5 years ago me and the hubby did our first garden together after moving to NC.We had a system worked out... He builds the beds.. I plant em. We both weed and water. A family member down there gave me my first seeds. Morning Glories and 4o'clocks and planted a cutting of a wild rose bush for me (wasn't there when she planted it)
4 years ago we moved back to Chicago in the middle of the summer. Bye Bye first 'real' garden and too late to start on anything up here. Besides which we moved with the father in law, he's elderly. He hadn't touched the house or yard (even to hack down the weed that replaced the grass) in over 12 years!!!! OUCHA MAMA what a disaster
3 summers ago much much work needed still on the yard. Tore some old fencing/poles out ...planted grass. Throw down some of the morning glory and 4 oclock seeds I still had from NC and a few the oldest kiddo picked from places and the rest was the ol' "buy up all the flats of patunia's home depo has!!!!" story again *snickers* The morning glories did pretty good... 4o'clock never grew.
This summer... OMG this summer well LOL lets say my garden turned out awful besides one corner but we learned TONS about how not to garden! *chuckles at self* BTW... go pee now because your gonna laugh hard at all the mistakes we made.
I was GONNA really make up for missing a summer! I loudly told the family over and over how I wanted the best garden! So hubby, in april, goes as an early mothers Day gift and buys me about 50 (i kid you not) packages of seeds. Some seedling trays. Bags of dirt and a box of bulbs (1 dahlia plant, some glads, and crocus and 1 bagonia in the box). I was in garden heaven...
So start start on the seeds.... and more seeds.... and more seeds. He bought me all them seeds so I couldn't waste them right!?? Even ended up recruiting the 10 and 4 year olds to start making little seedling pots out of newspaper for 5 cents a piece when the trays got all filled up! (oldest kiddo made 10 dollars one afternoon). My kitchen table, all my counters, window sills and even the Tops of the cabinets were lined with trays and shoe boxes filled with newpaper seed cups! Poor kids had to eat at the coffee table in the living room for a month! *laughs and shakes head at self*
One day 4 year old went in all the flats and pulled out every little white plastic stick lable with the plants names and decided to color on them!!!! She just wanted to make Mom's dirt filled stuff pretty! Why is Mom mad just because she doesn't know which dirt is which now??? Not my fault mom threw out all the envelopes the seeds came in so she doesn't even know what the seedlings 'should' look like!
Planting time comes around and dang if my 6 month old baby was going to allow mom to plant. She cried and nursed....cried and nursed... drove mom even more nutso and nursed. So hubby decides he will be nice and plants the plants. Except he thought they would look neat if they were all mixed together (big broadleaf plant 3 inches behind a itty bitty flower) Mind you we still had no idea what was what LOL.
Something attacked the dahlia and some of the other plants. I will never know how it ever recovered but it was shredded to just the veins of the leaves. How it came back I will never understand. The bagonia never fully recovered but did try. The Glads were fantastic and the Dahlia (it wasn't staked either) made the most outstanding comeback ever possible for a plant. BREATHTAKING! But hubby killed off my crocus when he mistakened it's leaves for tall grass that got in the garden LOL
BTW. We figured out what was killing off the Dhalia and did finish off many of the other plants this past weekend. SLUGS! IIUEEEE there are slugs in my garden *gags*
LESSONS LEARNED:
----I will not go overboard with seeds EVER again.
----Label my trays so the next time Kiddo wants to color plastic sticks I won't mind LOL
----Don't let the hubby steal my house plants and put them in the garden (not one plant in my house anymore)
----Don't let hubby (or myself) plant without a garden layout 'plan'.
----Teach family that not all things that look like weeds/grass means they ARE weeds or grass.
----If someone mentions mammoth Giant Sunflowers Seeds.... RUN away with your tail between your legs!!
----If Dahlia's and Glads can make it though the neglect they recieved they probably will live through world war 3 and still look beautiful! :)
The End :)
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