"It" came in the mail today. What exactly is "it," you ask? The first flower & bulb catalogue to clog my mailbox in 2011. More will follow, I'm pretty sure.
Despite repeated attempts to stop these catalogues from coming here, they still arrive. When I lived in the cold zone, I would get these catalogues and instantly begin flipping through them, dreaming of the warm days needed for planting. I have no idea how many catalogues I received year to year, but at the time I treasured them all, looking page by page at the beautiful, perfect blooms, and imagining them in my own garden.
I wasn't much of a gardener up north (as I've discussed), and I'm not much of one down here (as I've discussed). But, when I saw that catalogue I imagined someone stuck in the cold, staring at grey skies and sticks on trees, maybe snow or ice frozen solid about the yard, and thought how much that person might enjoy this catalogue. Maybe you're that person, and maybe you received one of these tempting teasers too.
I don't need these catalogues anymore. There's nothing I can buy from them anyway. I live in Zone 10 for gardening, but my garden is actually something called a "micro-climate" and is a Zone 11. I'm positive of this based upon my gardening failures. If its anything less than Zone 10, it will die for certain. If its Zone 10, it has a 50/50 chance of survival (my own gardening disabilities aside), and really, who ever sees Zone 11 plants in catalogues? This, my friends, is why we at Deer Run are huge fans of xeriscaping. It means planting what belongs. Here, we've got drought conditions, wind, salt, poor soil, and lots of other wonderful issues to contend with. My gardening acquisitions come from the garden club shows, or from garden centers/landscapers who are rated to sell native plantings. Sometimes, we split what is already growing here, and it spreads even more. I've got some cool beach sunflowers, sea oats, lantana, cuban oregano, bay cedar, ornamental succulents, and who knows what else lurks within that garden. Its all good for the birdies, good for the butterflies, good for the planet. We're even a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat, we've got it going on pretty good in that garden of ours.
I admit, I pine for peonys, hydrangeas, and black eyed susans to this day. Maybe I did linger a bit too long on the pages for those plants. The photographs are absolutely seductive. If I was trapped in a snowy area, I probably would've bought 1 of everything for my garden (easier to do in Zone 5 where I was). But, I'm not there now, I'm here. The catalogues keep coming, no matter how hard I try to stop them, so I will look before I recycle. That's about it though. I'm through with staring at my mailbox waiting for the postal person to fill it with flower catalogues, then spending hours every weekend planning my purchases (many of which died despite my best Zone 5 efforts).
Perhaps I can eventually be rescued from the flower catalogues. Perhaps not. In the meantime, maybe you're "up there" in the cold, with a steaming cup of (vegan! organic!) chai tea, flipping through the very same catalogue with visions of "Pardon Me" lilies, some old fashioned bleeding hearts, or maybe the new "Raspberry Sundae" peonies. If so, enjoy to your hearts content. I'll be playing in the sea oats tomorrow, gonna be 77 again. January is no longer reserved for flower catalogues in my world.
Despite repeated attempts to stop these catalogues from coming here, they still arrive. When I lived in the cold zone, I would get these catalogues and instantly begin flipping through them, dreaming of the warm days needed for planting. I have no idea how many catalogues I received year to year, but at the time I treasured them all, looking page by page at the beautiful, perfect blooms, and imagining them in my own garden.
I wasn't much of a gardener up north (as I've discussed), and I'm not much of one down here (as I've discussed). But, when I saw that catalogue I imagined someone stuck in the cold, staring at grey skies and sticks on trees, maybe snow or ice frozen solid about the yard, and thought how much that person might enjoy this catalogue. Maybe you're that person, and maybe you received one of these tempting teasers too.
I don't need these catalogues anymore. There's nothing I can buy from them anyway. I live in Zone 10 for gardening, but my garden is actually something called a "micro-climate" and is a Zone 11. I'm positive of this based upon my gardening failures. If its anything less than Zone 10, it will die for certain. If its Zone 10, it has a 50/50 chance of survival (my own gardening disabilities aside), and really, who ever sees Zone 11 plants in catalogues? This, my friends, is why we at Deer Run are huge fans of xeriscaping. It means planting what belongs. Here, we've got drought conditions, wind, salt, poor soil, and lots of other wonderful issues to contend with. My gardening acquisitions come from the garden club shows, or from garden centers/landscapers who are rated to sell native plantings. Sometimes, we split what is already growing here, and it spreads even more. I've got some cool beach sunflowers, sea oats, lantana, cuban oregano, bay cedar, ornamental succulents, and who knows what else lurks within that garden. Its all good for the birdies, good for the butterflies, good for the planet. We're even a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat, we've got it going on pretty good in that garden of ours.
I admit, I pine for peonys, hydrangeas, and black eyed susans to this day. Maybe I did linger a bit too long on the pages for those plants. The photographs are absolutely seductive. If I was trapped in a snowy area, I probably would've bought 1 of everything for my garden (easier to do in Zone 5 where I was). But, I'm not there now, I'm here. The catalogues keep coming, no matter how hard I try to stop them, so I will look before I recycle. That's about it though. I'm through with staring at my mailbox waiting for the postal person to fill it with flower catalogues, then spending hours every weekend planning my purchases (many of which died despite my best Zone 5 efforts).
Perhaps I can eventually be rescued from the flower catalogues. Perhaps not. In the meantime, maybe you're "up there" in the cold, with a steaming cup of (vegan! organic!) chai tea, flipping through the very same catalogue with visions of "Pardon Me" lilies, some old fashioned bleeding hearts, or maybe the new "Raspberry Sundae" peonies. If so, enjoy to your hearts content. I'll be playing in the sea oats tomorrow, gonna be 77 again. January is no longer reserved for flower catalogues in my world.
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