The Lavender Bush

Today I made a random purchase, a lavender bush to hopefully add a little bit of colour to our front yard. They are apparently hardy, and like full sun. I'm not sure how they will deal with the upcoming Summer heat, but I thought it was worth a try.
I didn't take into account, the absolute unwillingness of our soil.
From the moment the shovel landed, it was obvious. The soil was going to put up a fight. Really I shouldn't call it soil, more red clay.
After digging a hole, if you could call it that, as deep as I could manage, I then enlisted my daughter, to soften the dirt with the hose for 10-15 minutes. This required ballerina dress of course.

Eventually, we ended up with a muddy puddle. Peppa Pig jumping in muddy puddle ensued after a tuck of the tutu into leggings and a change into gumboots. No photos were possible of that part though, as full parental supervision was required due to the messy nature and splash of the puddle jumping.
Finally the "soil" was ready to accept our smallest of lavender bushes. I let my husband dirty his hands in the red mud.

After all this digging, watering and digging again the lavender bush was already wilting.
For all this effort to plant, for something that now looks so small, I hope it grows, at least for a little while.