I’ve long had a hankering for a Euonymus Bush for my Garden of Earthly Delights, if only for the sly reference to years suffering through darkened auditoriums and slide after slide of obscure paintings in muddy browns. Trouble was, all offerings seemed pretty ordinary. With so many spectacular choices, I could never justify planting a ho-hum tree, for any reason.

Enter Dancing Oaks Nursery. It didn’t hurt that Amy was with me to point out the charms of the fetching hot pink seed pods that, when they burst, sent forth tongues of fire in shades of orange and red.

Euonymus sachalinensis is also known as spindle tree, for the use of its hard wood in making the rods used by spinners and weavers in days of yore (before plastics came along to leach the romance from so many everyday items). The potted-up specimens for sale were, indeed, a bit on the spindly side, but thanks to the massive display garden, mature models decked out in all of their autumn finery cinched the deal.