Lucky escape!

I was just about to hack out a particularly revolting looking dandelion when I noticed some stones around the base.

I have been putting piles of stones round everything I plant for two reasons:
1) It marks when a plant may have died back, so it doesn’t get hoed off
2) The stones help conserve the moisture around the roots – a great help until the plant is established

So, I followed the stones until I found out what else should be in the planting hole – in case I damaged it when slashing through the dandelion root.

Oops, nearly just killed a chicory plant – I’ve seen the ragged blue flowers by the side of the road for years, and longed to have some in my garden – and finally found a plant this spring.

Lucky, eh?