I don't have what you would call a green thumb. In fact my friends and family often make jokes about my 'black thumb'. Whenever I get a plant for a gift, it usually dies within a week.
Yes, I water it.
Yes, I put it in sunlight.
Often I put it directly outside (like many people have suggested I do). And still: dead. *sigh* It's gotten to the point that if I get a plant from a student as an end of the year gift, I just drive it straight over to my Mom.
But something changed...
It all started with a couple of herbs.
I had grown weary of paying top $$ for fresh herbs at the grocery store that only lasted a week or so. So I decided to give herb growing a shot. I found a big planter, filled it with dirt and headed out to buy some herbs.
Cilantro of course. Basil, rosemary, thyme, sage. And for our gum-sniffing cat; peppermint. While we're there, we decide to pick up a few little flowers for the light-post planter out front. And since the store we visit is having an anniversary event, they are giving out tiny tomato plants. Great, another thing to watch die... But it's free, and I'm trying something new, so why not.
A few weeks go by and all is well! I have successfully kept a plant (many plants!) alive for more than a week!
Yes, I water it.
Yes, I put it in sunlight.
Often I put it directly outside (like many people have suggested I do). And still: dead. *sigh* It's gotten to the point that if I get a plant from a student as an end of the year gift, I just drive it straight over to my Mom.
But something changed...
It all started with a couple of herbs.
I had grown weary of paying top $$ for fresh herbs at the grocery store that only lasted a week or so. So I decided to give herb growing a shot. I found a big planter, filled it with dirt and headed out to buy some herbs.
Cilantro of course. Basil, rosemary, thyme, sage. And for our gum-sniffing cat; peppermint. While we're there, we decide to pick up a few little flowers for the light-post planter out front. And since the store we visit is having an anniversary event, they are giving out tiny tomato plants. Great, another thing to watch die... But it's free, and I'm trying something new, so why not.
A few weeks go by and all is well! I have successfully kept a plant (many plants!) alive for more than a week!
But then the peppermint. The #$*% peppermint. Apparently, it grows like crazy and crowds out anything else near it. Over the course of the next month, the tender basil is the first to go. Then the (admittedly over picked) cilantro. Then the tiny thyme. The rosemary, being a hearty plant is holding it's own, but the sage is holding on by a thread.
...
The tomato plant is miraculously growing fast! I've had to re-pot it into a much bigger planter and add a wire cage-holder-thing.
But then the storm. The #$*% storm. It's so bad that several streets nearby are severely flooded and my poor tomato plant is torn apart. I prune it back without high hopes for it's future.
...
The flowers out front are thriving. The buds are opening and new ones are growing and our yard looks less wild.
...
The tomato plant is miraculously growing fast! I've had to re-pot it into a much bigger planter and add a wire cage-holder-thing.
But then the storm. The #$*% storm. It's so bad that several streets nearby are severely flooded and my poor tomato plant is torn apart. I prune it back without high hopes for it's future.
...
The flowers out front are thriving. The buds are opening and new ones are growing and our yard looks less wild.
But then the rabbits. The #$*% rabbits. They are in love with the flowers. So they eat them. All.
...
So now I have dominating peppermint (which my cat doesn't even like by the way!), shriveling herbs, a broken tomato plant, and headless flowers. Not to mention a front garden with a few tiny plants clinging to life among all manner of overgrown, unsightly weeds.
My black thumb is rearing it's ugly head.
It's time to do something.
So. I take the peppermint out of my herb planter and re-pot it in the small planter I never expected the tomato plant to grow out of. I buy replacement basil and thyme (on super sale cause it's so late in the season). Sadly, everyone is out of cilantro.
...
So now I have dominating peppermint (which my cat doesn't even like by the way!), shriveling herbs, a broken tomato plant, and headless flowers. Not to mention a front garden with a few tiny plants clinging to life among all manner of overgrown, unsightly weeds.
My black thumb is rearing it's ugly head.
It's time to do something.
So. I take the peppermint out of my herb planter and re-pot it in the small planter I never expected the tomato plant to grow out of. I buy replacement basil and thyme (on super sale cause it's so late in the season). Sadly, everyone is out of cilantro.
A few of the flowers on my tomato plant survived the storm and have grown into real tomatoes!
There's nothing I can do about he headless flowers. But the plants are still green, which is better than empty brown dirt.
But there is something I can do about the front garden. Hubby and I head to the garden store and pick up 2 new shrubs and in the span of a muggy, sweaty Thursday afternoon, we rejuvinate our garden. I pull out all the overgrown, stubborn, ugly weeds while hubby digs holes for the new shrubs. Then we mix up all the packed soil to give it a fresh look. Give it a good water and voila! Beautiful garden (or a start of one anyway)!
We still need a few smaller plants to fill in the front, and the new shrubs need a couple years to fill out, but it's soooooo much better than it was before!
So maybe I don't have a vibrant kelly-green thumb, but I think I've evolved to maybe a deep mustard yellow. Hey! At least it's not black anymore! And my yard doesn't look so neglected anymore! And that's fine by me!
So maybe I don't have a vibrant kelly-green thumb, but I think I've evolved to maybe a deep mustard yellow. Hey! At least it's not black anymore! And my yard doesn't look so neglected anymore! And that's fine by me!
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