A Record of New Arrivals: Echinacea, Vitex, Whichford Pottery Pots, and a Deep Dive into Horticultural Therapy

Once again!
The story of bringing home Echinacea and Whichford pots.

First up,Vitex (Chaste Tree).
I wanted one, but I thought it would be impossible for me if it grew too large.
I had been watching from the sidelines, but then!
I found out there are dwarf varieties!
And then, I got word that my favorite garden center had just stocked them!!

Well,I j u s t h a d t o g o right?

Also, they had recently restocked Echinacea, and while I wanted more, I already have three plants, so I was like, 'Ugh, I don't really need more, or rather, I already have some.'
But if I were to buy one, I already have pink, orange, and white, so I was thinking a green one would be nice...
My daughter, who came with me, started saying,'I want a flower, I want to pick one out,'(business as usual), and she kept picking ones I already had, or ones that weren't really my taste, and were also a bit pricey!
At this rate, I was going to blow my limited budget... I had to come up with a strategy!
After thinking hard, I realized: that's it!I'll have her pick the type of Echinacea I want.
That way, at least it'll be an Echinacea, and since she'll feel like she picked it herself, it should work!

And so, what she chose was...
Pink.
Yeah, that's right. You love pink, don't you.
You picked pink for the hibiscus too, didn't you?
The flower shape is different from the last one, so I guess it's fine... and we decided to bring that one home.

And the highlight of the trip,Whichford Pottery pots.
I saw the arrival announcement on Instagram and decided I'd go for either a simple brown one or an ash one. When I saw them in person...
The ash selection seemed to be mostly smaller sizes. From what I could see, the largest was about a 6-inch pot.
In contrast, there were several larger brown ones, and they were more affordable than the ash ones (though still a fair price for the product, they arenot affordable at all. My sense of value is already broken).
I was torn between three types of brown pots around 7-8 inches and an ash one around 6 inches, but since I couldn't decide, I figured any would do and let my daughter choose.
When I asked, 'Which one do you like?', she picked the ash one.
Of course she did! We have the same taste after all!

So, I happily grabbed that and went to pay.

👇 Now, please take a look at these lovely new additions! 👇

The shop owner always teaches me various things when I'm checking out, and he mentioned that for dwarf Vitex, pink is currently the mainstream and blue is difficult to find.
However, there have been many voices from existing pink owners saying, 'We want blue!', and when they repeatedly asked the producer, the response was, 'I've already pruned them so I can't release them immediately, but I have a few,' so it seems they will be arriving soon!
I was satisfied just having a Vitex, but now you're telling me blue is coming too?
I'll probably be back at the shop the moment they arrive.

As for the pots, I suspect I'll end up buying another one since I still want a brown one that's 7 inches or larger...

I've spent quite a lot on gardening this year, but I'm enjoying it thinking of it ashorticultural therapy.
It's a therapy I need right now, surely, probably.

My children are cute and I love them, but when my time is only spent between being with the three of them, working, or sleeping, my mental state gets exhausted and I can't keep up with recovery.
In the midst of all that, I've concluded that by diving into gardening, which requires more care, I am unconsciously trying to create[my own mental recovery time].

There is always a reason for my actions, and while I could live without worrying about it, if I dig deep into the 'Why?' and 'How come?', I should be able to meet a version of myself I wasn't aware of.
I've recently come to think that if I understand my own feelings that I wasn't aware of, it will further clarify 'what I really want to do and what state I want to be in,' which is a big step forward.
These are the things I think about while I'm busy repotting and watering my plants every day.

I needed time to immerse myself in my own thoughts while engaging with greenery.
So that's what it was, I see.
Of course, what people engage with varies from person to person.

By thinking about these things in a vague way and then outputting them like this, I was able to have an experience where my thoughts deepened even further.
Output is important isn't it?
By putting things into words, whether spoken or written, what was unconscious becomes conscious and clear.
I am excited that there is still such an interesting world out there.

Thank you for always reading my personal notes!
I would be very happy if this could be of any help to you.
I wish you a wonderful gardening life!