the property, all at the sale price -- quite a steal!