Monday, August 22, 2011

trying to make the grass grow greener

i like plants. i think they add something to a home.

for a long time i had a whole window sill of african violets. there wasn't a good windowsill for them in the new house. they gave it a good try, but the sun won out in the end.

late last summer, we got a puppy who chewed and dug out all of the house plants i had thriving in a corner of the dining room. thankfulluy i was able to salvage one of the christmas cactus'.

she then started on the outside succulents and begonias. i wasn't happy. but, like babies, puppies have no clue. especially this one. so i continued to water and fertilize those poor stumps of plants, hoping they would come back.

the winter storms took care of winter watering. and i started watering and fertilizing after the rains finally stopped. yesterday i went onto the patio and walked out to these.

i love begonias. they are funny little plants that never give up. they are so glad for some attention and care, they just bloom their happiness.

and thankfully they survive being chewed by a puppy.

now if i could do something about the roses....

2 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

African violets were the plant of choice for me in California, and I've so far killed two of them here - can't get them to grow at all. However, my sister just sent a basket of flowers, so I'm ... trying ... again...

Meanwhile, I killed begonias, meanwhile, left right and center when we were in California. Maybe this is a sign that I should try growing them here???

David T. Macknet said...

Best for puppy-chewing (and, incidentally, for various insect-pests): blend some garlic & habanero peppers up with water, strain all the bits out so you can get the liquid into a spray bottle, and spray the plants. Voila! End of some insects and end of puppies chewing plants! :)