How to Spend {ALMOST} Three Hours in a Nursery

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book about that enormous, massive monster that nobody can kill? I encountered one today. It was called, Moroccan Mint. I told C I was going to run down to the Nursery today to pick up some herbs for my herb pot. Last year I fatefully drowned all of my herbs except the mint because I forgot to add holes in the bottom of the pot. "No!" He said.

"Why not?"

"Because you need to clean it out first."

"So if I clean it out, then that No is a Yes!" No problem, I thought, five, maybe ten minutes, and I would be on my way!

It was a tiny seedling last spring, but it was this enormous monstrosity that was not about to let go of the dirt without a fight. You know the part in the movie where they finally determine that the only way to destroy the thing is to blow up the ship? I almost blew up the ship to get rid of this thing. It would NOT come out! It was like a giant octopus with tentacles woven across every square inch of that 3' round pot!

At last, after cutting off each tentacle one by one, I overcame the beast (shown here with my sword in the SECOND half of the monstrosity), and I was on my way to my FAVORITE Nursery! This is the nursery where you get to pull your plants around in Radio Flyer Wagons... Kids love this place. I know, because I dodged them for almost three hours.

How, you may ask, is it humanly possible to stay in a nursery for three hours? Well, first of all they have something like TEN HUGE buildings like this one:And then there are all of these shelves lining the OUTSIDE of each greenhouse, filled with even MORE plants!

And then they have all kinds of unusual and wonderful plants.

like MONKEY FLOWERS!!!

Purple Verbena,
Fuchsia Verbena...

Velvety black Violas...
King Hearts, which are a dwarf species of a bleeding heart. Maybe a King heart instead of a Queens heart because it is small? I don't know. :D
I can't recall what this one is called, help me out here, if you please...
I then had to ponder what a weeping cherry would behave like as a boulevard tree. Would it put my ornamental pears to shame? I then found some EGGPLANT seedlings, and sweet peppers, and several delightful tomato varieties that wanted to come home with me. Oh, and the herbs... THE HERBS!!! Lovely Rosemary, Basil, and gorgeous colorful painted Sage and St. Johns Wort? I already have Thyme, but who doesn't need more Thyme? It was a fun, gorgeous variety that begged to find a place in my herb palace. I didn't find any Savory, but I did find Curry! Ah, curry! You delightful rosemary/sage look-alike, you! Your leaves smell like my favorite Indian Restaurant, and I can't wait to cook with FRESH CURRY! I did purchase a bit of mint, confined to a tiny, solitary pot, a prisoner of its own misbehavior.

And then I needed to plan for my planter pots out front. Grasses in the middle surrounded with, um, silver falls, perhaps? Begonias? These decisions should not be made lightly. And then there were the fruit trees. I planted a cherry three years ago, and after yielding seven cherries last year, it is FULL of blossoms.

Two years ago, I brought home a Braeburn apple tree. C thought I had cracked or something, considering we have four apples in the back yard; three old fashioned red delicious and one antique Johnathan:

and four MORE of the same combination in our side field for a total of eight apple trees. "You bought a WHAT?" So far it has only produced one apple. Last year I added raspberry twigs, and this year I am hopeful to eat at least one raspberry. The blueberry ALMOST made it. RIP, blueberry.

Every year we spend oodles on peaches. Juicy white peaches if we can find them, and any fresh, ripe, sweet peach we can get our hands on. And so after studying each peach tree, and finally getting a specialist to consult me on the branching, I left with:

...a white peach and a Carolina peach! I hurried home and started digging.

C documented the effort without any encouragement......while Kawi supervised from a nearby apple tree...

I woke this morning with the satisfaction of sore muscles, and a happy heart to get the wheels turning on someday peaches,Walla Walla onions, sweet peas and pear tomatoes... Maybe next year, a plum? Or perhaps a graft of our very old pear that someday will stop bearing bushels of the biggest and best pears ever.

Oh, I almost forgot! While fighting the herb pot, I did a little prep work for my garden as well, and wouldn't you know, a friend brought over a load of topsoil! After a friendly visit, he and C had a John Deer/TroyBilt showdown:

I found this little milk bucket for under $5.oo. Today it will hold weeds, but tomorrow it will hold the fruits of our labors!

I found a couple of things in my garden that suprised me. First, the grub. Look at those greedy little chompers!

Second, this lacy, lovely leaf! I don't know about you, but this was a much nicer find for me. Well, thanks for reading! Say, how was your Saturday?