Thursday, May 17, 2007

ilex vomitoria


i just love the name of the holly i got the other day. the english name is lovely as well... weeping yaupon. isn't that poetic? i now invite you to write a poem on the name of your choice... ilex vomitoria or weeping yaupon. you choose.

my friend jen, our neighbor angie, and 2 of jen's kids piled up in her big red truck (i kinda felt like the wiggles... "toot toot chugga chugga big red car") and drove the distance to broadwell's. what is broadwells, you ask? why nothing less than landscape mecca. it is a huge landscape supply company, which means that it sells plants to garden centers and nurseries wholesale. and to 3 women and 2 kids in a big red truck. wholesale.

now, broadwell's is not for the wimpy woman, the squeamish or the faint of heart. what you do is drive your truck down the rutted and dusty trails between the acres of potted plants, carefully avoiding the sprinkler poles, and load up the truck with whatever you want. it's a little tricky as there are NO PRICES and NO LABELS. it's your guess as to what a plant is and how much it might cost when you get to the guy at the front.

huge, heavy, dripping buckets of cherry treees, messily heaved in to the bed of the truck. dwarf junipers by the dozen. big manly woman arms hoisting hollies upon hollies. we easily packed that truck chock-full of more plants than we could possibly have time to dig holes for. no matter. this was broadwell's! and it inspired all of us to bite off more than we could chew.

strutting through a barn were two peacocks and a peahen. we breathed the dusty, hot air. we bumped down the road. we carefully navigated the turns until at last, we were sated. tired, thirsty, hungry and dirty, we approached the man in the cowboy hat for our grand total. he contemplated with his calculator our bed full of greenery. "$221.50," he said. it's criminal how much we got for just a bit over $200. he helped us wrap the branches in a tarp for wind protection, and we were off to chick-fil-a and dunkin donuts for some much-needed reparations.

i got home and the golden glow abated. i was stuck with a bunch of plants, rock-hard clay soil, and no one to dig me a hole. my back ached just THINKING about planting all this stuff. when i awoke this morning, i found that jane (2 year old border collie) had taken care of at least 2 of my little problems by decimating some dwarf barberry shrubs. no bother! they were only $3 each! and 2 less holes to dig!

at about 5:45, tommy was leaving to go on a motorcycle ride with his pals, and hollered in to me, "lance and his friend are here to dig holes!"

WHAT?!

jen had sent her 13 year old son and his friend robbie to dig my holes for me. they spent 2 dutiful hours digging and planting ALL of my shrubs and plants. i'm so relieved i could cry! and of course i spent my last scraped-together dime to get my wolfman son a $12 (cash only) haircut earlier today. so i couldn't even slip the kids a twenty. no matter, i'll get to the atm asap in the morning and show my gratitude in monetary form. that IS what 13 year old boys want, right?

i called jen, and we have plans to return to broadwell's next wednesday for more. gluttons for punishment, aren't we?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes!! I finally got the comment window to pop up. My future is bright. When I started reading your blog, I couldn't believe you bought shrubs - the reason I was shocked - your ROCK HARD soil. I was just sitting here shaking my head. But, your story had such a happy ending. Those kids really deserve payment. Wow! Will be anxious to see the results. Jan actually ATE the miniature barberry bushes? Crazy dog. She probably was upset you left her and this was payback. Ha,ha.

Anonymous said...

somehow I missed the "e" on Jane in my blog. I know Jan didn't eat your shrubs. Guess I should read what I write.

Anonymous said...

me again, I really like the latin name Ilex Vomitoria. I'll have to think of a "poem" for that.

hellomelissa said...

and the winner for most comments in a row is...

MY MOM!!!!!!

round of applause, everyone. and congratulations on the accomplishment, mom.

for those of you who were wondering why she had to correct jan to jane, well, my dad's name is jan. and he doesn't normally eat barberry. hey, i had to name ONE of my kids after my folks! the dog's full name is jane mary.

Lainey-Paney said...

I want to go!
I want to go!

That place sounds like it has just AWESOME prices.
You lucky ducky!

...and, I loved the Wiggles reference. Why, just last week we were driving through downtown & my husband & I made a Handy Manny reference at the same time.
What have these kids done to us????

:)

Secret Pal said...

That sounds like a good day. I love plants!

Autumn's Mom said...

Lovely! And you have a good friend!! I need some boys to come weed out my yard! None of my friends have 13 year old boys dangit.

ML said...

I want to go with you next time! It sounds like dusty plant heaven!

I'm glad the kids came over and planted all your stuff. Makes it much easier :)

Heidi said...

I wish we had a garden store like that. Our only close one closed recently. I could get a ton of plants and trees for my husband to plant and me to adore. I love the name ilex vomitoria, any name with vomit in it is really cool.

Anonymous said...

as instructed. a haiku.

red truck and dollars,
weeping yaupon now is yours.
dig a hole girlfriend.

Anonymous said...

ilex vomitoria is green,
ilex vomitoria is red,
and you managed to replant it somehow without making it dead.

Anonymous said...

Oh gloria, gloria
I've finally planted my ilex vomitoria

It's green leaves glisten in the early morning dew.
Calling all deer to come in and chew.

Da Mommy said...

cardinal sin...you must go to confession after taking that much greenery for so little greenbacks. Shame I say....shaaaaame.

Lotus Reads said...

Sounds like a really great place for plants! My planting day is next weekend, I am so excited! I'm thinking of putting in a whole lot of tropicals and other fragrant plants!

Lovely post, Melissa, it sure gets me in the mood for planting!

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait to own some landscaping and get me a GARDENER! Maybe I should just hire you guys! Anyway the only hole digging here are miniature golfers!

Jay said...

That's pretty awesome, although the whole concept of that place sounds really daunting to me. I'd be too indimidated to go.

Susan in Italy said...

Wow! what a cool "store" you get all kinds of rare plants for cheap and a workout to boot! Not too shabby.

J said...

Very cool store. I need a big red truck, clearly. Oh, and a yard.

Andie D. said...

I love buying plants! I love the thought of all that green growth. The possiblilities. The LIFE.

What I hate is the death. My thumb is brown as hell.

Unknown said...

Too bad there is an ocean between us....I would have helped you dig!