If plants had post offices, the walls would be PLASTERED with posters of my smiling face, because I am a KILLER and I'm SURE my offenses have been grievous enough to "plant" me FIRMLY at the top of any leafy community's Ten Most Wanted List - IF they had one...
Both of my grandmothers and my mom had vibrant green thumbs. Dad's mom had a cutting garden with BEAUTIFUL, FULL peonies. We would pick a couple and put them in a glass and they smelled WONDERFUL! Mom's mom had a big vegetable garden. I remember eating fresh peas from her garden and LOVING them! Pretty sure those are the only peas I consumed until adulthood. Mom also told me she had raised moon flowers which bloomed at night. And my mom always had flowers - iris, shasta daisies, mint, periwinkles, carnations, dusty miller, petunias... and more whose names I have forgotten.
I told Mom a few years ago that I was HOPELESS and killed everything, so I would just enjoy taking pictures of them instead (hence the many pictures of flowers on my blog). Mom said that she hadn't been very good with plants until she got older and that maybe someday I would enjoy gardening.
So in an unusual turn of events, this summer I became interested in the flowers my husband planted in the spring. They were almost gone when I began watering them (he had been working more hours and wasn't getting to spend as much time in the yard). Not only did I bring them back to BLOOMING GLORY, but I kept two pots of purple petunias alive despite temperatures which SOARED into the 100's daily! My family is shocked and I am shocked! but I don't think Mom would have been... and perhaps I am FINALLY beginning to grow into my green genes!
I feel just the same (except I haven't found my green thumb yet). My sister, mother-in-law and niece are accomplished gardeners. I, on the other hand, barely manage to keep alive a few flower pots on the deck. I would much rather stay in the house and make quilts. It has come to my attention, however, that many needlewomen are also fabulous gardeners and I feel a little inadequate compared to them. Good for you that you have discovered your genetic inclination for gardening. Maybe there is still hope for me.
ReplyDeleteOh Martha, you are WAY ahead of me! My major accomplishment this summer was keeping TWO pots alive!!! And I have the same problem, too many things INSIDE the house to hold my attention. My husband will sometimes call me to the front door and say with a sweeping gesture of his arm, "And HERE is the front yard!"
ReplyDelete:) Ann