Mary, Mary Quite Contrary… How Does Your Garden Grow?

My mother always told me that I would grow into gardening.  She and my grandmother are both part of the Master Gardeners and they love everything to do with planting things.  I’ve helped in the past before, but to be honest, gardening just doesn’t do anything for me.

But I’ve always kept this “you’ll grow into thing” in the back of my mind.  To me, I always figured I’d be old when I got into planting.

Oh dear readers….

I think I’m now old.

The boy is all about gardening and flowers.  In fact, I’ve heard all about his daylillies since our first date.  I really can’t wait to witness these spectacular things when they bloom (and I’m praying that they haven’t, or I’ve just busted myself big time…) because it’s all he talks about.  Those and his hostas.  (And I’ll admit, I sneak back behind the deck to look at them from time to time.)

But the boy’s backyard is beautiful.  It’s something that I never thought I would enjoy but there’s a little pond by the deck with a swing and I find myself more and more migrating to the swing in the evenings just to unwind for a bit.  It’s a stark contrast from spending the evenings in front of the computer.  (Although, if I sit at just a certain spot on the deck I can pick up someone’s wifi, but I can’t move or breathe or I’ll lose it.)

I’ve told him from the get go that I don’t have a green thumb; that I’m not interested.  Because really?  I’m not.  I love to look at flowers.  I love to smell flowers.  But to actually pick them out, put them in the ground and then maintain them?

Not so much.

Until recently.

There’s a spot on the side of the house that needed some work.  Because the children have jumped on the gardening bandwagon nd each have their own gardens, I asked if I might claim that section.  His face lit up and of course he said yes.  Within a day he had it all ripped out, told me what I needed and told me to buy some plants.

Where did I go to buy them?

Online of course!  I had coupons.  But I’m not patient enough and one order won’t ship until next week and while the other has already shipped, it’s coming from the Netherlands and who knows when it will be here.

Want to know what I bought?

I have NO EARTHLY IDEA.  I just picked some pretty things that were full sun, got my cart to $50 so I could take advantage of the $25 coupon and was done with it.  I know I have begonias coming.  Other than that?  Who knows.   I just know that when they get here, I’m going to have to do something with them.  Like put them in the ground or something.

Now.  In the meantime, he takes me to the nursery and I have to admit, I’ve never been… at least not of my own free will or that I remember.  But I went.  And he bought me plants and they’ve been sitting under the carport for a week.

Last night, I was sitting on the swing and feeling rather bummed and he said, “come on, let’s go pot your plants.”  He was rather excited.  Apparently, this is theraputic to him but the last thing I wanted to do was get up from where I was sitting and pot plants.  He was like a kid who was waiting for permission to go play in the dirt and because I am attempting to make an effort to participate in something that he enjoys, I got up and, in the dark, by the light of the porch light and on the bed of his truck, I potted my New Guinea Impatiens and Petunia Waves.

But first, I asked if he had gloves. “Gloves?” he asked.

“Yes, gloves.  You  know… for my hands?”

“What do you need gloves for?” he was holding back laughter.

“So I don’t get dirt under my nails.. duh.” He lost it but in the depths of his service van he found me black latex gloves.  And I potted those plants.

He was happy.

Tonight after Samara’s game we stopped at Lowe’s to get top soil and some more coconut stuff for the hanging baskets.  While there, we looked at the help me plants and I had to laugh.  That’s what I’m sure my plants will look like when I’m done with them but I picked up a few more Petunias and then I saw the most gorgeous Gerbera Daisy I’d ever seen.  And it made me think of Becki.  He asked if I wanted it but I quickly said no.  It was over $20 and I could hear Dave Ramsey in my head, telling me that it was not a necessity.  But the more I walked past it, the more I knew that I had to have it.

So I bought it.

And I brought it home.

And while he was watching the season finale of the ONLY show that he cares for, on my own, I went out and potted that Daisy… along with the help me plants that I picked up.

All by myself.

AND….

without gloves.

Later he asked me if I was only doing this for him or if it made me happy.

“Do you twitter because you like it or just to be involved in something that I am?”  He shrugged, mentioned it was a good outliet but that was about it.  “So you could take ir or leave it?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” he responded.

“Yup.”  It’s all I said.

It’s not that I don’t like it, because I do.  I love to sit back and admire that work that’s gone into it, but if he doesn’t water these plants, they have no hope.  I’ll get then in the ground, but I can stake to claim in anything else.

So maybe I’m not getting old after all since I’m not really anymore in love with it than I was.  It’s just now I’m helping a little bit.

I like to think that I’m participating in something that’s important to a man that I love…

And ok, I kinda like it.

And I’m trying to be very very very good and interested in it because he told me if I promised to stick around he would grow me roses… which is good… because tonight?  I fell in love with the Disneyland Roses.

Nah, I’m not old… still a kid.

I’m just learning to play in the dirt and like it…

And hey boy?  I’m not going anywhere.  They’re at Lowe’s… 2nd row on the right about 1/3 of the way back. 

Until next time…