Planting stuff

I do like to pretend I've got green fingers, my Mum has them for sure :: you can't run 2.5 allotments simultaneously and successfully without a definite shade of green at your fingertips. And I like to think I  inherited them. But if I am brutally honest, I think I am too damn lazy and sloppy to be considered a successful gardener. I can plan, dream, read and partake in garden retail therapy like a pro. I have the kit, see :: pink trug, gardening apron, cute tools and a designery watering can from Heals no less. I have the inspiration and the desire to create a beautiful outdoor space in which to eat al fresco surrounded by greenery and colour and beauty. But the harsh truth is that as I am rubbish at doing any thing at all on time, this seriously impedes my gardening efforts. Seeds sit in the packets. Baby plants get pot bound. Things wilt dangerously. But I persevere and am undaunted. I am knowledgable and enthusiastic.

I can walk round a garden centre and name dozens of plants because in my time I have read dozens of gardening books and seed catalogues. I even occasionally watch Gardeners World. I LOVE garden centres, get all giddy with butterflies in my stomach when I walk round, get slightly overwhelmed at the sheer scale of it all, but love it all the same. I am quite good at garden-related shopping, I consider my purchases carefully.

I buy pots, not too many but just the right number for the plants I plan to have. So far so good.

I buy herbs that I know will come in useful for cooking :: parsley, thyme, sage, mint and chives. A few tumbling cherry tomato plants too. I leave the wacky herbs behind, congratulate myself on being restrained.

Bedding plants are a bit harder to resist. Remember I am a colour junkie, and the colours of summer annuals blow me away. I LOve them. A lot. Purple petunias, crimson million-bells and deep blue lobelia. Lush. I move on to hotter colours :: clashing scarlet and magenta geraniums. I can't stop buying them. I visit the market stall for verbena, marguerites and sweet peas. I notice the supermarket is selling bedding plants right alongside the fruit and veg....ohh I need a loaf of bread, I'll sneak another geranium in my basket too.

All these little plantlets keep arriving into my house through April and May. They look promising, they grow fast. June arrives and their little roots are spiralling round and round and round screaming for more space to stretch. I write "plant out plantlets" on my to-do list. They continue to grow and start looking a little sad, yellowy leaves appear. I procrastinate and feel guilty. Then one day in early June I decide today is the day and spend hours and hours planting stuff. I go mad with it, make my back ache and my fingernails black with compost. I heave big pots around, I go through three bags of compost. I begin to create the modest beginnings of quite a delightful little haven in my back yard.

If you are at all interested, please stop by my place tomorrow and I'll show you around. Come for a cup of tea and a bun and we can sit out a while. See you then xx

Comments

[Louise]

Don't be too hard on yourself. You can't ever get everything done in the garden on time. I have a large garden and I really dislike the fact that it never looks just how I want it, to have it like this would mean I would have to be in the garden 24/7 and nothing else would get done. Whatever you get around to doing it will always be your little haven. x

[Anna]

I think you've struck a chord with several of your fellow bloggettes. Garden centres are heavenly aren't they? I usually get dragged through them quickly, so once in a while I make a solitary trip and enjoy meandering past the plants, brushing my hands through the herbs and inhaling the roses.Bliss.

[Jen]

More and more, I think you are my English sister (or at least cousin!) because of our similarities. I just recently threw out all the little dry, pot-bound seedlings of vegetables I started from seed. And that was one day AFTER I finally dug my garden and made my raised beds. In February I have SUCH good intentions...

Thankfully, a few of my flower beds look fantastic with a minimum of actual on-time work on my part. I think I'm an Autumn gardener. Yeah. That's it.

[periwinkle]

See you tomorrow, hopefully I'll be joining you with a slice of your banana bread
lisa x

[carole]

would love to come tomorrow and look at all your 'goings on' but something else calls - maybe another day!? x

[kathy]

I am lucky enough to have a husband who enjoys gardening; I just enjoy buying plants and sitting in the said garden! Look forward to that cup of tea...

[Debbie]

Sounds like a familiar story in my household. Luckily my other half has enough energy after work to water our beets and courgettes etc as I certainly don't and although I dragged him around our garden centre to buy a hydrangea (as I love hydrangeas) it is still sat in its pot ready to be planted in its chosen spot!
Oh and I get you with the garden centre thing - they now offer so much more than compost and weedkiller!
I too look forward to joining you tomorrow!

[julia]

Sounds just like my gardening efforts. Last year I planted loads of new perennials, the garden looked quite good, but where are they this year?? The labels are there but the plants have mysteriously disappeared, how!!?? Has somebody sneaked in and nicked them or have I "weeded" them out in error. I'm confused!
At least we try!!
Julia x
ps. Have a Pimms, it'll give you the strength to get on with that potting.

[Fi]

I'll bring cake, just popping my coat on now!

[Liz]

Can't wait. See you for tea, tomorrow!

[a.o.]

Fresh herbs in the garden? Nothing better! :D
Ciao
a.o.