I knew that I would only be able to buy small plants, but I also knew from all my reading that they would eventually expand to fill their allotted spaces if I treated them well. Some, of course, would expand faster than others. But I was prepared to wait.
When spring came and the last stone went into the raised bed wall and the nice, rich soil was in place, all that was left was to locate the plants on my list. So I trotted happily off to the nursery - the beginning of a long, happy relationship. I bought everything my little car would hold, which was only about half the list and went home. The next time I brought my husband, who had a bigger car and his own checkbook. I figured if I got him involved he'd enjoy the garden more.
Having seen my first haul, and all the dirt that remained empty when they were planted, he was dubious. I filled my wagon with little plants and went in search of him, only to find him transfixed before a 5 gallon pot of Huskers Red Penstemon. He absolutely fell in love with that penstemon. It didn't fit anywhere on the garden plan I'd made - but hey - the guy wanted that plant!
"They have it here in quart pots," I said.
"How long will it take that quart pot to get this big?" he countered.
I shrugged. "A couple of years?"
He picked up the 5 gallon pot and trotted to the cash register.
Needless to say, when he saw that his one plant cost as much as five of mine, he conceded that maybe I had a point. And, needless to say, when everything was planted, that huge penstemon stuck out like a sore thumb amid all my diminutive quart and 2-inch pot plantings. But while I was content with the vision in my head of plants growing and filling out the space, the vision in my husband's mind was of lush plantings with abundant blooms spilling out everywhere - the first three weeks.
He needed a garden for the impatient. And luckily, this was not such a difficult thing to achieve - even if it was a bit pricier than it would have been had we stuck to my original plan.
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