One door Closes…
Written by Shelley Kelly
Earlier this year I closed the wardrobe door on my personal shopping and styling business. No regrets. At about the same time, I experienced the overwhelm that my clients once described to me when walking into a shop. “There’s so much to look at – how can I possibly choose? Where do I start? Can we just leave?”
I walked into that shop. I had that feeling. I was out of my depth.
Ladies and gentlemen – Welcome to the Garden Centre!
Nobody warned me that garden centres can be scary places. Rows and rows of green things, from the pocket money to bank loan territories, and I had no idea where to start. What are all these things? And I’m not just talking about plants here. Should I be stocking up on vermiculite? What on earth would I want with a bag of horticultural grit? What do you do with loppers?
I was struck motionless. So, I left empty handed and brain-addled.
My name’s Shelley and I’m a novice gardener.
Like many of us in the last year, I have found tranquillity in that bit of land outside my back door. A whole new enchanted world. I knew if I could get to grips with it, it could be right up my garden path and give me endless joy.
Time to study. I needed some new deities in my life. Gone were Gok and Trinny from my Instagram feed. Hello Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh. I now devour Gardener’s World magazine like I used to do Vogue. I want flowers, not frocks. And then gradually, as if by magic, I learnt the lingo.
Where before, I would comment on a fabulous outfit or great choice of shoes whilst I was out and about, now I’m walking down the road thinking “ooh nice Agapanthus” or “is that an Amelanchier?” I have learnt a whole new language. Words that I now just drop into conversation which were alien to me 12 months ago. Perennial. Herbaceous. Mulch. Cotyledon leaves. Softwood cuttings.
My oasis of calm in EX4 is in its infancy. My grasp of the language is at the ordering a beer level as opposed to fluency with a local. So, if you meet me, indulge me. Comment on my necklace, sure. But ask me about my Verbena Bonariensis too. It’s accessorising my new world perfectly right now.
