This weekend while I was mulling over my blueberry choices at the nursery, I saw a potted shrub I needed.

Its called a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick Tree and it a is quite . I saw it first on an HGTV landscaping show and thought it looked interesting but I'd never seen on in real life. I would have said tree now but for the price tag - $135 for a small potted shrub! And I think I would really need two of them. Feeling sad about not getting my cool tree I came home and did some research.

It turns out they are not necessarily potted plants, they are in fact actual trees that grow to between eight and fifteen feet tall. Okay, short trees but not really any sort of potted plant that any pot in my budget could handle, unless you strictly train it to be  potted plant, which they are apparently suited for it if regularly pruned.The above tree needs pruning, they look better when they are trained more vertically.  But then you are entering bonsai land and that is very pricey real-estate, and I might be better off sticking to potted flowers.

They do grow leaves that hide their best feature, a nice, modest plant

It spends most of the year kind of fat and shrubby. Not very attractive, it could be anything really. But wait for spring!

It sheds that false modesty and lets its freak flag fly! It grows penisi! In other shots they look a little like grapes or currents but they always look like penis. I had no idea! Can you imagine the neighbors?! It might be a better back yard tree.

Speaking of thins that are growing in my back yard, I found signs of sprouting potatoes! Teeny, tiny sprouts but sprouts! Yay for spring!