You can understand my surprise when my sister said that I could bring some plants from a gardening centre.
There were specifications:
I could bring sage or lavender for a new spot she had dug.
I could bring one, and one rose only to replace one that had gone out.
I could bring some low plants that were not perennials for a flower bed in front of the house.
On Saturday morning my hubby and I started our trip to the countryside from a gardening centre. We like that place. We occasionally go for walks there just for fun. This time I went with a happy excitement. I had a mission and a permission to buy.
I am puzzled as to how gardeners choose from such a huge variety of plants. All of them so beautiful.
I started from lavender and sage. Our lavenders take a large portion of a flower bed next to a cellar and our dark bluish purple sage bush behind a green house is magnificent. I chose three pots of light purple sage for the new spot. One item off the list.
In the rose section I walked around for a while narrowing my choice from five to three to one. My final choice was a rose with creamy pinkish blossoms that smelled heavenly. The other four roses I had marked looked fabulous too and I exercised great self-control to follow directions of buying just one. Second item off the list.
The one year plant section was the hardest to make choices from. The names of the plants said nothing to me. My choice was going to be purely on the looks. First a plant called Celosia Intenze caught my attention. It had a collection of pink fluffy tail like blossoms sticking up from a base of narrow green leaves. I got three pots of those. Then I noticed a tray with pots of short gerberas in various colours. I had never seen them in a pot before. I thought they were always tall and arranged in vases. I got a yellow, red and orange sample, each pot having three blossoms in them. The last thing crossed off my list.
My trolley full of colourful plants and my smile a mile wide we headed to the check out.
Not knowing much about gardening I had fully enjoyed my plant buying experience.
I delivered the plants. The planting I will leave to the ones who know what they are doing.
Isn't this rose pretty? I chose it. :)
I also am not a gardener- and both my parents are and were sure it would come to me eventually. I have successfully kept alive the 10 plants I bought from the previous tenant last July and that has been a major win (I do nothing but water them twice a week and sometimes pluck off dead leaves). I feel your stress and admire your decision making!
ReplyDeleteI am an aspiring sometime successful gardener and the draw to the earth, to help it produce life, seems universal. We all tend the earth in different ways and this post brought me back to an important part of summer. What a beautiful rose!
ReplyDeleteI cannot count the gardening mistakes I have made, no green thumb here, either. The rose you chose is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI also lack a green thumb. It's nice that your sister has a way for you to participate in gardening.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed your slice. I also am not a gardener. But just as you, I can help those in the family that are. My husband has the patience to research and tend to his plants. I help by cleaning up after he leaves piles of weedings. And I get to enjoy all he plants. I know plants are to grow but to me it is magical when the flower blooms! Your rose is exquisite!!
ReplyDeleteMy approach to gardening is to plop some seeds in the ground and hope some of them take. I am always surprised by what I have when things start to bloom. I am not a gardener.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider myself a great gardener but I do like to shop for flowers and decide which ones would look beautiful in my yards. Your choices sound just wonderful and Mom's roses are beautiful. I left a reply at that site, too.
ReplyDeleteI too love that rose selection. And as a gardener I appreciate the effort you made to choose the just right selections for someone else’s garden!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post and experience! I am glad your family decided to recruit you to buy some plants. It sounds like you had fun and made some great picks! The rose is lovely! I've been having fun visiting garden centers to pick plants for the landscaping we've been doing at our cabin! So enjoyable! Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
ReplyDeleteOh Terje, what a lovely slice of your life today. It seems to me you were more knowledgeable than you admitted. I guess part of landscaping is having an artistic eye and a sense of what would look beautiful in a certain space. It seems that, along with your sister's good advice, made for a win for everyone!
ReplyDeleteTotally delightful! I love reading about your foray to the gardening center. I am not a gardener, but I love being around those who know what they're doing. And I suspect you know more than you think you do!
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