garden center woes

i dropped $65 at the garden center today. our new apartment doesn't have any landscape to speak of if any of you lovelies out there in the cyber world have extra flower seed packets lying around i'll take them off your hands *cough cough* most of the money i spent was for the communal garden at maggie & austin's. why the heck are blueberry bushes so expensive again? anyways, as far as flowers right now ive only got two kinds of cosmos, lavender, one measly dahlia, and a ranaculus mix. oh and i suppose some strawberries in a container. im thinking of bidding on some seed lots on ebay. this one is striking my fancy because it's cheap, easy to grow, and pretty. (sidebar: how can anyone, in good conscience bid on this auction when the person keeps saying "sew" instead of "sow"?) if i had just a tiny bit more space i would use the square foot gardening method but alas, i don't even have 4x4 ft. guess what i want for mothers day? mulch & seeds! the person who lived here before us is a mystery to me. there is a half barrel in the back and obviously has been put to good use, it's full of rich soil for example. yet the front bed looks like it was used for an ashtray or broken bottle trash can. i felt like so grossed out cleaning it out this afternoon. listen, i get that this is an apartment and not a home someone owns but that much broken glass is just uncalled for! it's not that hard to show an certain level of pride in where you live. this is by no means a low income area, how hard is it to throw out a bag of mulch?

while at the garden center augustine picked out the worst looking lawn ornament and begged me for it in the way that only a near-three year old can. i told him we didn't have money for such things which is code for "EW". commence lie on the ground, kicking and screaming tantrum.

suicide machines - i never promised you a rose garden
&
smog - i feel like the mother of the world

augustine is a pretty well behaved child, i don't know what brought this on other than just Toddler Gimme Gimme Syndrome. it thrills me to see his interest in gardening (and baking). it is some of the rare times that i feel like i am leaving some of me behind on him. that should i pass away that would always remain even if he didn't remember how it got there. anyways a kind, well meaning lady shoved a piece of candy into auggie's palm asking him if "it was really THAT bad?" and he shrieked what he always does when he is having a tantrum, "I WANT MY DADDY!" (as if david would roll over and die about the silly lawn ornament??!) i was really disappointed and told him so in the car. the serenity prayer ain't just for addicts on days like this folks...