Instant Gratification

 Another refurbished piece from 2015. Still have that wheelbarrow, still holds water, still love it!

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On a cold, dark day last November I bought an antique wheelbarrow at a small sale here in Salem. A case of love at first sight.

This was no mere infatuation. Still love the thing, still enamored of its metal patch that is so well done it holds water. We had to keep dumping rain water out of it all winter. I saw neighbor cats drinking from it more than once.

We moved the barrow the other day, still empty, to the part of the front yard we call Middle Earth, which is very much a work in progress.  My intent was to plant it with a festive medley of flowers for the summer.

And on Monday the hubs and I headed off to a wonderful nursery not far out of town to get just the right mix of plants.

We looked and looked. Created little collections of plants to see how they’d look together. Moved 4-inch pots about and brought in others. And then I had a brainstorm.

This nursery has beautiful hanging baskets in full bloom. And their prices are better than I’ve seen elsewhere – less than $20 for a 10 inch pot full of a mass of blooms. I totted up the prices of the collection of baby plants we were considering, and when the total was several dollars higher than the lush blooming beauties in the 10 inch pots, our strategy changed and we went looking for some ready-made beauty. It was a surprise to me when I fell hard for a red geranium. Really, really red. And big.

Talk about instant gratification. Wherever you are in the front garden, there’s this major pop of color at its heart.

We also splurged on another pot for near the front door. Three different colors of those mini petunias that bloom their little heads off.

It’s sitting on the cute fifty cent plant stand Judy and I found last July. More plant love. Every time I look outside I find myself smiling at my instant flowers. 

I hope some kind of buy-this-now monster will not take over my normally frugal ways. Nah. It won’t. But maybe we all need a refined jolt of instant gratification from time to time.