I am so jealous of my fellow Gems who have gardens to plant during this “stay home” time.
While I don’t miss much about having a house now that we’ve moved to a condo where all the maintenance is taken care of for us, I do miss having a garden.
My condo community offers little garden plots we can reserve, with reservations being open for about five minutes at dawn on a cold, rainy day in October for the following spring. Somehow I missed it.
So the Gems are busy with Romance in Bloom, and I’m trying to squeeze some gardening into a three room condo which at least has some East-facing, large windows and a screened in (very tiny) balcony.
One of my indoor gardening success stories is the rather frightening cactus that began as a small, six inch potted plant given to me for my birthday by my son several years ago. I’ve had many run-ins with this prickly plant. The worst occurred when I carried it to the sink intending to spray some water on its leaves, and I tilted it too far, sending it careening out of its pot. At which point, yes, I grabbed it! I spent several hours pulling needles out of my palms with tweezers, and I tried to follow advice to wrap a towel around it or use a deflated bicycle tire to pick it up. Nope. I managed to get the thing into a box and deliver it to a local florist, who, for extraordinary sums of money, re-potted it in a larger pot. Since we were moving at the time, my cactus remained at the florist for a while, thriving in the shop window. By the time I returned for it, the shop owner had grown quite fond of it, and it was almost as tall as I am.
My other plants live on a rack in front of the window in a crazy jumble of leaves. I water them but I’m kind of afraid to get in there to sort out the tangled mess.
When faced with some garlic that had begun to sprout, I planted the cloves and was rewarded with some tasty sprout similar to scallions. They lasted until the untimely demise of my garlic garden. Poor, droopy garlic!
But I’m not giving up! I have high hopes for my latest gardening project—mini-tomatoes and a lavender plant that will, with any luck, grow very nicely on my screened in balcony. Let’s just hope they don’t meet the same fate as my garlic.
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That cactus is something! Be careful is right. Great job. Hoping your tomatoes grow well and you enjoy many. I've grown lavender outside. Love the fragrance but most of them have only lived a few years for me. I'd be interested in how long they live inside. Nothing like their fragrance. I had one right outside the kitchen and the scent floated inside when I had the window open. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteI love looking at plants, but I have a black thumb when it comes to taking care of them. When I was teaching, every year, without a doubt, a parent or two would give me a beautiful plant at the end of the year as a gift. I would then make the sign of the cross, give it its last rights and bring it home. If this plant was very lucky, my mother would stop by and rescue it. Otherwise...we won't go into the gory details!!
ReplyDeleteI told my dad the other day that I really like the idea of gardening but I thought I wasn't very good at it. I think I love planning the garden, and thinking about how pretty it will look -- some day -- more than actually doing the work. But I will say that this spring, I have totally got my act together and I'm hoping that this year's attempt will be better than the last. My houseplants are even thriving these days. So we will see. I'm happy for the cactus reminder. I have one that needs a new pot. I am going to be very careful after reading your story!
ReplyDeleteMy DD has a friend who was always picking weeds and playing with DD’s garden. She hired her! It’s a perfect match...2 hours twice a week and then a cup of tea and a chat. Perfect!
DeleteOur lavender is huge! When it’s blooming the hum of honeybees makes it a symphony of colour, scent, and sound. They’re about 15 years old. But I’m not much of a gardener although some of my houseplants have been alive since the early 90s. I don’t think of them as thriving...but still in existence. LOL
ReplyDeleteOh, lavender...I think I have to try that. I manage to kill everything, but maybe this once...
ReplyDeleteMy husband has a green thumb but mine tends to be brown. "My" project has been to get morning glories from seed for a trellis on the fence. Guess who is planting the seedlings we raised indoors? Yep, my husband. At least that gives the seedlings a chance. I love flowers but limit myself to the patio.
ReplyDeleteSomehow my picture of my plant "jungle" disappeared. Oh, well!
ReplyDeleteI prefer looking at the yard, over toiling in it. I never wanted a veggie garden, but Steel, the prairie boy, insisted we have one when he moved here, and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy picking and eating fresh. We have been enjoying the first of our lettuce all week. The rhodis are blooming and they're gorgeous. How do you find condo living, generally?
ReplyDeleteYou've managed to "bloom where you're planted" Great job and watch that cactus!!!❤️
ReplyDeleteNice flowers. The rafflecopter form is still not letting me say that I commented,
ReplyDeleteOuch! My mom loved cactus and had many specimens in her yard. I remember well the battle to work in the yard around the cactus beds. Good luck with the lavender.
ReplyDeleteI am attempting a vegetable garden again this year, but our woodland creatures take a big toll, despite fencing, etc. Still, I love green things, too! Nice you have a big window to plant near. That cactus sounds crazy! I still have one from when I was 13, believe it or not. Suffice to say, it is quite ancient. hahaha
ReplyDeleteI keep looking at the basil plants in the grocery store. One od rhe nice things about the house was that I had an herb garden right outside the back door. I had to plant basil every year but the oregano came up bigger every year. I'd just reach out the door and snip some for cooking, and at the end of the summer I'd dry it.
ReplyDeleteI used to love gardening, but who has (or I should say - had) the time. Now I'm rethinking. But I would need one of those box gardens way off the ground. I'm not willing to bend over and weed anymore :-) But I do love growing tomatoes and basil, etc. in buckets on my deck. Maybe I'll get my act together this year.
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