Can it be considered a Saturday chore when I've been looking forward to it for so long?

Finally! I was able to get to the wholesale nursery and shop for my hanging baskets! The day dawned early, cool and wet, rainy, rainy, rainy, but the radio station was promising sun breaks for later in the day.

After preparing the old van to play flower delivery vehicle, which included 1. emptying it's 'bound for the Goodwill' cargo of boxes and boxes of old household goods and bags and bags of clothes the kids have out-grown, and 2. jumpstarting the old battery; SonMySon (sleepily and grudgingly) in tow, we headed out to Pacific Growers.

I let him continue to sleep after arrival while I wandered through greenhouse after greenhouse to see all the different sizes and kinds of hanging baskets. My favorite are the ones with the large old fashioned purple petunias in them but I also enjoy a couple of mixed variety of baskets.


Here's a couple of shots from inside the nursery. The first shows all the hanging baskets above, with the flats of bedding plants below. The second shows the staging area where they pull the commercial orders awaiting the semi trucks to take them to market.

Any wonder I can lose hours and hours wandering thru the fragrances in the warm bright light?

I was tickled to find so many of the bedding plants that I've been waiting to arrive at the garden center of the local variety store (you know the one that boasts One Stop Shopping) originate here! I helped myself to a full flat each of purple double Petunias, mixed variety of Calendulas, sapphire blue trailing Lobelia, mixed old fashioned heavenly-fragranced Stock. Buying at the nursery brought the price down to $.25 a plant! I also got a variety of geraniums for the centers of my flower pots for only $2 ea, as opposed to $3.50!

As promised, by late afternoon the sun was shining and I scrubbed out my seven window box planters in preparation of this year's plants. I am out the door here pretty quickly to start planting....

The day ended on a perfect note. Family gathered around our small backyard fireplace. Soon the kids dispersed and DearHusband and I sat quietly watching the crackling fire, and listening to the soft sounds of Big Band Love Songs. Later, as the neighborhood settled in for the night, I could hear the surf of the bay just a block away, and the tree frogs calling to each other while I gazed at the stars up above. Heaven in a small backyard.