I hadn't realised until today that I cannot be trusted. What did I say to you a few weeks ago? "That's it, I'm done with gardening, I'm fed up of paying out for plants only to watch them drown and peter out". Then last Sunday Luke reminded me that the Patens Blue Salvias that he had to lovingly tended from seed were ready to be planted up in the garden. So, to heck with the black and white border I decided. I will plant those eight Salvias - bright blue - in the part of that border that was sadly lacking any life form....., or so I thought. After another three days of torrential rain followed by a brief spell of sun Luke checked the Salvias and found them gone! No, they hadn't been dug up and removed, nor pecked to bits by inquisitive beaks. They had just disappeared! On further inspection Luke found two bedraggled millimetre high stalks, completely depleted of any leaves and with a tell tale slime on them. Those ruddy slugs!
As he told me about all his hard work and patience being noshed overnight by those slimy critters I repeated my new mantra, "That's it, I'm done with gardening."
I wasn't done with D.I.Y. though and my friend offered to lend me her pressure washer to clean the grimy decking. At least I thought I could improve the look of the outdoors in some way that didn't include plants. So after collecting the pressure washer I started to drive back and thought what a lovely (rare) day it was turning out to be. Should I visit the garden centre, shouldn't I visit the garden centre? You must remember that I have been addicted to gardening for over fifteen years and it's a hard habit to break. As I drove home I had this inner dialogue going on, "Should I go to the garden centre in case they have some bargains?" followed by, "I have no money and there is no point going". For five miles I had this conversation with myself until it came to crunch time at a T-junction. Left for home; right for the garden centre. Shamefaced that I am you know which way I turned! I'm so predictable. Sigh!
Well, anyway- it's a fair cop. I did go to the garden centre but to assuage my guilt I went straight to the bargain section because right now I have no money to spare (My poor Mum is feeling guilty for having the audacity to have a birthday in the same month that we have had a £1000 worth of bills on top of the usual ones). But here's the rub.., they had BARGAINS galore. Pots and pots of plants for £1 or £2 per pot. I'd wanted to put a swathe of colour in the front garden at the top of the rockery. The original rockery looks great in the Spring but not so good now and it's been such a depressing year with nothing much prospering so I just wanted something that moved int the breeze, was blue in colour and cheap enough to buy enough to make it look impressive. Ahhhh, just what I was looking for - Isotoma, a compact bushy plant bearing masses of starry flowers. There must have been seventy plants there, all just one pound a pot. I bought nine without hesitation (they were 75% off original price after all) and after hermmming and humming I put back the three Salvias that I had picked up too.
Once I'd paid for my impulse buys I drove back home, unpacked the car and had a cup of tea before starting my day's work.
Because I wanted to pressure wash both the front and back decks I thought it best to mow both lawns first and once the chickens were free to roam I got the mower out and soon had a large mound of grass clippings for my efforts. Next up was the front deck with the jet washer making quick work of it. I had to clip back the leggy honeysuckle and clematis to get to the ballustrade. Then it was onto the front steps and then back out to clean the conservatory roof, the back decking, the dividing wall between us and our neighbours and then the slab of concrete that fronts up the shed. I don't know how I managed it but I ended up drenched so I had to change out of my scruffy clothes and put on something dry. The friend who had loaned me her pressure washer was calling over for a coffee but it gave me just enough time to nip back to the garden centre and buy a few more bargains. No fool like an old fool, huh? Just as I got back tot he bargain section my mobile rang and it was my friend asking where I was. "Where am I?!" I smiled to the garden centre assistant who had just commented that I had spent a good deal of time there that day. She blurted out, "She's at the garden centre," loud enough to give the game away. So much for sisterhood! Anyway, I rushed back in time for us to sit out on the front deck with a cup of coffee and a chat. After she'd gone home I planted up the front with the Isotomas (nineteen in total), two Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' and two 'Pink Mist' then three Veronica 'Red Fox' at the top of the bank for a little colour. (There will be photos to follow).
So much for giving up gardening!
