Wednesday, July 9, 2014

My brown thumb

I used to kill houseplants at a ridiculous pace.  I would always forget to water them.  My mom couldn't believe that was possible.  Her advice?  "Just water them each week when you clean."  Um, Mom, that might be the problem.  I don't clean every week!

Fast forward several years and I got a PDA.  Dang, that was the best thing ever invented.  Now I had something that flashed at me every 5 days reminding me to check my poor plants.  Wonderful.  I started doing better.  Not good, mind you, but better.  Of course that morphed into an app on my phone, but it still comes up on my to-do list every 5 days and I ended up with a handful of plants that actually looked OK.

Outside is another story.  I've always hated the heat so even if I put something on my to-do list every other day, I'm sure I would find some excuse not to water.  Luckily DH is phenomenal (anal retentive?) about that and keeps our outside plants looking attractive.

Last year I got smart and decided to make a miniature garden/greenhouse.  Those flowers always look fantastic and I NEVER have to water them!  Win-win!


But I was so excited by my garden window when we redid the kitchen.  It was gorgeous and plenty large enough to keep a wide assortment of plants close at hand so I could remember to water them.  I decided to give houseplants another go.  I even foolishly got a seed starter kit for herbs.  After a few weeks this is what I had growing.


Wow.  Talk about dismal.  (Oh and check out the poor daisy behind the herbs ... deader than the proverbial door nail!)

So I did what any self respecting home owner would do.  I went out and bought replacement herbs.  Hey, at least they look healthy now.


OK, I might have cheated a bit and bought a few other plants as well. 


The garden window looks great and there will be a few spares when they start getting neglected.


Maybe I should stick to miniature flowers.  I can't kill those!

9 comments:

  1. Haha this is me! I refuse to give up and have spent the whole of today planting yet more plants in pots!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh good! Glad it isn't just me!!!! :-) Thanks for reading!

      Delete
  2. I am terrible with indoor plants. They always end up dying. Even the ones that need little care. I can so relate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha ha -- we are indeed soul sisters, Susan!

      Delete
  3. I definitely feel your pain!! I nearly killed a cactus once.

    Have you ever tried those watering globe thingies? Not sure what they're called and they look a little odd, but I've heard people say that they work really well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. P.S. Would you mind if I put you on my blogroll? :-)

      Delete
    2. Honey, I would be completely honored! :-)

      Delete
  4. Yep, me too! I have deliberately left houseplants outside to sink or swim because I just couldn't cope with them... Now I have a beautiful vase of yellow roses in the living room, that never wilt, never shed petals, the leaves never turn yellow, and they don't have to sit in horrid green water. And they were once my Dad's, so they remind me of him every day :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :-) Silk? My second favorite type! The only reason minis win is because I have all mine in cases and it is easier to dust cases.

      Delete