A Trip to the Nursery

"It takes so little to make a child happy, it is a pity grown people do not oftener remember it and scatter little bits of pleasure before the small people." 

~ Louisa May Alcott, Under the Lilacs

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At the end of May, after school was properly out and the kids had flown through the first week of freedom on high hopes, high energy and high amounts of food (oh my goodness, three not-quite-teenage boys eat SO MUCH SO OFTEN!), things quieted down a little and the kids settled into their regular summer routines. After running some errands one afternoon we headed out to our local nursery to look for flowers to plant in the front of the house. 

Annuals generally can go in a little earlier, but its been a very rainy spring. Anne had given me a sweet little potted impatiens for Mother's Day, proudly brought home from school and carefully watered until it was dry enough to put it into the ground. She was adamant that we needed to buy some flowers that would match the soft pink hue of the flower. 

I love our local nursery. It's locally owned and the quality of the plants is incredible. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly and everything I've ever purchased from them flourishes! This is one place where it is easy to spend a lot of money!

We looked at all the greenhouses; the annuals, the perennials, the vegetables, herbs and hanging baskets. We sweated in the heat and everyone had their own opinion about what flowers we should buy!

In the end, we got begonias. I love these flowers because they are so easy to grow and do well in part shade, too, which I have in my front yard. I let Benjamin pick what color and he chose the multi color flats, with white, dark pink and light pink. Anne thought they would work perfectly with her pink impatiens. 

At home, Judah turned over last years bed and raked it smooth. I dug the holes and everyone helped nestle the little plants in the ground, patting the soil over them. We had enough for both front beds and two pots, a hanging basket, and an extra pot for Grandma's house, to set by her front door. We  planted just in time - it rained that very evening!

Since then, the begonias have doubled their size and seeing their happy spread of color makes me glad whenever I see it. Anne's impatiens are doing well, too! Perhaps they encourage me, too, to grow determinedly and to do the very best I can, where I am. 

*****

"The begonia is an amazing plant...it just keeps going along and blooming, and when cut back, it starts up again." 

~ Gladys Taber