Have you given up on gardening?
Have you dubbed yourself “The Black Thumb Bandit” because you kill every plant
you touch? I get it. Plants and gardening is not everyone’s cup of tea; some
people just cannot keep a plant alive no matter how much they try. You, the
Black Thumb Bandit, are notorious for murdering plants. As you walk through the
garden center, plants tremble with fear as you pass and wish they had a place
to hide. As you walk through the aisles browsing for victims, you notice a
gorgeous orchid and exclaim, “OoooOooohhh!” Immediately you know exactly where
you want to put it. You purchase the orchid, take it home despite its cries for
help (because, well, you don’t speak plant), proudly place it on your mantle
and smile the biggest smile. You happily sigh, “What a beautiful plant. I am
going to make sure it lives forever.” The poor orchid already knows it’s
doomed, but you vow to learn all you can about orchids so that you can maintain
your new baby with ease. And you do for about three weeks or so. You have done
a decent amount of research on orchids and have followed the information
carefully, yet somehow your orchid is beginning to show signs of death. You
become devastated and wonder, “How and why did this happen? I did everything I
was supposed to do, and it is still dying!”
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| A Haworthia Cuspidata I rescued from Wal-Mart. |
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My Confession
I absolutely hate to admit it,
but I have actually murdered a few plants in my day: azalea bushes, begonias,
fall mums, orchids, tulips, even a darn cactus. The plant no one should be able
to murder. Though a majority of my gardening endeavors are successes, I have
had my share of failures. Trust me. The cactus was a huge blow to my gardening
confidence. I mean, who kills a cactus? Cacti are supposed to be the easiest
plants to maintain. But, maintaining plants, even cacti, can be tricky because
they all thrive in different ways. Some
plants like direct sunlight, others prefer filtered light; some plants like
acidic soil, while others prefer alkaline or well-draining. When you research what
you need to do in order for your new babies to thrive, all of the information
can be overwhelming, confusing and even intimidating. I do not blame anyone for
just staying away from gardening all together. Who wants to put in all that
work to just end up killing everything you worked so hard on? And I don’t know
about you, but any time I have ever killed a plant I feel like a complete failure.
It’s almost like a harsh break up, “What did I do wrong??!”
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| My flowerless Orchid. I am not giving up! It will bloom again. |
My Epic Fail
I had this huge flower bed at the
first house my husband and I ever rented. I mean huge. I had trouble figuring
out what to do with it since it was my first actual flower bed, and the size of
it was just ridiculous. I bought 6 azalea bushes and 10 begonias. (I also
bought about 10 vinca bushes, but I didn’t kill those. The flower bed was just
in a horrible spot with nothing but direct sunlight. No matter how much I
watered them, they just could not get enough with this relentless Texas sun).
Anyway, I worked my tail off in that flowerbed. Keep in mind; I was six months
pregnant at the time. I pulled out all of the existing plants and weeds, tilled
the soil with a ho because I had no idea what I was doing, and got down on my
hands and knees to plant all of these plants and bushes. Oh and did I mention I
was six months pregnant? Little by little I started noticing everything dying.
Little by little my heart started breaking. I was devastated that everything I
worked so hard on was fruitless. It wasn’t until after all my beloved azalea
bushes died that I decided to do some research. If I had done my research
beforehand, I could have avoided all the wasted time, energy and money.
Needless to say, I learned a huge lesson. And that is why I am here; to help
you along your gardening journey. But let’s be specific; I want to help you
along your succulent journey!
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| Plush Plant showing off her Autumn color. |
Simple Succulents
Despite your failed attempts at gardening, there is redemption. Succulents
are the perfect plants to start or start over with. They are beautiful not only
in their appearance, but their simplicity as well. When I say succulents are
simple, they are really simple. From potting and planting to regular
maintenance, these babies do not require much at all. Succulents are native to
Africa, Mexico and deserts all around the globe, so it is inevitable that they
are accustomed to arid climates and do not require frequent watering. Not only
will they forgive any of your forgetfulness, but they will encourage it. Does
this bit of information alone make you want to try your hand at succulents? It
should! Your main duty with succulents is to enjoy the view.
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| And what a beautiful view! Echeveria looking pretty. |
Future Succulent Hoarders of the World
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| California Sunset, Burro's Tail and Vera Higgins say, "Give succulents a shot!" |
Successful succulent gardening, or
gardening in general, is all a matter of trial and error. You will have many
failures, but you will have the same amount of successes or more with a
positive attitude and adequate research. My goal is to not only provide you
with information to get you started with your succulent gardening, but to also
help you get to know your succulents and to give you fresh, creative ideas
along the way. I want to encourage you to experiment, lose all apprehensions
and succeed at the garden you have always dreamed about. As with anything, it
is a joy to watch succulents grow and multiply and even help them multiply
yourself! That's right. Among the countless things I am going to teach you, I
am even going to teach you how to grow your own succulents "from scratch!”
Once you see just how easy succulents are you are going to be hooked just like
me. I hoard all the succulents. Stay tuned for the wealth of simple succulent
information that is to come. Hopefully the Black Thumb Bandit has decided to
turn over a new leaf.
