Growing Nicely – Shopping Therapy

At last spring is here, time to brighten the garden and in doing so, lift ones spirit. There is nothing quite like buying annuals, just to decorate and give a different appearance to certain crucial areas of the garden.

Many, so called annuals will last me for years here in Catalunya, and I have long since given up the idea of growing annuals from seed, my only successful seedlings have planted themselves,  like Calendula, Nasturtium Saponaria or ‘Love in the mist’ are all abundant at the moment.  I will however need to replace some of the ivyleaf Geraniums, after the winter, I have a collection (bruised and battered by the cold winds), of a beautiful small flowered pink French Geranium, called Pelargonium x hederaefolia Rey Balcon, also I can never resist the bright red Geraniums that even on a dull day shout Mediterranean to me!

In the autumn I chose cyclamen in white and different shades of pink combined with   velvety almost black violas, what a delicious winter array they are, now seedlings of Saponaria ocymoides have spontaneously appeared (seeded no doubt from surrounding planters) giving masses of pink flowers, which look like tiny butterflies trailing over the edges of the containers, softening the entire effect, showing that winter is really at an end.

It seems a shame to move them but I need the planting areas around the house to look spectacular during all through the hard dry summer months, I know if I give these plants plenty of water now, they won’t even know, they have been moved away from the house into the background. The wisest trick of-course is to have duplicate planters that can be moved into position as the earlier plants begin to fade, but that is beyond my budget again this year.

I have known for years that my garden is my therapy and buying plants is certainly shopping therapy, which we all need from time to time.  My family have a joke, they consider that for me, buying a plant, is like buying an ice cream, it is about the same price, lasts longer and gives me so much more pleasure!  I like to buy lots of ‘ice cream’ these days.

The winter plants have done their job. I now I want a new focus, a different combination to give that added sparkle ‘the wow factor’ as the TV presenters are always telling us. For me it’s a joy to go out and buy plants, which will give me a new design, and different colour scheme.

When I first arrived here I trawled through every garden centre I passed, buying a few plants here and a few more there, frequently unable to buy enough plants of my choice in one go. It was quite a hit or miss, time consuming activity, which took away a lot of buying pleasure.

Then I discovered El Mola Garden Centre, they are situated well off the main road, (please see our map). A friend recommended I visit them, after I admired all her excellent purchases, especially when she told me what very reasonable prices she had paid.

The Margalef family, who have built this thriving business over the last thirteen years, not only have an eye for quality and design but also real desire to make each customer very welcome. Pepi told me ‘We try to maintain a pleasant and safe environment in which our customers can wander at their leisure, to enjoy the many plants, flowers and trees available.’

Antonio and Pepi own E Mola and run the business with their two daughters Julia and Paula, together they have created well defined produce selling areas, displayed within the structure of a tranquil garden. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with huge specimen planting and hedges dividing the different types of plants and trees. This was where I checked out the height possibilities and pruning scheme for the Myoporum hedge, I eventually  ordered from El Mola. 

On my first visit, about seven or eight years ago,  I just wanted to extend my herb garden, and although they had such a wide range of different aromatic varieties, it was the friendly help and advice I was offered from Julia, who  directed me to some of the more  unusual herbs, that clinched my return visit.
I decided on my second visit, that this would be the garden centre where I would choose to buy my annuals. After that it just became the place I would visit when I needed to replace a plant, buy a small gift, or just spend an hour or so looking around, with absolutely no pressure to buy.

I want annuals that will flower through the heat of July and August when most plants go to sleep in my garden, lots of Portulaca by the gate where it is hot and dry, I think with Livingstone daisy Mesembryanthemum. I like to underplant the geraniums with Bizzy Lizzies Impatiens and hope they will fill in with lots of colour when the geraniums rest for August.

But what I actually buy is always to do with what is available; I want good quality, healthy plants at a reasonable price, in interesting colour combinations. I always go back to El Mola Garden Centre, where I know there will be a large selection of good quality annuals from which to choose. I also want to buy trays full of a single colour as I like a mass effect, with only a small selection of different kinds of flower planted together.

On one visit, a few months ago I was a little hesitant, when I realised that five out of the eight small cyclamen I bought were small gifts, I asked for them to be gift wrapped.  Pepi immediately asked me if I wanted to choose my gift wrapping (what colour) combinations, (which I always do) she then spent her precious time, wrapping my little gifts and chatting amiably. Her willingness and smile were a pleasure for me, after such a lot of extra work for my small purchases.

Pepi and Antonio are adamant that it is essential for them, in this current economic crisis, to price, very keenly, but without compromising on the quality of the stock. This year they have even been able to reduce the price of the enormous bags of Universal Compost from 10 euro’s to 8 euro’s.  I wanted to buy some Palms which were displayed on the front stands, when I noticed how well priced they were at 16 euro’s for a sizable plant and only 5 euro’s for the smaller ones.

Several years ago I bought some small yucca’s, for no other reason than the price! Now they are quite a show piece, grouped together, they stand well over two metres tall and still growing, whereas some cuttings I took at about the same time, will be lucky if they reach quarter of a metre by the end of this year.   I have now decided I am too old to wait, I will indulge in more shopping therapy and I must buy well established plants if I want to enjoy a mature garden to relax in.

I love the collection of large ceramic pots and containers, in different colours and designs, at El Mola displayed together with birdbaths sundials, garden fountains and sculptures, in an enclosure situated along the entrance driveway, they are so cleverly placed, your eye is drawn towards just the large pots you have been searching for, before you have even parked your car in the ample car-park,  then of-course, when you wander back to take a second look, and you are pleasantly surprised by the price, as I was, you will be unable to resist them.

However, I consider all the ceramic pots I initially bought have been such a good investment; I am still using my original pots after years of exposure to winters in the mountains with absolutely no weather damage.

I have noticed that El Mola has a wider more diverse range of plants this year, many of which I recognise as durable, reliable shrubs that were the backbone of my garden in the UK, hardy shrubs like Weigela, Berberis, together with several types of Ceanothus and Buddleia.

Pepi says that although they are always searching for new, different plants and are now selling a much more varied stock, that are interesting to their international customers, she insists, that everything they supply is suitable to growing  here in Catalunya. To prove it, situated at the rear of the parking space is their own spectacular private garden.

Short URL: http://www.chroniccat.com/?p=190

Posted by editor on 2010-04-04 Filed under April 2010, Home & Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry