Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Things you can do when you're retired

When you're retired, you can drive with your daughter and grandson to a garden centre and have coffee. Then you can look at all the stuff you don't want to buy, such as this big bird puppet thing, which your daughter can make squeak. You can take a photo of your grandson laughing at it. You resist actually buying the bird or any of the other stuff because if there's one thing we're not short of now that my mum's possessions have to be dispersed, it's stuff.
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I didn't quite so successfully resist buying some night-scented stock seeds and some echinachea seeds. I love cone flowers but they die over winter in my garden so I'm not going to buy any more as plants - they're expensive. Let's see if I can get some to come from seed. And summer isn't summer without night-scented stock: that lovely perfume drifting across the garden as we sit under the moonlight in the balmy Scottish summer air. Or as the wind whips across the lawn... .
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I may also have bought a couple of iris rhizomes, one blue and yellow and one pink and dark pink. Irises grow quite well for me. Must be the dry climate and baking sun.
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7 comments:

  1. I thought the coneflowers were self-seeding, so you'd only have to buy the plant once... they die over winter, but the seeds from that plant come up the next season. No?

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  2. No, the type I mean are perennial. Just not in my garden. Self seeding? - also no. See above.

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  3. The baby looks so cute with that puppet -- I'll bet that was definitely hard to resist. I'm surprised your coneflowers die over the winter. We get colder that you do, in general, and ours survive pretty well. I love them too. Irises, on the other hand -- I can kill them just by looking at them LOL!

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  4. Dry climate....hmmm....ever since we started our hosepipe ban, we have had torrential rain. Great. I am ready for that baking sun. And now that you are retired, you have time to play with seeds. It is actually great fun!

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  5. Gardening tools for toddlers - he'll soon be ready!

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  6. I continue to enjoy your posts as always. :) I also love coneflower. Unfortunately, Japanese beetles love them, too, and nibble at them, turning them black. :( My mom grows iris and they are so beautiful. When I have planted them, the rhizome has gotten too wet where I have planted them and they've gotten soggy and rotted. I hope all is going well with organizing your mother's things.

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  7. Anonymous3:41 pm

    I'm glad evening scented stock seeds are still available somewhere. Here in Utah (USA) we have been unable to find them for the past few years. You are so right--their fragrance is unbelievably lovely. Just discovered your blog from fraise lachrymosa and am enjoying it very much. Joyce

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