Digging a hole

Last weekend, I dug myself a literal and a figurative hole.  It all had to do with the Friends School Plant Sale.  You see, I have designs on slowly getting rid of nearly all of my grass.  Lawns aren't interesting.  They require constant upkeep and suck up a lot of resources (water and gas).  You can't even eat them or look at their pretty flowers!  Last year, I put in an herb garden, which took away some of the grass.  Now I am starting to plan what I want to do with the rest of the space in our front yard.  The next phase is to plant the border on either side of our front sidewalk.  So, in addition to the usual herbs and vegetables, I was in the market for interesting perennials.  Enter...The Plant Sale.

This is just a shot of the herb area! It was a HUGE sale.

This is no small sale.  It takes over the grandstand at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.  There are hordes of volunteers, seriously thick plant catalogs, and a lot of suppliers.  The catch is that this sale  only happens one weekend each year.  I had to act fast if I wanted access to the huge variety of options.

"Oops! These came without pots. These cups should help." It was a scoop-your-own situation for this plant :)

My mom and I went together and both of us had spent a few weeks researching and planning our purchases.  We were very grateful for our shopping lists because that place was chock full of temptation.  The little plants at a few bucks a pop seem like no big deal, so you want to keep getting more and more and more!

Many people brought wagons, but this true Minnesotan brought her sled.
Also, with a sale that big, it is easy for a plant to get lost.

After completing our shopping, we very nearly gave ourselves permission to "browse".  Luckily we stayed strong and saved the browsing for another year.

Even with our stellar discipline, we both ended up with a full flat of plants.  This is where the literal and figurative hole comes in for me.  You see, I didn't realize how far I was from being ready to plant these plants!  Since bringing the innocent little flat of plants home, I have spent nearly all of my free time in the yard!  There is so much to be done! After nearly a straight week of labor and research, we are at the halfway point of the planting phase. Phew!