Somebody Stop Me!

This time of year, the nurseries start to call to me: Buy my plants! Look how pretty they are!

And my yard also speaks to me: Look how ugly I am! Why would you want weeds? Plant real things so they can be beautiful instead of these nasty things soaking up your precious water and puncturing your soft skin?

Okay, my skin is arguably not that soft anymore. But those puncture weeds could go through my van tires, and my skin is not that tough. Yet.

My darling husband isn't helping much, either. He keeps setting up lunch dates (with me, of course) at our favorite nursery. He isn't looking at landscaping plants, though. He wants tomatoes. And basil. And peppers. Whatever, I say. He has no imagination. See? Perfect little rows...

Just kidding. I'm sure he could be imaginative...were he not always working as an engineer...which I'm grateful for...

Anyway. So this is what I've been doing lately...scouring the nursery and spending too much money on plants. Here's what I have (so far) put in...

Catnip. Really, I just want to mess with the cats that wander through my yard. Including my own cat, the crazy Tae-Bo. To date, we've only seen the neighborhood cats wallowing in it...

Scabiosa (pincushion flowers) and candytuft. The former is to add to the show of purple, the latter to add some contrast.

White bleeding hearts. I've been looking for these for a long time...the pink are so easy to find, the red and white not so much.

Salvia, a relative of sage, but not really for cooking. I need many more of these to line the edges of my borders.

Anise, and an itty-bitty sage plant...that I can use for cooking...

And creeping jenny. This particular corner of my yard requires the most work when weeding - the ground is hard and stickers are everywhere. So hopefully a ground cover will, well, cover it up.

Yes, weeding still needs to be done. Blah, blah, blah. If the wind wouldn't keep making my allergies so bad, I would gladly spend most evenings outside. But, as it is, I prefer to breathe. Silly me, I know! Have you gone crazy at a nursery lately, or is it just me?

Okay, I knew the answer to that one.