Phyllis Buell
I know the seasons are really changing by observing the garden departments of retail stores. There is one sure fire way for a flower lover to tell. Well, all of the leftover Spring bulbs have been discounted in price. Some have been thrown away by staff that thought it would be more profitable to use the space they took to gear up for Christmas shoppers. I purchased some a few weeks ago and was planting the last of them when Pam Henke surprised me. I was glad she stopped to say “Hi” instead of just driving by. It was good to visit for a few minutes. She had an appointment so she didn’t have time to stop for long. Always great to see Syracuse friends.
Frankly, I was quite pleased with myself getting all 68 planted without stopping for a rest. It felt good to get them all in the ground.
Well . . . last week I was in one of my favorite Lincoln stores. They had a BIG sale on their bulbs. Not all stores had given up on them.
You know me, I just couldn’t resist! 48 more double daffodils to plant. Why did I buy them? Darned if I know!
Looking outside at the snow on Saturday morning, I once more questioned my sanity concerning bulbs!
Since I knew I wasn’t going to be planting them right then, I decided to put them in a closet until a better day came along.
“What is in that big sack on the floor?” I asked myself. “What in the world?” I said aloud as I looked at the contents.
Fringed tulips, double tulips, hyacinths . . . 80 of them I bought early in the fall and completely forgot. I will plant these in my big garden just as soon as I can. I think I have enough planted outside my apartment.
I asked myself “Now, how did you forget about all of those bulbs?” I answered “Well, maybe I didn’t – I’ll never know for sure, will I?”
Maybe it was simply forgetfulness, maybe it was dementia, who knows. At least I found them before the ground has frozen.
When we lived on the farm and a big box of bulbs or plants would arrive, Merle would kindly ask “Don’t you think you have enough plants?”
I would answer “You can never have too many flowers/plants and after all, I don’t smoke or drink . . . I just “flower.”
His answer to me indicated maybe it would have been cheaper if I did!
We all have our own vices, don’t we? I do know the very first halfway decent day that comes along, I will be digging, digging, digging to get them all in the ground!
I’m finding out the cold, windy days are not a whole lot of fun and I would rather look outside instead of actually being outside! Could that possibly be due to the many passing years of my life?
Speaking of years, one of my friends recently asked me why I plant bulbs at the age of almost 92 and might not live long enough to see them bloom?
“Well, then – someone else can enjoy them,” I told her. After all, we plant for the future, don’t we?
