Went shopping today

A woman with a mission: Get May 17-plants for the entrance area and some proper soil, and don't spend too much, please! Well, here's what I bought:

Here's the arrangement planted up. The red Verbena have lots of buds and are under orders to hurry up and look brighter before May 17th:

The orange ones in the box are Lewisia, they've got new homes in the most eastward westside border.

We've tidied up the borders today, and I used a trick my grandmother taught me. She said to leave the grass of crocus, narcissi and muscari to die down because the bulbs needed the extra strength. In order to make removing it easy and the borders look tidy while we wait, she tided them down nicely with a knot like this:

Once they're all yellow, it's so easy to remove the grass. No mess.

I'll take the opportunity to show a couple of narcissi blooming. These are semi-mini's, about 15 cm/6 inches:

These are tall and have a lovely fragrance:

The Primula sieboldii have started. They've got furry, lobed leaves and don't look like primroses at all:

I also saved a lot of money today by NOT buying the lovely cone spruce with silver new growth, the Japanese maple with red, yellow and green leaves and those two Paeonia suffruticosa, tree peonies, I drooled over! But I did buy ten Tagetes, marigolds, and bright orange they were too. They're residing in between what roses are left to the south of the house. I've been out all day, sorry if I ramble, I'm tired.

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The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
-Bertrand Russell

Thank you all. I'm fairly good at avoiding temptation occasionally, but never feel safe! That little cone spruce might end up in our garden a little later in the season. Wink

I'm glad you succumbed to temptations, Dooley.

EJ and Eileen: Laughing

The worst is to go shopping with other plant lovers. I'm glad I went alone. My darling husband is rather hopeless when it comes to temptations, though. Worse than me.

The plants are in a pot, but I photographed from straight above so it looks like they're in the ground.

Thank you for good Independence Day wishes. We can't always have plants outside on May 17th due to the cold, but this year's fine.

Sjoerd, it's a so-called edging lobelia, so it won't grow too long. Just right for the pot I hope.

We had Mother's day in February, Petunia. And Father's Day in November. Those Primula also come in white and bluish, more pink and with fringy edges. I'll probably show some more when they bloom.

_________________
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
-Bertrand Russell