I do not possess a green thumb. A painted green thumb, maybe. Anything that requires tender loving care will surely commit suicide on my watch.
In my home, houseplants are a joke. I used to have one hearty houseplant named Oscar that was brought with me from across state lines. And then one day my mother thought he needed a trimming and he officially bit the dust.
With kids around, life is more about making sure they are fed and watered than any plants. And some days that is hard enough. Plus I worry that my babies may eat something poisonous. Perhaps we’ll have houseplants again when I’m in my 70s.
Meanwhile, the same concept goes for my potted plants outside. Last summer everything died. Of course, even my hostas that were planted in the rich Iowa soil died. Everything was bone dry.
But this year I was bound and determined to have something living and beautiful on my front porch. So off I went to my local greenhouse, Holland Hill Blooms, to showcase to the owner my knowledge of killing green living things.
I brought out my gigantic planters to the greenhouse. The owner will pot the planters for you! It’s the ultimate in laziness. We went around together and tried to choose plants that would not only survive hot and windy conditions but also…me. We also talked about things like color schemes and my likes and dislikes and chose the plants we wanted to put in the planters.
Then comes step two. I have this small rock bed that runs along side our front walk. I’m not sure why there were never any plants growing in it but I thought it would be the perfect place for a flower bed. Not only is this area exposed to the hot dry wind, but it also encounters countless soccer balls and occasional trampling from little feet. Whatever I was going to plant there needed to be HARDY.
All of these things taken into account, plus the size of the rock bed, my flowers were chosen. What’d we pick? We picked daisies.
I was kind of worried about how long the stems were. Would they hold up under such extreme conditions? Here’s the answer-
Flower Bed
They have really done well! I’m surprised but pleased. I should probably be dead-heading all of this stuff, but who has time for that?
And here are my potted plants-
Potted Plants
I have two of these beauties. And they are doing remarkably well, inspite of me. What can I say? This month we have been gone A LOT.
So next spring you want to plant some flowers, and you’re like me and have to paint on your green thumb, if you get a chance, visit Holland Hill Blooms!