I received a surprise yesterday, and unlike some that have
come down the pike recently (yes, I’m talking pandemic) this one was quite
nice.
When I went outside to water plants in pots, I found this
box on my porch.
I had no recollection of ordering anything from them, and my
subscription to the magazine does not arrive in a box. I continued to be
mystified as I looked through the contents. A jug of liquid fertilizer, a cure
for poison ivy rash. Some plant catalogs…At last I unearthed a postcard that said “Thanks for signing up for
our 2020 Garden Vision Newsletter!”
I had no recollection of signing up for this, but I do
voluntarily receive some of their email newsletters so I'm sure I opted for
this one. I had to go online to find out that the first 250 people who signed
up would get a prize box worth $150. Which jogged my memory a
little. I get their emails early in the morning, so I figured I might have a
shot of being among the first 250, and who wouldn’t want some garden-related
loot?
It's actually a pretty good prize. I got a $50 gift
certificate from Bluestone Perennials, $25 for Oakes Daylilies, a BOGO for a
Proven Winners shrub, plus the fertilizer and poison ivy wash.
Plus a lovely box. A nice box is always a good thing.
I'm certainly looking forward to using my gift cards for
more plants, though I must admit I am a bit planted-out. Since March 18 I have
planted 109 plants (and yes, I know some of you have planted much more, and I'm
suitably impressed). A fair number were used in containers, including my new
window boxes that friend Lonna’s sweetie ‘Dick’ll-do-it’ made for my house, but
many went into the ground. But it will be fun to find some more perfect plants to
add. Right now I just want to watch things grow for a while.
I figure now that I have stuff to wash off poison ivy I'll probably
never encounter it again. Which is fine by me; horrible stuff. I have to say, I'm
intrigued by the pictures on the box. Where did they find this poor kid with
poison ivy rash on his face?
Was there some national contest – “Send us your
child’s picture with poison ivy rash and if you are the winner, you will
receive $1500 cash, residuals for the life of the child, and 144 tubes of our
product!” I can just imagine the mama encouraging her son to go play in the
woods. Or maybe it's the work of a talented makeup artist?
There was one aspect of my prize box that I put into use
immediately. For some reason they had included a handful or two of that crinkly
brown paper packing material, which seems a bit silly since everything in the
box was paper.
But as it happens, it was exactly what I needed to refresh the carved
wooden cattails in a bowl I found last fall.
Millie has enjoyed removing these
paper shreds that cover up the block of florist’s foam holding the cattails. Thanks to Fine Gardening, it’s all fluffy again!
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