Shopping Spree

Recently over at A Study in Contrasts, BLACKSWAMP_GIRL posed an interesting question about shopping carts and what they revealed about the shopper. Back from my own expedition, I gave her question some thought. Here's my "cart". . .

This was after a day at Well-Sweep Herb Farm in Port Murray, NJ with my sister. In addition to herbs, they grow a wide variety of perennials and some annuals, too. As I'm still getting the hang of this gardening thing, I appreciated their highly organized, well-signed gardens where visitors can wander prior to making selections. That was an education in and of itself.

The herbs I purchased probably say very little about me, save that I'm not yet ready to invest in culinary escapades. Though they had an impressive selection of herb varieties, I decided that I'd rather have the basics on hand as those are the herbs I see myself getting the most use out of: basil, rosemary, sage and thyme. There was a no-bolt cilantro that was tempting me, but I resisted as my space is limited. I do see myself someday tracking down more obscure herb varieties with very specific recipes in mind. For now, having herbs that flourish through the season and are always on on the ready are enough for me. As I said, I'm still very new at this!

I am pretty excited about the perennials I purchased: lungwort, pasque flower and sedum. I came wanting to pick up some sedum after having spied some in my neighbors' gardens. I was particularly impressed by its longevity, carrying on into autumn even. The lungwort and pasque flower were totally new to me. I love the lungwort's funky, spotted leaves and shade-friendly flowers. The pasque flower has equally wild foliage, in this case sort of silvery and fern-like, and a great, jagged, cup-shape blossom. If I was a little conservative in my herb selections, I at least feel I made up for it with my perennials.