I told myself that I was going to the store to buy light bulbs. Somehow I walked away with three geraniums and lavender, but no light bulbs. Oops.
This was a funny meme I came across on the internet, and now I’ve found – because I’ve been looking for them ever since – so many more that touch on the traits, passions and general obsessions that many people have with plants, flowers, gardening (including home gardens too) and what a friend of mine calls “mud therapy”. Most of them contain a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, such as this one:
I was looking for a new plant to brighten up the yard. These three plants were the six best purchases I made that day.
And before I could laugh at these memes, they turned into self-fulfilling prophecies. I had a little fun with myself.
There I was at the Liberty Park Greenhouse and Garden Center on June 30, the last day the facility was open for the season. I was looking for plant propagation powder. Even though I didn’t buy any more flowers this year (or so I naively thought), what could hurt a little looking around for a minute or two? After all, this was the last day, the last chance for such floral sensory overload until next spring.
Twenty minutes later I came across a cute little Impatiens Rockapulco Rose Double that I thought would look very nice in a small pot on the small table that sits between two chairs in the shady area of my deck.
And then I looked up and saw a sign that said, “Buy one, get two free.” Moreover, the purchased plant itself was half the price.
How could I not do this? I mean, I would help three plants find a home, right? It would be bad not to do this. Not to mention I didn’t have room for them on my raised deck…details, details, details…I would make it work like every other gardening junkie on the planet.
You might ask, why not plant them in front of the house or somewhere in the yard? Deer, that’s why.
The only things that can be safely placed on the urban wildlife road that also serves as my yard are marigolds, sage, and a few other flowers that are not main menu items at a deer buffet. I plant some geraniums there, but I have to treat them with a foul-smelling spray (for deer) throughout the season and also apply a solution to the soil where they are planted that is absorbed by the roots, which keeps Bambi and friends at bay until late September or October usually.
This reminds me of another meme I found:
You might think that growing a garden would be you relax, but then a rabbit or deer starts eating your salad and you’re walking around the garden locked and loaded.
But I digress.
After my minute or two of browsing approached the one hour mark, I found the exact geranium that had sprouted a deep pink flower, a color missing from the deck garden this year, so one of them was chosen to live in my house as well (even though other geraniums were already living on the deck). Also selected was the blush pink variety Sun Patiens, which has now found a home next to my only tomato (Sweet 100 cherry).
Everyone just moved a little to make room.
And because I was there, I also received a bag of sale potting mix that I’ll be saving for next year, as well as some plant food. Never received breeding powder.
I have become the cliché gardener who believes that you can never have too many flowering plants, that there is always room for at least one more, and that self-control in the garden store is a virtue to be flouted.
Or, as a friend told me (which she stole from someone, she admitted) – you’re growing, girl!
It’s just so good. As one wise green thumb said:
I don’t know the secret to happiness… but I’ve never been sad when I brought home a new plant.
Voices reporter Stephanie Pettit can be reached at upwindsailor@comcast.net.