Succumbing to plant lust

I have finally joined the RHS. The Royal Horticultural Society. I have been putting it off for years, stating that I won’t join until I have a proper garden. And I think 17 acres qualifies. And that was mostly Chelsea Flower Show envy. I imagined that if I went there I would succumb to plant lust and never be able to resist buying plants where I could never accommodate them.  And I hope to visit two RHS gardens with Jan next month so this will go towards ameliorating the costs.

Bulb plantings done this week: 10 tulip mount Tacoma below the wisteria and 21 Allium purple sensation bulbs near the artichokes – all in sets of five and seven in a desperate bid to be artistic. Hopefully the artichokes will take off and be part of the clever display. Otherwise it will look well weird.

And then in the afternoon it was the biggest treat of all (after going to the supermarket and the pool supply shop in St Péray) visiting not one, but two garden centres. Oh bliss. First to Gamm Vert to see what is in stock. I bought a huge amount of herbs, some onion and garlic sets and generally pored over each and every aisle to see what they have. Plenty of trees and shrubs; but they are in such a sorry state you wouldn’t want to invest in them. Nicolas told me about the Jacquet garden centre down a dirt road out of St Péray. Well, it’s more of a farm than a poncy garden centre and it was heaven. I didn’t have a lot of time, but I know I will be back.  I bought a daphne and a mahonia. Winter scent is the aim. And I need to come back with a proper list of plants to buy for the first terrace. They had some grasses – not a huge selection alas, but it may be the place to buy more fruit trees and such.
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