“There’s a fine line between gardening and madness.” —Cliff Clavin in “Cheers”

I honestly can’t remember the last time I went for a drive on my own. It had to have been more than a year ago. Oh sure, I’ve gone on drives with M during the pandemic and I’ve driven my car to the dentist’s office and back. That’s pretty much it, though. I haven’t pumped my own gas or listened to my favorite playlist or turned up the volume on the stereo to 42 since long before coronavirus came and wreaked havoc on the world.

That changed today.

I had a specific list of plants in mind and at least two nurseries for destinations. Once the morning rain storm passed, I programmed Google Maps to show directions to Concord via the country roads and headed out.

In my youth, I drove on freeways to go everywhere. I wanted to get to places and get to them quickly. I guess you can say I’ve always been a bigger fan of the destination than the journey.

Now that I’m middle-aged, I’ve come to take a more relaxed point of view. I still prefer to arrive than to travel, only now there just doesn’t seem any point in hurrying. Why not take the road less traveled and see the sights? Visit parts of the countryside that have remained unknown to me, even after living in the area for four and a half years? Plus, Mother Nature is in full Spring bloom right now and you can see that much more keenly when you’re driving 40 mph on a backroad than 70 mph on the interstate.

At Cole Gardens, I loaded up on good peat-free compost for the catawba rhododendron (Boursault), the buddleja davidii (butterfly bush — Summer beauty) and the wildflower garden I plan to grow in the backyard. Gotta help out our pollinators! I also picked up some cooking herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, catmint, parsley, lavender), two pinkish-white geraniums, a couple of red pepper plants since only a few of my seeds germinated in the basement, two pots of shasta daisies, a large pot of baby’s breath and four pots of my favorite night sky petunias.

At Faulkner’s, I purchased a medium-sized raspberry bush and a medium-sized blueberry bush, both of which are self-pollinators and should do well on the deck in full sun. Hopefully, they’ll bear fruit this year.

I always try to take one big risk — a way to push my gardening skills to the next level — and this year I decided to buy a peony (Paeonia lactiflora – Raspberry Sundae) that’s just about to flower. Over the winter, I planted a bunch of peonies and tulips I purchased via mail order but so far the tubers haven’t blossomed. Perhaps they will next year.

Everything will go into containers this weekend. Next week, I hope to transplant all the basement plugs that survived to the leaf stage and plant out my direct sowers. Since the weather is expected to be very hot, however, I make no promises.

I am admittedly, a grumpy gardener with a very black thumb. During the course of the pandemic, I’ve been studying Monty Don’s books and watching a ton of gardening shows via Britbox and Youtube. Although I’ve mastered the Aerogardening method, I’m bound and determined to improve my skills outside and in dirt. So if you want to follow my gardening adventures, and misadventures, you can read my gardening journal here.