Andrew Simpson: Fun in the garden centre ……………

Thursday 20 May 2021

Fun in the garden centre ……………

It was the week that garden centres reopened with of course suitable social distancing, masks, and the expectation that we were turning another corner.

The place was full, and while the restaurant remained closed, no one seemed to bother.

Instead, there was lots of interest in the plants on offer, and more than a few people walked away with heaps of green things, from small bedding specimens to tall and stately climbing ones along with baby bushes which had the promise of taking over the garden.

And while we wandered the aisles, I was attracted to a series of animal figures lurking in the undergrowth, which I instantly took to.

There were lots of them.

They came in different shapes and sizes, and all were brightly coloured.

If I could I would have bought the lot, transporting them home and creating a menagerie of metal animals spread out across the garden with some tucked away in half hidden places and others proudly standing as centre pieces.

But then, we only have a pocket of a garden, which is already dominated by four fruit trees, a large overgrown patch of grass which was to be joined by Tina’s purchases.

So reluctantly with more than a few backward stares I left them amongst the foliage, confident in the knowledge that some of them would eventually adorn back gardens across south Manchester.

And since that visit the plants have come along, joining those we bought online.

All of which leaves just to reveal that the very first time I bought online from Parkers the said plants didn’t arrive by return of order.

I toyed with sending a stern email, but was saved by the realization that being plants they would be dispatched at the appropriate time for planting, confirming my total ignorance of gardening, and why I suppose I was attracted to the metal animals and not the flowers.