I wouldn't say no to any of those and what a bargain for only around $70 US!! Good shopping!!

In the spirit of good-natured ribbing, and from one who does the exact same thing, I seem to recall these recent words....

"... I do always grow (and buy??) far too many for available spaces. It is a bit of a problem, because the garden is always filled beyond sanity ..."

LOL when I saw your list of purchases, this is what I thought of! But of course no judgment, since I am currently making a list of what I dream of purchasing this fall - to be whittled down to what I can afford, but not necessarily what I can fit, lol. That's something a gardener just doesn't worry about until later!

That's quite the nice haul, for quite the nice price! Tell us, who sponsors or runs these plant fairs? Local gardening clubs perhaps? While part of me is jealous, it's probably just as well that such easy temptation is beyond reach....

:)

Dee

I know, Dee. I wasn't even planning to go but I was in the area because I had to do some work at the wood. There are various societies such as National Plant Heritage, Hardy Plant Society, Plant Conservation. I know of Nargs over your way (North American Rock Gardening Soc. so I am sure there are others, but anyway, gardening is massively popular in the UK, with a long history and a forgiving climate, so every week of the year, there are meetings, talks and plant fairs, which are organised by members and attended by plant nurseries. Best of all, there is usually a stall where you can find plants from members own gardens so there will always be some gems...and incredibly cheap too. I am a member of the Hardy Plant Society - mostly for the annual seed exchange - over 2000 species, for annual subscription costs of less than £20.

I was pretty restrained too. Apart from the tetrapanax (£2!!) and the nicotiana glauca, I do have a plan for all the others.

This year has been the absolute worst year in the entire existence of my allotment. Apart from some potatoes, I have not harvested a single vegetable, despite 5, 6, 7 attempts at salad leaves, beans, curcubits,root veg, fruit (apart from apples). NOTHING. The absolute last straw was seeing my Uchiki Kuri squash stolen and eaten by rats or squirrels (not sure what but I know it isn't pigeons because all that was left was gnawed skins). Between pests and diseases (the molluscs have been apocalyptic and there are always intense, untended disease pressures on allotments), I have called a halt to any more futile vegetable growing and am turning the plots ( about 1/4 acre) into flower beds (although I grow tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse over summer). So I will have space to do my dry gardens and cultivated chaos experiment. 14 or so plants is only the smallest proportion of what I am planning to raise for this coming year (hoping for several hundred) so I didn't feel I was too greedy. And the prices!

"the molluscs have been apocalyptic ". You can say that again.

Yep, Floral, this is my 26th allotment year and I have never experienced anything like it. My site has almost been abandoned - usually always people around at this time of year but for the last half dozen visits, I have seen no-one else...and walking around the site, I can see why.