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My happy place!

35 Comments

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It’s that time of year again.

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Frost danger is past and it’s time to plant!

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There are two places I could easily spend an entire paycheck… book stores and nurseries. Which is probably why my husband tends to accelerate when ever we drive by them.

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But this trip I made with a girlfriend and okay, I had to go back for a second cart after I filled the first.

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I really should have bought this shirt….

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But I had to show some restraint.

🤣

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35 thoughts on “My happy place!”

  1. We’re headed out today for some of that. We generally plant annuals in pots or baskets. The beds are mostly native plants with the occasional shrubbery (The Knights who say “NEE!” demand one).
    Today’s prime objective is something called a spice bush. I don’t know much about it. It’s a native plant and our place doesn’t do that, though it excels in all other areas. So we are going to a native plant nursery in Burnsville, about a 45 minute drive in the mountains. A pretty drive, but it might get a bit gassy, even before the burritos. They are going to be the corners of a hardscaped patio with a pergola. I’ve lost thirty pounds since covid, but my progress has slowed significantly in recent days. This should help.
    And, lest anyone ever forget, a BIG shout out to Riv’s old man for helping me get up off of my ass and do something. All respect.
    Have a great day and tell us all about it.

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  2. More into perennials than annuals. Actually, more into botanicals since they grow and bloom all year. It is easier to maintain as well. But we have the advantage of living in zone 9 with no winter to worry about.

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    1. Try living in Zone 2, I think it is. One step away from permafrost all year round. Our permafrost lasts 6 to 8 months, but what a growing season. Sunlight for over 20 hours a day. Can you even imagine? We had what we hope is our last frost on June 2nd or 3rd, then went right into a heat wave where we were the hot spot in all of Canada for 4 straight days. We have had one light rain so far t.his year, and despite being under a thunderstorm watch the last couple of days, still no new moisture, though it did cool off the air. Last year we planted 60 pointillia bushes (spelling?) that were suppised to be hardy. I have see only 2 so far. And one of those is not where we planted, so I guess it is growing from a new seed. The lilacs all survived, and the perrenials are just starting to stick their noses out of the soil, though I fear a lot of them will not be coming back this year. But, for colour, our spring dandelion crop is amazing. Bright yellow everywhere, until they turn puffball white, lol.

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      3. Dandelions are gorgeous — until they are not. But they serve a purpise in nature. When the bees wake up and come out in Spring, dandelions are already there just waiting to feed them. Of course the bees return the favour by pollinating them, but our world is a world of give and take. The bees were lste getting out this year, or maybe the dandelions were early, but we got to see their beautiful bright yelow for two weeks before they started going to seed. Until I learned about the bee/dandeloon connecton I strived to keep my lawn dandelion free. Now, I just try to pick the heads while they are truning into seeds. There is not much of a window to do so, but it causes more flowers to be grown, and sustains the bees till the lilacs bloom.
        Maybe try explaining the natural cycle of bee life to your neighbours. The worst they can do is chop your head off.

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      4. I’m sixty and the youngest old fart on my street. They like it green. The diminishing honey bee population gets a lot of attention around here so I doubt I could add much to that discussion, though it would be great to have something on which we could all agree. Maybe if some of my neighbors needed an all natural, highly effective diuretic they would be more interested.

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      5. Who can say what they need. I’d like to say they come from a different generation, but they are my generation (72). I admit I was taught to keep a green lawn, but I was also taught to respect nature. Once I found out how important dandelions are to the life cycle of bees, and therefore vice versa, I changed my thinking. They can change too. They just need the right catalyst. Maybe that is you.

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      6. I prefer the look of a meadow to a manicured lawn, but in an older established neighborhood I’m in the minority. Fortunately, my neighbors are tolerant of my weirdness and my yard. Enjoy the long days.

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    2. Where abouts in Canada, Bitchy? I’ve been meaning to ask. Far northern Alberta here (they call Edmonton the north! Poo on that), less than 2 hours away from the Northwest Territories border. We’ve almost given up on most perrenials, after last year’s fiasco (cited above). But our house plants grow amazingly. We are about to have a yard sale of house plants. Especially the coleus, we started with one last year, which is beautiful beyond belief. But our cats keep breaking off stems, which we replant. We have about 60 right now. We are running out of spaces to keep them.

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      1. I am in Nova Scotia. On the eastern shore side, which is to cooler side of the province. Perennials do very well in Nova Scotia but my back garden faces North and we can get some pretty cold winds roaring through it in the winter. If we don’t have a good snow cover in the winter, some things may not make it. So I only plant the very hardy. I travelled to Edmonton for work several times many many years ago for work when I lived in Ontario. It was during a very cold winter there so I can only imagine how cold it would be up North where you are.

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  4. Oh how I wish I could take a trip to the nursery and buy more roses and shrubs. But alas, my job won’t allow it because it pays me in lint, paper clips and candy wrappers….😠.
    But I will have my happy place some day soon especially since it’s warm here loner than most parts of the county.

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    1. Gardening was so much easier down south. All I had to worry about was running the sprinkler… but don’t worry. You’ll get there one day. We’ve been here 20 years and I’m still planting.

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  5. Frost danger may be past, but plant-loving creatures aren’t. From past experience, you probably have plans for protecting your plants, but how long will they (the plans and the plants) last? We’ll stay tuned.

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  6. Thanks for the nudge. I found a gardening site at the local campus which is having an annual show 2 weekends from now. We might find more plants in between for the 4 pots we have on the side yard but the inside side yard is mine to fiddle with. Now husband is intrigued to plant!

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  12. Pingback: My happy place! — River’s world….. – A Better Man

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