![cheyenne sky blades at sunset](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3738/11059177264_687db4c7c1_c.jpg)
For todays post...let's take a trip into the not-so-distant past...last September, to be precise.
![north border from east 1890](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8432/7583519668_3d7fdb47f6_c.jpg)
When we first moved to our house in SE Portland, I started digging up the lawn about a month after we moved in. One of our neighbors noticed, and one day, showed up on our front steps with a plant in his hands...a gift! It was a nice little Variegated Willow...a plant I have to admit I probably wouldn't have picked out myself (that's it in the background of this photo).
![Sunny Midday Garden 2100](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8296/7891779784_e019a5c0f8_c.jpg)
It was a nice enough plant...but I just couldn't find a good spot for it...I must have moved it at least 3 times in as many years. It was too big for my garden...and just didn't fit in. Every time I walked by, I would hunger for that space it was taking up!
![Dug up](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5344/8896178190_4aedb0d300_c.jpg)
In any case, this spring, as I posted previously, I planted some grasses (Panicum 'Cheyenne Sky') in the area adjacent to the Willow.
![Planted Below](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5323/8896175742_3805945564_c.jpg)
It was odd...but suddenly, since it was newly-planted and at the forefront of my mind, I started pondering that whole section of the garden once again.
![Planted above](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5341/8895554839_8ab07ed854_c.jpg)
Seeing the grasses...and imagining them as they grew...my mind swam with possibilities, which I hinted at here.
![Sunset Panicum Daucus](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5467/9447578550_8cd96aeb30_c.jpg)
As spring turned to summer, I began to realize just how much I love this area now, with its grasses...I spent a lot of sunsets here...as the last rays of sun caught the Panicum.
![willow](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/9403855114_9d873a7f1e_c.jpg)
And I finally admitted to myself what I've known all the while. The Willow had to go. I wanted to expand this new micro-meadow and really exploit the sunset in this area (which the Willow, unfortunately, blocked).
![new grass planting 3556](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7452/9600641780_d79b811f17_c.jpg)
Happily, another gardener and blogger (Jenni at Rainy Day Gardener) said she'd take the Willow...which was a huge relief...it was a lovely plant...and just because it wasn't working in my garden didn't mean it had to die!
![new grass planting 3557](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/9600640828_ba2d72d4a2_c.jpg)
Another trip to my beloved Wind Dancer and I had several more Panicum 'Cheyenne Sky' to fill in the area.
![different cheyenne skies](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5529/11059120106_f9242eeca9_c.jpg)
It's funny to see how different the coloring is..on the right are the Panicums that I planted in the spring...on the left, the newly-planted ones...they have a much yellower tone, don't they!
![grasses where willow was](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5499/11059151354_b84d7dcd2f_b.jpg)
In the background, I planted a few Pennisetum macrourum I had purchased in the spring and was growing in a container (which they had rapidly outgrown...those puppies are vigorous)!
![october willowless corner](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3821/11059005025_c06e7fc7cf_c.jpg)
Thie Pennisetum is one of my favorite plants for catching light...and this clump echos another clump of the same grass in the facing parking strip...rhythm...it's a thing ;-)
![Cheyenne Sky at dusk](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5480/11059219963_68b6f99959_c.jpg)
I also randomly planted some Agastache 'Black Adder' that had been struggling in the parking strips and some Sanguisorbia 'Tanna' I had bought on impulse. It's too early to say exactly how it will mature...but I spent the rest of the summer/fall intensely enjoying the show!
![cheyenne sky sunset](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/11059047925_524256ba2e_c.jpg)
Our grill is right next to this planting, so I spend almost every evening out here, waiting for whatever I'm grilling...and just enjoying the view.
![dewy pennisetum hameln 3557](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/9613212673_14d875e8fd_c.jpg)
Even as sparse as it is right now...I have to say this planting feels much more at home in my garden than the willow ever did.
![side garden from west 3559](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/9773256711_d17d484636_c.jpg)
Also, unlike the Willow, which was fairly static during the growing season...
![north border from west 3666](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/10292560726_137e148300_c.jpg)
...grasses, of course, are constantly changing, marking the seasons...
![glowing north border](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5324/10163225303_17a1fe489d_b.jpg)
...and they celebrate the weather like nothing else!
![side yard](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/10846489484_3d695d9808_c.jpg)
I think this new planting made a huge (positive) impact on this area of the garden...not only did it open up the garden spatially, but it let light into an area that had become a bit dreary.
![cheyenne sky v](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5525/11059164004_37341ffd46_b.jpg)
Light, movement, color, texture.
![sunny october sunrise](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7411/11059124963_a4a510dfbd_b.jpg)
I have to say, I shouldn't have waited as long as I did to make the change!
![Panicum cheyenne sky leaves](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7361/11059163883_bf1bd3bd74_c.jpg)
Then again, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much if I hadn't come to it in such a roundabout way (is there any other way in my garden...apparently not)!
![north border with cat](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7428/11411404695_4d6f1eea65_c.jpg)
As the first rains fell and fall gave way to winter...I was still in love with this area.
![dewy north border h](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/11504224545_dea206dfc0_c.jpg)
And still am today.
![leaf caught in cheyenne sky](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7362/11059182393_0234771bd0_c.jpg)
I think this was the last of my big (ok, big for me) garden projects this past year...and now I look forward to this season as spring is just around the corner. Have you ever taken the "long route" to a solution in your own garden?
PS - I've gotten a few emails recently from people who were unable to leave comments...please let me know if you are having problems as well...and so sorry for the inconvenience!
UPDATE: It appears that one possible solution (especially if you are using Chrome, which recently released an update) is a plugin conflict..especially one called "Ghostery". Toggling plugins off and on may fix the problem