Houston, We Have A Problem

I suspect that much like an alcoholic needs to avoid bars, so do I need to avoid garden centers. I just went to buy milk. And a few little other things. Really, I did. But I wandered into the garden center...just to see what they had.

Zinnias. In a nine pack with a convenient carry handle.  And since all the ones I'd tried to plant had died, I brought them home with me. 

Yes, that really is a toy snake on the box behind the flowers.

No, don't ask...

Um, where were we?  Oh, yes.  The zinnias.

They are now safely tucked into the flower bed with the rest of my conglomeration.

Now if only the rest of the stuff I planted will start blooming.  I pat my foot impatiently at you, stuff!

In the meantime, the grass clearing continues.

It's slow going, but I'm making progress. It seems the grass comes back faster than I can pull it out. And I invariably pull up something I'd wanted to keep.  That's why I have to keep buying plants.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Well, it's all part of the learning process...at least, that's what I tell myself.

You can see there in the corner the little white picket fence I bought.  Maybe in the next couple of days, I can get it installed where I want it..

I'm going to put it around my coneflowers. I think next year, I'll add three more coneflowers, and those will be the only perennials I will keep.  I'm having such fun with these annuals, I'm wondering why I never had them before. 

OK, I admit, I know why I never had them before. I didn't think they were cost effective. I mean, you have to keep planting them year after year. They just weren't worth it.  In my mind, at least.

Now that I've grown a little older, and a little wiser, I realize... some things are worth more than their cost.