And on Fridays, they even seem to be alive!
OK, so they didn’t have any pasta, and the plants I bought aren’t edible, but I thought they looked in good health and had 20% off, so I got four; one clematis and three perennial sweet peas.
For the last six months or so, my normal Thursday routine has started with an 8am supermarket-dash around Aldi for the family groceries. I then reward my efforts by hastily scoffing a coffee and croissant before driving around the M60 for my volunteering slot at RHS Bridgewater. Sadly, work at RHS Bridgewater has been stood down for now; no volunteering, the majority of staff in furlough, and garden-opening postponed for another year. I’m just hoping it rains soon, or all those new plants that the team worked so hard to put in to date will die.
My Thursday 8am trip to Aldi has still continued in the last three weeks - we don’t consider ourselves vulnerable so no hogging internet delivery slots. Yesterday I rocked up at the retail park, took my position in the queue to get inside and whipped out my Kindle to read whilst waiting. After about thirty minutes, I reached the front of the queue. As I was putting my Kindle back in my shoulder bag, my heart dropped like a stone. My purse wasn’t in my bag. No money. No shop. Mission aborted. I returned home.
Take two. Today I checked the contents of my shoulder bag rather more carefully before setting out and successfully made it into and around the store (and through the checkout) - delighted to see tinned tomatoes and basmati rice were back in stock. Given the dearth of pasta, it will just have to be a curry week, but none of my family will be complaining. Before today, I hadn’t given Aldi plants a second glance, because they’re usually extremely wilted or dead; the staff don’t have the time or brief to water them, so the key is to procure them as soon as possible after their arrival in store. Plainly Friday is the day for buying Aldi plants!
Perennial, everlasting or broad-leaved sweet peas (Lathyrus latifolius) aren’t perfumed like the annual variety (Lathyrus odoratus - clue’s in the name…), but they are still pretty, great for pollinators and I have just read that they can tolerate dry soil, so I am going to try and grow them in the containers at the base of the trellis around our decking; I am often rather negligent about watering those containers.
You can also plant them to scramble up banks or over less ornamental shrubs. The foliage tends to turn brown or yellow towards the end of the summer, at which time you can cut them down to ground level, and look out for them to show themselves again in early spring.
Lathyrus latifolius - perennial sweet pea