Oh. Snap.
So at the highest count, I had 18 plants growing. I believe more than that have died.
BUT
I grew plants. From seeds. I kept plants alive. That were dying.
That’s is a mutha fucking win!
[gold star]
So let’s talk about it.
First the plants that never even existed. I had plans to grow a few different plants. For one reason or another the following plants never sprouted or never made it from seedling stage. Funny enough, they’re all flowers. I’ll try again next year and start them earlier.
- Bachelor Button
- Aster
- Petunia
In spite of that failure, I was able to get two flowers to grow, zinnia and African daisy.
The zinnias grew to be at least 2 ft tall. Three different color flowers bloomed. I enjoyed sitting on my patio with them. They attracted bees and hummingbirds. I really dropped the ball on capturing some of their beauty. I promise to get better about this. The zinnias had a rocky life. When they were about 1 ft tall, my dog decided he needed them for his stomach. He ate nearly ALL of the leaves from the stem, then immediately vomited. I was surprised they survived, particularly the stem that he ate the top of. But here’s the thing, I knew they would die. They’re annuals. I was not emotionally prepared to watch something grow from, technically, nothing, reach the height those flowers did, and then die. I. Wasn’t. Ready. I can’t wait to do it again. Next time there will be pictures.
The African daisy grew to be about a foot tall, but storms and squirrels really beat her up. That poor flower never got to bloom and I saved her from dying 3 times before I just didn’t have the knowledge to help her survive. I didn’t take many pictures because she was fighting for her life. Next year. I can’t wait.
Then there were the onions. I should have taken heed when the smaller one died. But I couldn’t help it. I was so in love with how the bigger one looked, I just let her grow until she died. Now THAT plant. I dropped a real ball. I only cooked with her once and I let so many opportunities die. She could have been so much more. Again, next time I’ll do better.
The artichokes died but I think they had an infestation of pests in their roots. Neither grew much and they simply stopped living. I really don’t know what happened when it comes down to it. I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to try. I may wait until I have more space for vegetables.
Garlic died just like the artichokes, but I did use the scrapes a few times before she died. I’ll do better by the garlic and harvest that grow for use in my kitchen. I was able to grow both oregano and thyme from seed. I started them pretty late so neither grew very big. I did cook with them both. I’ll be growing both when I start herbs again.
I gave away all of the red bell pepper and ghost pepper plants. I decided my patio couldn’t handle that number of plants which would grow to 3 – 4 ft tall. Wait, back up. So I grew 8 red bell pepper plants from seeds I got out of my kitchen. I was given a huge grow bag of ghost peppers. I split all of these up and gave them away to a few friends. It’s been nice getting updates on the plants from everyone. One friend even harvested his peppers and used them in his kitchen. DOUBLE WIN!
I also gave away one of my basil plants because they were both ginormous. I kept one because she was from the first set of seeds I germinated. I kept saying I was going to harvest and dry out the herb but procrastination+ had a different idea. Even more, I found her beautiful and wanted to enjoy her beauty for as long as possible.
The sage was similarly large, although not as large. She was the last plant to die. I cooked with her leaves regularly. Again, my love of her beauty stopped me from harvesting and drying. I was way too attached to these plants.
Then there’s the Tradescantia zebrina and purple heart. Both of these plants have taken off and are still very much alive. The zebrinas were given to me by a friend. I didn’t know it but, it’s a very popular plant. I sent a picture to my aunt and she had to have one so I had one sent to her place. Anyway, this plant has flourished. Today, I cleaned out all the dead leaves and detangled the stems. She’s sitting pretty now.
The purple heart is no longer purple. Living in the Midwest with no south facing windows has proven a challenge when it comes to keep plants alive. This one, like the zebrina, is an easy plant to keep. I also cleaned this one up today. I took out all of the dead leaves and arranged the stems so she’ll look more comfortable. Here’s a before and after:
I haven’t seen the soil in that pot in a long time. With this plant care, both of the wandering jews lost some stems. Since they’re so easy to propagate, I put the broken stems in a water. The ones the grow roots will be planted in soil and given away eventually. I can’t wait to see if this works.
Last but not least, there are the other plants that survived the move from Florida via USPS, than the Purple Heart, the lemongrass, cactus, and aloe. Now these plants have done some changing. The lemongrass initially died, or at least I thought she did. Everything turned brown and dried out. I left her alone and she came back. She is so beautiful. She’s been struggling since I brought her in the house but so far, she’s still living. The cactus looks sad and I’m trying to figure out hoot make her happy. She hasn’t died yet, so I’m happy. The aloe initially was pissed the fuck out at me. She was brown and wouldn’t grow, but she also wouldn’t die. Turns out I was giving her too much sun and too much water. She’s much happier now.
Just for fun, here’s a photo I took of Juicie but the plants look amazing. I can’t wait to fill my patio with plants again.
I’ve decided to start looking into house plants. I really enjoy having plants indoors. I’ll still grow some flowers and things on my patio but I will be adding easy to care for plants inside just to keep this place nice and green.