Many years ago, my daughter asked me to take care of her cactus while she was away for three months. Her only advice was "try to remember to water it a few times before I get back". Well, by the time she returned, it was dead. I truly believe it takes special talent to kill a cactus.
That being said, I love flowers, specially lilacs and lavender. I tried growing lavender...it followed the cactus into the compost bin, but I have five lilac trees around the house that grow four different varieties of flowers from deep purple to pale pink. I started with six trees but one befriended the cactus. Lilacs are low maintenance and hardy, the first quality suits me and the second the northern area where I live.
Every year I plant some annual flowers and tomatoes. This year, finding flowers or soil was a challenge. With the quarantine and social distancing, it seems everyone decided to start gardening. I still got a few plants but I lost half my tomato plants two weeks ago after they froze to death. My fault...I should have put a blanket over them instead of ignoring the risk of frost warning.
Though not all perennials survive minus 40 degrees winter or our short growing season, I managed after many failed attempts to find a rose bush that comes back to life every spring. It has pretty red roses and right now it's budding.
I tried planting tulip bulbs, but no matter how many I bury in the fall, only one tulip grows every spring. This year my lone tulip is yellow with a black center.
My biggest successes are probably my poppies. I started with an envelope of red and yellow poppies that someone gave me decades ago. For years, I had red poppies and some yellow ones, then gradually some red poppies became more orange until one day, when amid the yellow, orange, and red grew a single snow white poppy. Since then I get some white or very light beige/pink poppies every year.
I'll admit I'm fascinated by the genetic changes that occur in my poppies over the years. My thumb may be a little green after all.
Stay safe. Many hugs!
JS
That being said, I love flowers, specially lilacs and lavender. I tried growing lavender...it followed the cactus into the compost bin, but I have five lilac trees around the house that grow four different varieties of flowers from deep purple to pale pink. I started with six trees but one befriended the cactus. Lilacs are low maintenance and hardy, the first quality suits me and the second the northern area where I live.
Every year I plant some annual flowers and tomatoes. This year, finding flowers or soil was a challenge. With the quarantine and social distancing, it seems everyone decided to start gardening. I still got a few plants but I lost half my tomato plants two weeks ago after they froze to death. My fault...I should have put a blanket over them instead of ignoring the risk of frost warning.Though not all perennials survive minus 40 degrees winter or our short growing season, I managed after many failed attempts to find a rose bush that comes back to life every spring. It has pretty red roses and right now it's budding.
I tried planting tulip bulbs, but no matter how many I bury in the fall, only one tulip grows every spring. This year my lone tulip is yellow with a black center.
My biggest successes are probably my poppies. I started with an envelope of red and yellow poppies that someone gave me decades ago. For years, I had red poppies and some yellow ones, then gradually some red poppies became more orange until one day, when amid the yellow, orange, and red grew a single snow white poppy. Since then I get some white or very light beige/pink poppies every year.I'll admit I'm fascinated by the genetic changes that occur in my poppies over the years. My thumb may be a little green after all.
Stay safe. Many hugs!
JS
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