Appreciation

I have to admit that gardening is not my favourite pastime, but I cannot help but feel a tinge of envy each time I visit the local garden centre.
Today it was this gorgeous display of hydrangea resplendent in colour and sure-fire attraction for any garden that caught my eye.  That much I can vouch for having three bushes in our garden already.  Yet as colourful as they are, this display almost softened my heart to my regard of gardening per se.
Unfortunately one of our bushes was caught by overnight frosts in early May, just as the new shoots were beginning to appear.  But fingers crossed that the blooms will still appear.
Of course there was plenty to feast my eyes on at the centre — I initially went there to look at a new garden seat to replace a complete arbour structure that we had had for years, but sadly the timbers had rotted away.  Then, of course it is time to put out hanging baskets. Oh yes, and the borders!  
It seems a never ending task and perhaps that’s the reason that gardening is not my highest priority when it comes to leisuretime.
I remember as a young kid whenever we visited someone, from grandparents to my parents’ friends, it seemed that first duty was always an inspection of the garden to see and comment on what had been planted. Maybe, my subsequent aversion to gardening is all down to those must-do inspections when I was six or seven.
Even so, I can spend ages on a bank holiday afternoon browsing round places like this and become most disheartened in the knowledge that with a little more effort on my part, I could transfer some of these hues to our own garden.