It's been a long winter.
Really long.
The remnants of a glacier formed by snow-plows is still slowly melting in front of my house.
Even so I resisted going to the nursery as long as I could. Yesterday I headed over to Dundee's to pick up some seed starting mix and such, yes, spring is so late I'm just starting seeds, and then headed in the direction of home.
Somehow along the way, the siren song of the big box store lured me into the parking lot of the local "rhymes with rose". The garden center looked empty, but heck I was already parked. I thought I would just see what was out, in the interest of research, or just walk around their potted palms for therapy.
And then I saw them. Pre-planted spring-flowering bulbs. I usually pooh-pooh those pathetic little pots of mixed daffodil/tulip/hyacinth "spring gardens". They are strictly the territory of amateurs right? A little token for those who can't be bothered to plan for such displays of beauty in the fall, yeah?
But these were full-on flats of tulips barely peeking from the soil of big square egg-cartony containers. Now this is something I can work with.
For the record, I did plant bulbs last fall; some tulips I can't remember the color of, along with transplanting scilla to grow under the winterberry bushes. I added to my crocus collection too. Surely I can have 32, (16 to a flat) purple tulips to put in my Japanese Maple pots?
Still, it feels like cheating.
Too bad, I bought a couple large pots stuffed with sprouting yellow/orange daffs and a lone flat of buttercrunch lettuce that was sitting on a rack over by the light bulbs looking forlorn.
Tomorrow I'm going over to Tonkadale Nursery to pick up pansies to complete the picture, and then I'm going to gather all these finds together, at which point, I'm gonna plant me some instant garden gratification.
Have I mentioned it's been a long winter?
