Plant Aside

There can be little doubt.

As of today, April 29th, it appears that Spring has at last found its way to Blueberry Hill.

In spite of temperatures still dropping below 40 at night, we've been assured the danger of frost is past.  The grass is growing.  The robins are busy.  The lower tier of the forest is misted with green, and the trees are budding.

Ah, Spring!

It brings out my inner gardener.  I love flowers, and long to have a yard that looks like the Home Depot commercials.

But herein lies the problem, a Jekyll and Hyde situation if there ever was one.

By day, I'm a mild-mannered mom and writer, but when it comes to plants of any kind - flowers, vegetables, I'm pretty sure even weeds - I become - duhn-duhn duhn-duhn - The Black Thumb of Poughquag!

Kind of strikes terror into your heart, doesn't it?

I can take any perfectly healthy flourishing plant and kill it within a week.

Really.

The only exception to date is impatiens.  The front of our house faces directly north and gets virtually no sun.  In the years when we haven't had a puppy to dig them up and I've had the time to put them in (I think that equals maybe 3 years out of 18) I have planted impatiens along the front and they have blossomed heartily in spite of me.  Clearly, they have more lives than a cat, or have discovered the secret antidote to The Black Thumb of Poughquag!

Despite my appalling track record, I'm eternally delusional optimistic.  Each year, when spring rolls around, I think, this will be the year my yard rivals the Botanical Gardens!

So I have this sweet little lavender (I think) plant that was given to me by a school I visited.  It has lived in my house for a month plus because my husband has been taking care of it.  In a few days, it's going out to the garden...

Say a prayer :)

And feel free to share any helpful gardening tips... :)

P.S.  In case you're wondering how this relates to writing, well... it doesn't.  Unless you want me to compare weeding and pruning (at which I am abysmal because I can't tell the weeds from the plants I'm trying to grow and I never know what to cut off) to the revision process.  Which come to think of it is a very apt comparison because I have the same problem trying to weed and prune my manuscripts :)