Going Green

I've been dabbling here and there in the gardens at the new house, but haven't dedicated too much time as of yet, mainly because I don't have much time to devote after work, school, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.

Anyways, I've done the bare minimum to make my house look like a home. I planted some pink begonia's in the front flower bed close to the street (mainly because they were cheap, easy, but add a little color but not a waste of money to put on the street). I bought a few hanging pots and put about four of them hanging around the front walk filled with petunias. I decided to nurse back the rose bushes that were in almost complete disrepair (they are actually looking wonderful now and I'm hoping for blooms very soon). Then, I went away from my comfort zone and instead of filling the front garden with annuals and petunias galore (looking back on it now, that would have been the best idea ever) I purchased a new flower. Of course, the name now escapes me. But when I went to the garden center it was a flower that looked beautiful. I had never seen it before and figured it for a Texas thriving flower and reasoned that it probably did not grow well in Louisiana and that is why it was foreign to me. Being new to this plant/flower I only bought three. I wasn't sure if they multiplied/spread quickly, so I didn't want to push it. I planted the flowers and crossed my fingers. The next day, my typical luck of course, a huge storm came through. Tornadoes hit nearby, the down pour was tremendous. After giving myself a pep talk, I got up the courage to open the front door to check on my new flowers. I was mortified to realize at that point that this new house does not have gutters or a drainage system, so at the curve in my walkway, and of course the roof, the rain was pouring off of it, Niagara Falls should give you a good visual, straight onto one the plants who was the unlucky victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear. My pride in this new find was short lived. I was only able to manage to keep one alive for less than 24 hours, the other two were surely shaking where they were planted. The next morning I walked out and saw the corpse of what used to be a beautiful plant. Being my mother's child, I took the plant and replanted it in a safer area of the garden, determined it just needed a little TLC and it would be fine. Needless to say, all the love and care in the world cannot bring it back. It is now an upright, brown stick in my garden. I told Robert I was trying to save it, he nodded his head in agreement, though the look on his face said it all "this woman is crazy, this plant is dead."

Today I'm pulling it up and giving up. Moral of the story, it's good to go out of your comfort zone sometimes, but maybe only with certain things and with extreme caution......