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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Operation Grandma Garden: Part One

When I went to look at annuals at the nursery a few weeks ago, I asked the lady when the magic day was where I could be planting warmer weather annuals. She said that the magic day was May 10th, and you bet that I was bright-eyed at the nursery today, despite my ailments.

I was shocked to see how many people were there are a weekday evening, considering how many weekend-warriors usually wait until Saturday morning to trot to Lowe's or Home Depot to buy whatever plants they saw their neighbors in the cul-de-(ball)sac planting. I was particularly tickled by the lady in the Lexus SUV and the baseball cap with her awesome adidas capris...whose credit card was declined. Yesss!

Anyway, I've posted previously about my intentions to plant a retro container garden. I don't know I'm so insanely interested in this style of gardening. I guess in a modern society where every yard is preciously planned by a landscaper and there are wispy ornamental grasses as far as the eye can see, I'm just ready for a throw-back to a time when Moms and Grandmas stayed home and watered their own fucking plants. They didn't have flowers because everyone else did, or because they would make the patio look so homey when they have their entire accounting department over for a cocktail party...they had flowers because they sincerely wanted to make a beautiful place to be for their families and for themselves. With that being said, I want something sincere, but kinda sloppy, I guess. I picked up some Coleus and Zinnias today, as well as a really lovely hanging basket with petunias and snapdragons. I was a little apprehensive about buying a pre-planted hanging basket, but when I added up about how many plants were in the basket, the basket and the time that it would take to plant the basket, it was easily worth the price. It also featured a really great color palette. Everything pairs really well with the pansies that I've had for the last three weeks or so. When everything fills out, I'm sure it will be colorful and wacky. I'm hoping that some of the steps I've taken to really nuture the plants this year will not go unrewarded. Not only did I buy some really gaudy and fancy-ass glass "mulch," but I also added water-absorbing fertilizer crystals to all of the pots. Supposedly, this is going to make a big difference in the plants' growth, but only time will tell. I'm just really jazzed, at this point, at how insanely gaudy and grandma-y it all looks so far. The addition of not only a rainbow pinwheel, but also a plastic pink flamingo add that bit of charm that are usually reserved for year-round RV Parks and Floridian trailer parks. Not to MENTION that really awesome slutty Miss Piggy statue that I talked about before. She's there...in all of her lascivious glory.

Over the next few weeks, I'm hoping to add more partial-sun retro plants to this fledgling garden. This year, though, I'm making sure to wear my Gram bracelet when I plant. I need all of the green-thumb mojo I can get.

I know that if Betty were alive to see this garden, she'd probably ask me why I didn't choose a bigger variety of plants, and then she'd probably tell me that she doesn't like Zinnias. Ha! Happy Mother's Day, Gram.
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2 comments:

  1. Excuse me, what did you say? I was distracted by Miss Piggy's teets!

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  2. your grandma garden is awesome!

    ReplyDelete