Today is the annual garden sale, downtown in my little town. The streets are closed and filled with vendors, food trucks, and happy people. It is a well attended and much anticipated event.
Like this year, it always seems to be hot and sunny. In my mind it is too hot and sunny to be milling about with a close crowd of people pulling small wagons behind.
We always buy something, but for some reason the plants we have purchased at this large community sale have never flourished. In fact, they usually die. Why? I don't know. We have lots of plants purchased over the last 11 years from local nurseries that are doing great, but we usually put them in the ground in February or March. Maybe the plant sale plants would transplant better if they stage the sale at the beginning of March, when it is a bit cooler? It has been in the high 80s, even 90 degrees F the other day. I probably have a wrong-headed northern gardening mentality, but it seems too hot to plant.
This sale used to be fun, and we looked forward to it every year. My husband wants to go later today, but I am dreading it. So much effort for so little return.
Am I depressed because of the political situation, or am I just getting old? I wonder.
UPDATE: I just got back from the sale. It was fun after all. Biked down there and back, and now I feel like I'm on top of the world.
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| Here's a gorgeous shrimp plant we bought the first year we went to the sale. It died off within a few months. That's when I realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing, gardening down here. |
Gardening in a completely different zone would be a challenge. It's already April and hot in Florida, does seem to be a strange time to have plant sale.
ReplyDeleteGardening outside of your normal comfort "zone" is a big challenge. I've learned new things, but apparently not enough.
DeleteMy shrimp plants are more like wildlings. I ignore them and they grow and bloom in the fall, freeze back in the winter, and come again in the spring. The garden club here hs their annual plant sale the first weekend in May. I plan to dump some things in pots I no longer want to deal with like two desert roses which never bloom for me and a cactus/succulent thing that just gets taller and taller and top heavy.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous about your shrimp plants!!!
DeleteI don't know if you're getting old, Colette. I bet you're just getting old enough to know when you've had enough of certain experiences and they don't thrill or satisfy like they once did. That's what I tell myself, anyway, when I'm now happy at home on a Friday night when, in my younger days, I'd've felt I was missing something. Now I know exactly what I'm missing -- nothing much.
ReplyDeleteIt's true. Funny how our priorities change as we age.
DeleteIt does sound like a waste to buy plants that just die. I'm a flop at gardening really so I don't have any advice for you! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have to confess I bought some herbs at the plant sale this morning. They should grow.
DeleteI'm glad you had fun after all!
DeleteI had a fabulous time yesterday at a Hands Off protest near me. Thousands joined together to share our disgust with the current administration. It felt great!
Plants always die for me too. Anyway go. Once you get there you will have a good time even if you only grab a hot dog and cold drink.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised your shrimp plant died. I think they're pretty durable. Just remember that Florida sun is ten times stronger than sun anywhere else, so what needs a sunny spot up north may be fine in partial shade in Florida. (Assuming it can tolerate Florida temperatures, which a lot of things can't.)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve. In fact, I did put it in full sun. Maybe I'll try growing one again, this time in partial shade.
DeleteWe found gardening in a tropical, humid climate a real challenge. We lived close to the equator with plenty of rain and seedlings would shoot up quickly and die just as fast. Much later I spent time with local growers and tried their methods, like protecting roots and stems with coconut husks and banana leaves and very careful watering before sunrise. Also pots worked much better.
ReplyDeleteI do find that some of these plants like pots better. We mulch with pine straw, but maybe it doesn't protect as much. I do have plenty of banana leaves, and will try that, too.
DeleteThat's curious that so many plants die off for no obvious reason. We often find that our plants thrive happily for a few years and then mysteriously die. Not being a savvy gardener, I have no idea why plants just give up the ghost.
ReplyDeleteI would guess your depression is due to the political crisis. Every day there's another shocking development.
Probably.
DeleteWell, the political situation is somewhat enlivened by the resistance! Louisiana is lovely, but I couldn't live there.
ReplyDeleteI don't live in Louisiana, Joanne. I live in Florida.
DeleteGreat blog
ReplyDelete