I Confess: I've Bought a Few Plants


Of course I completely ignored my own advice and have been merrily buying and ordering plants like I'm designing my garden from scratch rather than the odd border tweak here and there. The damage thus far:
  • The usual weekly trips to Franks Plants - luckily for me the choice and quality hasn't been as good as it used to be, so the temptation hasn't been too great and I've managed to keep to just the things I need for my summer pots
  • A trip to the absolutely enormous West Kington Nurseries last weekend - well they're local and it was for charity, so it would be churlish not to. I bought some very nice Cosmos 'Chocomocha' (meant to smell even more of chocolate), Papaver 'Patty's Plum, Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' and Dahlia 'Dark Star'
  • Some boxed plants on special offer from Homebase - Monarda 'Cambridge Scarlet', Echinacea purpurea and Echinops 'Blue Globe'
  • I can never resist the Parkers catalogue as the plants are so cheap. 12 Begonia 'Bonfire' arrived yesterday - Martyn Cox is to blame for this really as he posted a rather tasty picture of them recently - and some bare root roses arrived today along with the pictured Geraniums, which rather amused me: I'm imagining the plants ran the London Marathon last weekend or something to make them so tired*
On Friday I'm off to Malvern Show - I suspect some more plants may hop off the stands and into my arms whilst I'm not looking, don't you?
* = I think it actually means I might have got them free of charge as they did look rather tired and emotional when I potted them up

Comments

  1. Hermes2 May 2009 at 17:12

    I did the same in Frome this morning so can't criticise at all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gail2 May 2009 at 17:26

    Dear VP, It happens to the best of us...I ought not to be buying anything that needs to go into the ground with summer just a week or so away! Once the rains disappear and the high temps/humidy arrive we will be knee deep in summer. But, really, how could one expect us not to be tempted (and succumb) to the siren red call of those begonias or the pots of natives I have waiting to be planted! have fun at the Malvern Show! I'm off to a nursery right now! gail

    ReplyDelete
  3. Flighty2 May 2009 at 18:52

    Why am I not surprised as it's surely what any self-respecting gardener would do!
    Enjoy the Malvern Show! xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. emmat2 May 2009 at 19:10

    H ah ah ah ah ha

    best blogpost title for ages

    I made a new years resolution not to buy ANY MORE plants. I just felt like there were so many casualties last winter and that a lot of that was to do with me not taking care of things properly.

    Now i am dividing, sowing seeds and taking cuttings instead. AND getting round to finding space for all the plants i bought LAST summer (I'm ashamed to admit)

    However, due to the fact that i have made it through FOUR WHOLE MONTHS without buying any plants, I too this week succumbed to the parkers catalogue special offer and replaced my much loved success story from last summer, the datura. Of course because it was parkers, I got FOUR for the price of one down the actual garden centre. And twelve free fuchsias? They are nuts.

    PS i may also have accidentally ordered four dark leave cannas and a banana plant too.

    Still, four months into the year and only 9 plants bought is not so bad a record for me.

    Have fun at Malvern. I am vagley thinking of heading that way but will have to decide at the last minute. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Joanne2 May 2009 at 19:15

    Have a lovely time at the Malvern show and take plenty of bags for those plants you did not mean to buy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rob (ourfrenchgarden)2 May 2009 at 20:16

    There is no cure!

    cheers
    Rob

    ReplyDelete
  7. Maggi2 May 2009 at 21:41

    Was going to go to Malvern on Thursday but work has changed so may go Friday - will confirm within a day or two - so hopefully could meet up. Hooray! May need to convince PD of the need to go, but then I can be very persuasive.

    I think that you have been very restrained on the plant front. Emmat must be bursting with frustration. I just can't aspire to that degree of self control. If plants are available to buy, I just can't help myself. I really should join Plantaholics anonymous, but then, there are worse things. Buying more plants only affects my bank balance (eek) and harms no one. And, of course, makes my miniscule portion of the planet more beautiful.

    Tricky WV today! tioughwr.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aunt Debbi/kurts mom3 May 2009 at 03:32

    My deck is covered with plants that jumped into my hands and forced me to buy them. Now I need something to give me an equal urge to put them in the ground.

    ReplyDelete
  9. VP3 May 2009 at 08:37

    Hermes - I've heard so much about Frome market - must go there one of these days

    Gail - hope you had a great time at your nursery. A huge delivery of plants arrived yesterday, so I've been frantically potting up and planting out :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

    Flighty - thanks I will!

    Emmat - I'm amazed at your self restraint, but I see the lure of the Parkers catalogue soon sorted you out. I do hope you can make it to Malvern - looks like we'll be having a bit of a bloggers convention there!

    Joanne - Thank you. I'm taking a couple of people with me, so I think we'll need to establish some rules on how many bags each are allowed!

    Rob - you're right :0

    Maggi - it would be brilliant if you can come to Malvern on Friday - I need some advice from you on what to do with Nerys too!

    Debbi - how about inviting Nola round - there's nothing like impending guests to focus your activities ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anna3 May 2009 at 08:53

    Confession is good for the plant buying soul VP. What sacrifices you have been making ! I am saving my pennies for Malvern, but did come home with new two new plants after visiting a friend yesterday. Does that count ?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Elizabeth Musgrave3 May 2009 at 10:40

    I don't think it counts if you are given plants, only if you part with money. I can do really well for weeks and weeks and then find that a trip to the Dingle near Welshpool is just too much for me. It is lucky I don't live too close. Great blog.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Monica the Garden Faerie3 May 2009 at 13:35

    I may, possibly, have bout quite a few small perennials over the last few days as well, even though I don't really need them. Whenever I speak or teach I always tell my students what they should do (but it's not always what I in fact do, HA!).

    ReplyDelete
  13. Rose3 May 2009 at 13:51

    How could you not give a home to those geraniums and other homeless plants? Obviously, the geraniums were tired from trying to jump into people's carts:)

    It is the disease that afflicts all gardeners, so you are not alone, VP. Perhaps we should form a support group?
    I have resisted the urge so far only because it's been too wet here to plant anything, but today I have plans to visit my favorite garden center with my daughter-in-law. I'm going to be spending HER money as well as mine:)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Frances3 May 2009 at 15:18

    Hi VP, the tag on the geraniums is quite funny! Hope they turn out to be wonderful. We decided that seed starting was the way to get most of the new plant this year, and it is. But, I also decided to write down the name of every single purchase, date and where purchased on a seperate sheet, instead of embedded in the journal entries as usual. Already on page three, surprisingly. :-)
    Frances

    ReplyDelete
  15. HappyMouffetard3 May 2009 at 19:49

    You're doing the economy a favour VP - it's a selfless act!
    I've been quite good sof far this year (apart from the accidental double ordering of seed potatoes and jerusalem artichokes) but with malvern coming up, I may spend a few bright pennies. Have a great time there!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Scattered Gardener3 May 2009 at 21:34

    We spent an hour and a half at the local Wyevales on Friday looking for plug plants (smaller and cheaper). We also brought home lots of other plants! Trouble is, I forgot to buy the slow release fertiliser so I'm gonna have to return and who knows how I'll feed the addiction this week. It's just lucky that I had some other social engagements this weekend, or I could have been there every day...distraction is the only tactic I feel:-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. easygardener4 May 2009 at 14:34

    My plant buying this year is still in single figures though it has less to do with my restraint and more to do with not visiting any really good nurseries!
    This month Chelsea has the advantage of not allowing me any impulsive buys. I'm doing rather well so far(lol)

    ReplyDelete
  18. VP6 May 2009 at 16:09

    Anna - no, gifts don't count, nor do emergency Heuchera divisions after rescuing it from the dreaded vine weevil either.

    Elizabethm - thanks. I've always liked the look of Dingles when we pass it on the way to Tywyn. Perhaps I should leave NAH happily ensconced at the Welshpool and Llanfair railway the next time and nip over for a quick recce!

    Monica - that's the privilege of being the teacher and not the student!

    Rose - oooh spending other people's money for them. What a good way of satisfying all those plant aquiring urges without the need for manic planting afterwards. You're so wise!

    Frances - AliceAnastasia has left me a comment in Blotanical to say she loves G. Samobor. It has a very dark flower over dramatically splashed leaves, so I'm hopeful that at least one of them will pull through for my garden.

    HM - I knew there was a perfectly good reason for my buying habits. Have a great time at Malvern, though it's a pity we won't be there on the same day. You might bump into Frankie though!

    Scattered Gardener - you sound like you have the same kind of problems as me! ;)

    EG - well done. I'm glad someone's headed my warning! I'm a bit worried about Chelsea. I'm worried I might order lots of things, lose track of what I've ordered and then order some more.

    ReplyDelete

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