What began as a quick run for light bulbs ended with three geraniums, a lavender plant and a bag of potting soil from Liberty Park Greenhouse and Garden Center on June 30, the last day it was open for the season. The writer also never found the plant propagation powder that was on the list.
That matters because the stop was not supposed to be a garden spree at all. It was supposed to be a narrow errand, one that could have ended with nothing more than bulbs and the powder, but the final day of the season put the plant tables in front of the writer one more time, and that was enough to change the plan.
The haul was not random. A deep rose geranium filled a color gap on the deck, where the writer said that shade had been missing. A blush pink Sun Patiens went next to the one-and-only tomato plant, a Sweet 100 cherry, and a Rockapulco Rose Double Impatiens sat under a buy one, get two free sign, with the second and third plants included in the deal. The purchased plant was half off, which made the temptation harder to resist.
The friction was simple and familiar: the trip started with a plan to buy light bulbs and ended with multiple plants and gardening supplies. The writer spent about one hour browsing, left with the wrong errand completed and the right one forgotten, and still managed to justify the new additions as part of a deck garden that has to stay partly protected because deer limit what can safely be planted in the yard.
That is the small truth at the center of the story. The season was closing, the displays were shrinking, and the writer once again bought more than intended because the plants were there, the prices were good, and the deck still had room if two chairs were shifted and a few things were moved around. Whether the new arrivals settle in neatly is the only question that remains, and it is a practical one: the garden will either absorb them or force another rearrangement.
