INSTANT GARDENS

First published in June 2019

OK,
so my kind of gardening
(pot after clay pot)
counts as cheating
in a big way - like
ready-meals, I suppose.

But
bold geraniums, their cousins
frill-leaved pelargoniums,
pretty thumb-pink begonias
splash colour across the patio
in minutes, as pots are grouped
together against a wall, on
steps into the garden proper.

Yet
I'm conscious I didn't coax
my flowers from seedlings,
didn't feed and water them
as they budded or watch them
colour, open bright petals
ready to catch the eye.

No,
I confess I bought them fully grown
from supermarket shelves,
from nursery and garden centre.

Yes
as far as the truly green-fingered
are concerned
I'm branded
as a garden cheat.