On Sunday I had a trip to the local (expensive!!) garden centre. I couldn't get compost locally, so had to go a bit further afield. Of course, I got tempted by what was on offer . . .
Yesterday I was tempted by these beautiful Dahlias, which I'm going to put together in a big planter. I have gone back to grocery shopping again (after keeping a low profile whilst the latest Covid tore through the country).
I have spent the morning working on Keith's Blue Badge application, and also other paperwork, plus some ironing. I know how to have fun!
Thank you all for your caring comments about Keith's health. We are hoping to be able to post more positive news when the medication kicks in. He's been having to rest - he couldn't even manage walking 100yds each way in the Garden Centre car park on Sunday without becoming exhausted. I hate to see him so tired.
You have bought some of my favourite plants there, and reminded me of another thing I will have to 'not buy' this year. This could possibly be THE hardest thing for me to avoid, maybe my birthday present off someone will have to be whatever my most wanted plant for the garden is. I can rarely leave a garden centre without at least one plant or packet of seeds.
ReplyDeleteI hope Keith's application is successful this time.
That would be a challenge too far for me! Especially as I am still trying to change the garden to reflect my personal choice (which is not half-starved badly-pruned shrubs on a bank which has very little soil and a lot of rubble from the old Georgian stable block!)
DeleteWell, that's my excuse anyway, and I have to say, when we go to Hay-on-Wye market, I simply CANNOT resist the occasional beautifully grown perennial from the Plant people there.
I didn't even pursue the application before as we had no diagnosis and they said just getting old and frail wasn't reason enough! I would have thought that was plenty enough reason, personally. Oh, neither is Asthma. Clearly written by someone who's never been sobbing for breath.
Like you say £19.99 is a bit much...unless you are paying for an instant display!
ReplyDeleteFar better get the smaller one that will settle in and grow far better
Oh they know how to charge at that place! I rarely buy there unless it's a smaller pot of something. They ask the same price for a big pot of Lupins too! My "dessicated" ones from Morrisons grew on beautifully and are now established in the garden and will gradually get bigger. I just have to be patient.
DeleteTemptation! How pretty the dahlias are, I love those tones. I hope Keith's medication works soon, I know what that's like waiting for it to kick in.
ReplyDeleteAren't they lovely? I got them in T*sc* . . . (don't like to advertise!!)
DeleteI am sure you know only to well what it's like waiting but it will be lovely when he DOEWS perk up again.
I started out reading your post and thinking that the trip would be cheering...but Keith's struggles made me sad for you all over again. I am so hopeful that the new medication will bring improvement.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry Debby. The plants DID cheer me up though, and Keith WILL get better but he has gone downhill quite quickly so it is a worry, but thank heavens I wrote down all his "back story" and enough dots were there to be joined properly by the GP.
DeleteOh my goodness. Now I'm ashamed that you'd think an apology was needed. Well done on the notes, though. Very important.
DeleteI love hellebores and was very tempted last night when I went food shopping in Aldi as they are selling them for £7.99 - maybe next week!
ReplyDeleteAs for Morrisons, they have an amazing selection of plants and shrubs for just a few pounds so I always go there rather than our local garden centre.
I have only driven past Aldi, rubbernecking to see if their fruit trees are in yet. I want to get half a dozen to put in the top paddock "orchard" and I really MUST put in an order for the two or three special apple trees I want from Keith for my birthday.
DeleteMorrisons stocked half my new garden last year! I see we are on the same hymn sheet with them!!
I am trying to imagine planting anything at the moment as my garden is covered in snow (which is probably a good thing considering how dreary it looks without it). Will be another couple of months before I can plant anything and expect it to survive (our last frost date isn't until the first week of May). So I will just have to vicariously enjoy gardening adventures through your blog.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to Keith.
Well you will be used to that but I think I would hate such a long winter. We normally don't have a frosty spring, but last year we had sharp frosts into the middle of May (which I can't ever remember happening, but I do have a selective memory). It was SUCH a cold spring and I got really behind with the garden. Hope to be ahead of the game this year.
DeleteLupins are one of my favorites. They are rare to find here in So Cal in the nurseries. So I plant seeds. They are choosy where they grow because it gets very hot in the summer. Sadly most of my favorites from England are hard to grow here. But I did find some wall flowers which are in full bloom now, and have lasted a year. We also have "adobe clay" soil which does not help. I have been amending it over the years.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame that the plants you love the most don't thrive in your soil. The bank I was digging the other day is clay over rubble, and so I am having to make little healthier pockets for the plants I'm putting in.
DeleteWallflowers are lovely and remind me, along with Nasturtiums and Nigella and roses, of when I was growing up.
How amazing that you can plant this time of year, so hopeful. [as I write from under 2 feet of snow!]. No planting here til may or June.
ReplyDeleteWales is green for a reason - we tend to be warm and wet rather than cold and snowy in winter.
DeleteI am a Fair Weather Gardener these days though, so bring on the sun!
I do hope Keith feels a bit better once the medication starts to work.
ReplyDeleteSome lovely purchases there. Garden Centres round here are expensive too but you can get good bargains from Morrisons. I've never had much luck with hellebores here - the few I've bought always seem to disappear!
Well there was the tiniest glimmer of hope this morning, when he found it easier to get out of bed. I don't expect much sign of improvement for a few weeks though, but there is Hope now.
DeleteShame your Hellebores don't survive. I had one which grew in the paddock, totally neglected, and it loved it! They like dappled shade and prefer a limey soil, so perhaps incorporating some lime with the planting medium around it when you plant them might help?
Even a tiny improvement is good!
ReplyDeleteI went down to the woodland end of our garden today and the hellebores were nodding away nicely! They've been there for quite a few years now, most from a tray of six small (cheap) plants, and we seem to get different variations of pinks/purples/whites each year, but they do cross a lot.
I will gradually add to the single one that I've now got, but sourcing them a bit more cheaply than the Expensive Garden Centre!! I didn't know they hybridised on colours, but hardly surprising. Primulas are devils for that too.
DeleteI just want to wave a magic wand and have the meds kick in for Keith now.
Wishing your dear man better days ahead!.. and ah, the garden center.. always lifts the spirits, doesn't it? That hellebore is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to see him go downhill. He has lost all his muscles and used to be so strong, despite being slim.
DeleteThe Hellebore is bringing me pleasure, along with the Witch-hazel Keith bought me for my birthday last year.