Plant Shopping at Harner Farm

It is springtime, and time for planting. And I find that I need some salvia, especially the fancy kind. Now, I must admit that I have a very checkered history with salvia. I love salvia, and so do our hummingbirds. I buy some every spring, usually in shades of purple and/or red. 

They do fine all summer in pots, but when I try to move them into one of the outdoor gardens, they never thrive there. There is sometimes even drama involved, as in the tale of the famous "Hell-Ride Salvia" from just a few years ago. You may read that tale exclusively, here on Blipfoto.

I suspect fancy salvia are the favored appetizer of some of our yard critters, in particular, a small black mole/vole type critter whom I've seen feasting on my fancy salvia. But I'm like Elizabeth Taylor, marrying the same husband again and again: it's a perfect example of the triumph of hope over experience. Every spring, hope blooms anew. And so does the salvia!

My husband and I were watching either Perry Mason or Wild Wild West on DVD the other night, when I heard these words come out of my lips: "One of these days, we're going to have to stop at Harner Farm to buy more of those purple salvia that never grow - I simply MUST have them in my summer garden!" You should have seen the look on my husband's face: Oh no, NOT the salvia, AGAIN!!!!  ;-)

And so on Tuesday, we decided to go to Lupita's for tostadas. My husband would first drop me at Harmer Farm's outdoor market, where I would snap some pretty photos of their gorgeous flowers. And of course, I would attempt to buy some salvia. Then I'd walk across the street and meet him at Lupita's.

I did, in fact, purchase two red and two purple plants. And I brought them, in a box, across the street, where I also purchased two tostadas. They didn't have the ground beef, so we ended up with steak. I set the box of salvia by the car, got in, and we ate our lunch. We almost drove away without the salvia!

And then we took our new salvia on an outing to Fairbrook Park, where we walked around a little, and sat in our chairs with our books. But either the porta-potty - after a long holiday weekend - or a farmer in the field nearby - spreading assorted toppings on the soil - was making a terrible stench. 

We complained about it, moved further from the porta-potty. A breeze sprung up; made it better, then made it worse. Finally, my husband said, "I'm really tired of the smell of sh*t!" and we hopped in the car and left. (Yep, that's me, keeping it real! The stench was unbelievable. And I was raised a country girl. So my tolerance for that sort of thing is pretty high.)

We got home and there was a message on the machine. It was the dentist's office! They had an opening for Wednesday afternoon! They said they could try to fit me in. They had originally given me an appointment for next week, so this sooner appointment is substantial good news. Of course, we accepted, so my appointment is for Wednesday at 2 o'clock.

And then I planted the salvia in pots - one purple and one red plant per pot - and put them on the deck, as a gift for our hummingbirds. They love salvia at least as much as I do! I hope I can get some photos of them enjoying it this summer to post here.

But there was one bad thing out of this day. It was around 10:15 p.m. I was sitting on the bed, getting ready to watch more Perry Mason, when I felt an itchy spot on my belly. Guess what: yep, I got another tick! It was another one of those itty bitty ticks that you get in springtime, the nymphs. So now I have another tick to send to the tick lab.

I don't know if I'm winning or losing here in central PA, but I'm trying hard and mostly having a pretty good time. Wish me luck at the dentist, and with the tick, and with the salvia! I just might need it.

The photo above is a broad shot of some of the flowers at Harner Farm. You may see a short video of their entire set-up on Instagram, and I encourage you to go look; it's really a gorgeous collection of blooms! I complimented the lady at the checkout, and commented that I'd been taking photos to make all of my Facebook friends jealous!

In the top of this shot you can see several colorful little "houses" for the children to play in. I always laugh to see them, especially the purple one, which would be mine, of course. It called to mind the following song. John Mellencamp is always a favorite. The tune is Pink Houses, from his 1983 album Uh-Huh.