Temptation


I'm finding it very difficult to heed my own advice from last Friday. Especially when the first bulb catalogue of the year has just arrived - 5 months earlier than expected - and I've been walking around the neighbourhood musing the guerrilla garden area could really do with some lovely dainty tiny daffodils as well as the big blowsy ones I planted nearly 10 years ago.

OMG there's a 10% discount if I order now. That's a very canny strategy - send temptation my way when I'm admiring mine and everyone's blogged daffodils and serve it up with a bargain. I'm lost dear reader, totally lost...

Comments

  1. Anna30 March 2009 at 09:25

    My word - the catalogues seem to come out earlier and earlier each year - it seems almost obscene when the bulbs are not yet done and dusted. Resist,resist temptation dear VP, contemplate at your leisure and then decide :)

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  2. Hermes30 March 2009 at 09:28

    What is temptation for VP, if not to give in to occasionally. Now where is that chocolate custard (lol)

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  3. Victoria Summerley30 March 2009 at 10:19

    Go on - treat yourself!

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  4. Martyn Cox30 March 2009 at 11:23

    I think the spring bulb catalogues are a bit like the run up to Christmas - they arrive earlier every year.

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  5. Carrie30 March 2009 at 12:52

    Now if it's for the guerilla gardening area you could justifity it as being completely altruistic. NO need to feel guilty then - you doing it for the benefit of so many people....x

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  6. F Cameron30 March 2009 at 12:54

    We all suffer the same affliction -- there are worse temptations in life than growing more flowers! :-)

    Cheers,
    Cameron

    ReplyDelete
  7. Helen/patientgardener30 March 2009 at 13:05

    That is early - I was thinking of getting from from Avon Bulbs and buying some heritage ones for next year. I saw an interesting article in one of the gardening mags last month. Reading your and other blogs has made me realise how usless I am where daffs are concerned. Each year I buy a packet of something that takes my fancy without noticing what it is called and put them in my pots. The when the pots are finished the bulbs get shoved into a border. I now have an interesting mixture but couldnt tell you what they are. I have decided to move them around to group them better and try and identify which is which.

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  8. CanadianGardenJoy30 March 2009 at 13:18

    Ah YES ! "Another one bits the dust" .. temptation drives me insane and I have already ordered tahnk you ! haha

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  9. Monica the Garden Faerie30 March 2009 at 13:45

    What I'm finding ironic is, it was a lot easier to be frigal when I was working full-time.... because now I have more time to be out and about and SEE things, like the $15 hellebore I bought over the weekend. (I can't recall the lat time, if ever, I paid $15 for one plant!) See, even being cheap doesn't always protect you!

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  10. petoskystone30 March 2009 at 13:56

    i find the names of the bulbs are what i am seduced by. hope your back gets better!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mr. McGregor's Daughter30 March 2009 at 16:01

    I'm glad you've got your template problems sorted out.
    I've already received a fall bulb catalogue. I think they send them out now so I can compare my dismal display with the goodies on offer. My thinking on this is that it is a good time to place the order, as you can see where the gaps are, and where those tempting things could fit, as opposed to standing there in August or September trying to remember. (Sorry about the rhyme.) The bonus incentive is nice too. The downside of early ordering is that I have a tendency to forget that I ordered, much less what I ordered, and then end up with 2 orders of bulbs for 1 space.

    ReplyDelete
  12. HappyMouffetard30 March 2009 at 19:07

    Oh no. Hope I don't get one sent to me too soon! I'm sure the catalogues prey on poor memory. I received two lots of seed potatoes this year as I had forgotten that I had already ordered some.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Intrepid Explorer (Maggi)30 March 2009 at 19:20

    I think MM'sD is right. Now is a good time to see where the gaps are. There is her downside too of double ordering, but the other problem that I can see is can you remember where the gaps were when it come to planting the bulbs? Oh dear - doesn't life throw up some posers?

    Persona;;y I don't think double ordering is too serious. As Cameron said planting more flowers can't be bad, there are worse things.

    Last spring I was terribly organised - this is my 'Tip of the Season'. I went round with those green plant canes - the ones about a foot long - and stuck them in the ground wherever there was a clump of daffodils. Then I would know where to be careful when planting something else and if planting more bulbs didn't duplicate. It has been really helpful. Normally I have no, or at best a haphazard system, for most things.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Victoria Williams30 March 2009 at 19:58

    You may be lost, but you have SO much company!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Karen - An Artist's Garden31 March 2009 at 08:54

    Now I think this is a very good time to be looking at catalogs showing daffodil bulbs, and I have taken your advice and ordered my catalog, if I order them now I will have a much better idea of the ones I like and where I want them, whereas in the Autumn I will have forgotten
    (That's my excuse and I am sticking to it)
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. easygardener1 April 2009 at 13:20

    I'm still holding firm to the "I'm not buying more plants" idea - but I have got 10 pots of flowering Daffodils, Frittilaria and Tulips which I'll scatter around the garden and plant.
    I'll get the excitement of planting without having bought anything. How smug is that (lol)
    I don't think I can keep this up much longer.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Elizabeth Musgrave3 April 2009 at 22:09

    Oh no, bulbs are my weakness and now I will order a catalogue and all will be lost, well all my non-existent money anyway. What the hell.

    ReplyDelete
  18. VP8 April 2009 at 21:01

    Anna - I think I've decided - some pseudo narcissus in the green for my birthday next year would be rather lovely :)

    Hermes - trouble is I do, far too often!

    Victoria - I will, don't you worry!

    Martyn - I think you could be right

    Carrie - oh yes!

    Cameron - it's one of the nicest afflications to have ;)

    PG - I think I need to join you on that one. It didn't help buying bags of 300 mixed daffodils when we first moved here either.

    Joy - somehow I thought you might have done. And what about all those plants that leapt off the shelf into your basket when you were out shopping hmm?

    Monica - you're right. Having the time means more time to be tempted!

    Petoskystone - I'm a lot better thanks :)

    MMD - I have that tendency too and I'm sure the bulb companies are exploiting it fully. However, I do like Victoria's idea from her backyard where she talks about planting them in pots, so you can see the gaps come spring and lant them out in the green. Perfect.

    HM I did that with garlic last year. It's so easily done isn't it?

    Maggi - that's a very useful tip. I'll adopt it right away :)

    Kim and Victoria - welcome :) Yes, I'm in extremely good company!

    Karen - so you're tempted too ;)

    EG - I've got a number of pots of bulbs too, so they'll soon be going into the borders. Frankly I can't keep this not buying lark up for much longer either. The only thing that's prevented me from cracking is my indecision - so far I've thought of 4 different things that would go nicely into the one genuine space I have. Now if I'd stopped at just one, I'm sure it's be bought by now ;)

    Elizabethm - think of it as a new life present that will make you smile every year :)

    ReplyDelete

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