Wednesday, January 17, 2007

My new babies

Even though I love gardening, I tend to have terrible luck with houseplants. Maybe its not so much luck as pure laziness, but about 1/2 the houseplants I buy end up dying. The only thing I've had success with are orchids because they tolerate neglect fairly well, but lately even they have been struggling, infested with mites, underwatered, malnourished and largely ignored.

Every time a plant dies, I SWEAR I will never waste money on a stupid houseplant again. Then fall comes and everything is on sale and I just can't resist a huge lemon tree for our front porch. The one that froze & died by November when the temperatures plumeted to 10 degrees.

Then January comes and I am dying for flowers & scent, impatiently staring at the buds on my winter flowering plants that just won't open. I nearly swoon at the grocery store just from smelling the carnations. The craving gets so intense that I fall for the wiley nursery advertising 20% off on pots & houseplants.

This time I will water my gardenia faithfully! I will move the jasmine outside for the summer and remember to bring it back in before the frosts hit! If I keep them alive I will go back and buy myself that coffee tree that looked so cool! I even found some systemic that will kill the mites off the plants I already have. Later I read the label and find out that merely touching the stuff can be fatal, especially for kids. Great.

So now its recorded, and when my jasmine dies and the gardenia refuses to bloom next year, I will let you know and hopefully this time I'll really learn my lesson. In the meantime I can not wait for the buds to open and turn our house into a tropical paradise.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of plants....my banana trees are doing great inside! it's so tropical in my living room...I love it!! I'll make sure to ask you next fall...if you're planning on bringing in your plants! ;)
-Shauna

Anonymous said...

I want to hear about this coffee plant?? How cool....

~Misha

Jenny said...

I completely understand how you feel...I recently killed ALL the plants in the house. 2 bonzai's (one I've had for 3 years and was about 8 years old when I got it, it was a ficus and it was amazing. the other was a bridesmaid gift from a good friend, sad), 2 orchids, and 1 avocado pit that never sprouted. I have since decided that I will stick to gimicks from Costco like my Amaryllis bulbs that bloom once and then have to be put away until next year. You should try this, it makes you feel like you have a green thumb.