Just Another Rainy Day

It's raining again. The plants that already live in my garden are loving it and growing like weeds. The weeds are growing too, unfortunately. If I remember right, last spring started out like this, and we marveled over how lush and green the gardens were, until summer hit and the rain stopped. Such is a gardener's life.

So when it's too wet to plant or get the gardens ready to plant, what's a gardener to do? Go plant shopping, of course! Mom called me late last night and said if I wanted to be at her house at 8:00, she was going to Indian Trail Garden Center in Columbus Grove, and I could go along. Well, I hadn't been feeling well all day and didn't relish the idea of having to get up early enough to catch the ride, but never let it be said that I passed up an opportunity to shop for plants!

Nestled in a small town in Northwest Ohio, near the banks of Plum Creek, lies Indian Trail Garden Center. It's about an hour or so from my house and not really on the way to anywhere else I go, so when I get the chance to visit, I take it. This time, I didn't really expect to purchase much, but we all know how that goes. And the fact that they had some of the finest looking plants I've seen all year at great prices played to my weakness.


Our Little Acre is going to be on the Master Gardeners' Garden Tour this year and though I won't be doing much of anything differently than I do any other year, when buying plants this spring I do have the tour in the back of my mind. In other words, I'm trying to pay more attention to color and form and texture and all those design elements that my mind doesn't take to naturally.



My usual mode of operation is to stroll through the garden centers and if I see something I like, it pops into my cart. I worry about where I'm going to put it when I get home. Today was no different and heaven help me, there were so many wonderful things that I overshot my budget. Wait . . . I don't have a budget. That might be the first thing that gets me in trouble, but really, who could resist such hot stuff like this?

Nemesia Juicy Fruits™ 'Kumquat'

One of the highlights of my visit was getting to meet one of my readers! Mom had been there the week before and was talking with one of the employees about being at the Cincinnati Flower Show. The employee mentioned that a blog she follows had posted pictures from the show and it only took a few minutes for Mom to realize it was my blog she was talking about! Kathy and I had a great time talking flowers and plants and gardening and I look forward to seeing her again when she attends the garden tour.

I ended up getting most of what I'll need for my window boxes and container plantings, so even though I spent more than I expected, it was all necessary! Really! And I found a really nice large pot of 'Crimson Red' rhubarb that I bought to grow for Romie. He likes it. I don't. See? It isn't all about me after all!