Gardener's World

I am not a gardener. I know nothing about plants - or next to nothing. In 1981 I owned an aphelandra squarossa louisae. This is a houseplant with stripy leaves and rather nice blooms more commonly known as a zebra plant. Owning this plant did not set me on the path to horticultural greatness, sadly. Nor, on an annual basis, does it prevent me from buying lots of plants which die prematurely from lack of care (often out of a failure to even plant them). Today however may be the start of something better, although entirely due to TSM's efforts rather than mine.

We gardened, went to the dump, cleaned, and exhausted ourselves. Well I did, TSM seemed made of stronger stuff. She is several years younger than me. The age gap is beginning to show. She may yet come down in her clubbing clothes demanding that we hit the mean streets of Woking, only to find me sitting here in my pyjamas and slippers. But she planted everything. Nothing got left behind as they say in Hawaiian legend (or is it US Navy Seals?). She counted them all out (of Squires Garden Centre) and she counted them all in (to various tubs and bits of rockery).

Mind you we did have a very sociable weekend as well as a lot of graft. A genuine case of work hard, play hard. I mean, on Friday I had three pints of beer and last night the board game we played with Mr and Mrs Bear got very competitive. So I am clearly still at the cutting edge of our local community's nightlife. 

The prep is nearly over. The state visit of Maroota's first family (first as far as we are concerned anyway) commences on Tuesday when TSM's sister and niece land at Heathrow. 

Hope they like the garden.