I'm not a gardener

Hollyhock doll (Thanks, Ruth)

Fun fact. My mother grew up on a farm. She loved her garden at home, where she grew flowers. We had a neighbor who lived behind us with acres of land. He grew iris, among other flowers. He showed my sisters how to make dolls out of hollyhocks (something I must have been too little to remember). My mother-in-law always grew a vegetable garden, and some flowers, too. Fresh food (or formerly fresh--she did a lot of canning) whenever we visited. She was very fastidious in both her garden and her lawn. Very attentive to all things green and growing. My sisters grow gardens filled with beautiful flowers and veggies. My daughter also grows gardens with her daughters. 

When I moved into my present house, the woman who lived here before us had gardens. Everywhere. There was the tiered vegetable garden filled with a dozen different types of veggies and the flower beds in the back and flower boxes on the deck. My husband moved in in July, and everything was ready for harvest. What a lovely moving in gift! 

My husband took down all the flower boxes, both inside and out. I think the rationale was men don't garden. I would have liked to have some of those flower boxes to grow herbs or even flowers. Off the ground where the bunnies couldn't get them. 

One of the authors I've followed for years - we communicated some when we both first started writing - is a gardener. She posts dozens of pictures of her expansive garden and even built a greenhouse. It's her happy place. She reminds me of my mother-in-law in the way she grows and uses vegetables. I'm envious, in a way, but gardens aren't my talent.

I've grown gardens over the years. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans--the easy things--and I've had good luck, which I attribute to the gardens the master class gardener who lived here before me left. I grew strawberries in the tiered gardens that lasted way longer than strawberries are supposed to with very little effort. Successful gardening requires commitment, though, and I'm sorry to say the things that grew in my gardens grew in spite of me.

Several years ago now, I had some mobility issues, and surgery to repair same. As a result, I wasn't able to garden, especially in a tiered garden where I had to climb up and down and on different levels. My beloved strawberries suffered (I guess I was more committed to them than I thought). While I recovered, the gardens went to weeds. Once the weeds get out of control, I'm a lost cause. I only last so long before I have to give up. Yes, I've still managed to grow some veggies, and I've planted some bedding plants. I had a mandevilla that wintered inside and moved back outside in the summer for a few years. It didn't thrive, but it didn't die. I had one ivy that was a gift at work that survived in spite of me. It lasted WAY longer than I ever imagined, indicating it was a low maintenance plant. I've planted perennials because I do like pretty flowers. Some of them got overtaken or choked by my poor weeding practices.

This year, I bought a basket of marigolds to hang from my shepherd's hook. It was such a bright, sunny, happy plant. And then it started to get brown and sad and weepy looking. I consulted my granddaughter, who is becoming quite the gardener, and she said, "Yes, it does look kind of sad. Remember the rules of gardening." My granddaughter. Welp, I have the Picture This app on my phone and I snapped a picture. It's supposed to tell me what's wrong with my plant. It came back with "your plant is sick" and invited me to pay a fee to tell me what was wrong with it. I use that app about once every two years, so no, I'm not going to pay the fee so it can tell me I have a black thumb. I read up on marigolds, which need full sun. My shepherd's hook is in part shade. So I moved the marigold basket to the back deck as a last resort, where it gets sun all day. It perked up! I have to say, in spite of rallying, it doesn't have that same bright, happy look to it anymore, but it isn't dead. Really, that's the best I can say of most of my plants. They aren't dead.

Tomorrow, I'm going out to weed one of my gardens (after having landscapers come to dig up out-of-control weeds). I'm hoping I can keep up at least a little so it isn't necessary to hire someone to keep from choking my perennials. If I want to enjoy my gardens--and I do--I need to at least make a minimal effort. I just wish I was better at it.

We all have our talents, I guess. Gardening isn't mine.