'You've gone gardening mad!' said the storekeeper

I read the other day that gardening sales are up 27%, apparently because people are planning to stay at home and enjoy their gardens instead of going on holidays or short breaks.
But it sounds from your blog that you are to blame for most of it!!
Glad all your sowings are a success, the satisfaction of raising something from seed is just so satisfying.

Hila - you will need to get those crocus and tulip bulbs into pots right now! I am surprised and concerned that any garden centre is still selling spring flowering bulbs and, personally would suggest you take them back. Those bulbs were lifted, at the latest, last August and bagged up to be sold last autumn for planting and flowering this spring. A bulb can't sit for a year + and then be planted... it will put up a shoot regardless which, if the bulb is not in the ground, will use up the bulbs energy resulting in a dead bulb. Sorry but it really annoys me that garden centres are willing to rip the unsuspecting public off!

I think she can keep them in packets & Plant Out In Oct/Nov as they need the Cold to get them Growing Moon Grower its way 2 late to plant them out now!

Oh dear, I had no idea that bulbs had a shelf life so to speak. I just assumed that if they are still available then it mean like seeds I could hang on to them and then plant later. I will return them tomorrow ;-(. Thanks for the heads up everyone!

Welcome Hila.
I hope the weather brightens up for you soon.

Sounds like a perfectly restrained and reasonable haul from a normal visit to the garden centre to me. Gardening mad indeed! Where do these people get their strange ideas from?

I bet when you take those bulbs back you end up spending the entire refund (and more) before leaving the garden centre. Resistance is futile, so you might as well just enjoy it :-)

I must admit i wouldn't buy spring bulbs now, no matter how much there reduced!!

Hila - our garden centre sold off all their spring flowering bulbs at the beginning of the year. Look out for bulbs early September they will then be at their peak for buying and planting.
Jacque sorry bulbs don't need cold to start growing (some seeds do need a cold period before they will germinate)... in fact we have to be careful that our bulbs in pots in the alpine house don't get too cold or they grow poorly and do not have their usual flower power. The past two winters our Narcissus romieuxii have got too cold and have produced little more than stunted leaves - looking like little blades of grass - and no flowers.

Im betting you thoroughly enjoyed yourself Hila, good for you. I get a real buzz buying plants and seeds etc. we all learn new things everyday

its great you getting your little boy to join in my little girl is a garden fanatic now she makes a beeline for her wellies everyday to help me

x x x

Hi Hila.....I'm a bit late but Welcome to GoY. :o)

You sound like you had a very reasonable shop at the GC. Whatever was the fella talking about?.....Garden mad indeed. Obviously he must be someone with purple thumbs.
I'm a roseaholic myself.....what kind of rose did you buy?

Hie Gilli,

Its a shrub (i think), floribunda, hybrid tea, Nina Weibull. The picture on it is red so here's hoping. I havent planted it out yet, will be doing so this weekend because i really want to take my time with it. Its my first rose here so I want to do the best I can ;-). I also bought some Bayer garden Toprose feed, is this any good? ;-P

Yes, a floribunda rose, dark red colour. It's a beautiful one. It grows anywhere from 2.5 to 5 feet tall. The flower doesn't have a fragrance apparently.
I don't know too much about the Bayer products....they don't seem to sell them here in Canada. I have heard people in the US say they are very good.
When you plant make sure you dig the hole twice as wide and 1.5 times as deep as the root ball. Add some well rotted manure or compost to the bottom of the hole. Also add some bone meal to help the plant produce good roots. I also add a banana peel to the hole...roses love bananas.
Place your rose so the graft is about 1-2 inches below the level of the soil. Backfill the hole about half full and then flood the hole with water. This will eliminate any air pockets in the soil. When this has drained away fill in the rest of the hole and firm it gently around the roots. Give it another dose of water with some feed and there you go. :o)

I know what you mean Hila. I took my daughter out on her bike yesterday and we ended up popping in to the GC. I had to carry back one rose(potted), 1 reel of copper tape. one 2kg bag of anti slug granules(deterrent folks) that was going free with the tape. four trays of bedding for my daughters patch and one bag of pick and mix sweets. Never mind going to the gym I'll have muscles like a bosum if this continues.