Wednesday Guest Blog

3-23-11 gratitude brain
My friend Ann came through for me again this week! Here is her next GUEST BLOG, where I believe Ann answers the question of why I spend so much time "at home".
Judy

Two-Lips Are Better Than One

Master gardener I am not, but I do like to speculate in the garden (haha to Greg). In the middle of a long winter, I rarely engage in projects. My life is work, work, work in preparation for my annual trip to Europe. However, this year I am staying home (more about Europe travel in a later write-up).

I love flowers, love to see them in the market, in the garden and in the greenhouse. In the winter months, I’ve been known to buy cut flowers from the flower shop to brighten up my week. In January, tulip plants were on sale for $5 (3 blooms per pot) at the local grocery store. And right next to the plants I saw a cart full of bulbs for sale, $1 for 6 bulbs. My fuzzy math led me to add up … 1 box could make 2 pots, 2 boxes would make 4 and before you know it, I bought 6 boxes and 6 pots ( I had the soil at home). My motto: go big or go home.

Growing tulips would get me through the winter and over my sadness of not going to Europe. I started the project on January 29th. and used every pot I had, planting 3 bulbs per pot and had 3 other containers that I planted 4-5 per container. After all the planting, I found one more box. I was so tempted to throw it out, then I heard Judy say (in my head) just plant it there or there. That’s what I did, I planted the bulbs in the same pot as my Christmas evergreen plant.

Over the next few weeks, I watered and watched the bulbs sprout. After two weeks, the bulbs were coming along nicely. Two more weeks, some were taller than others and some had not sprouted. By week six, two of the bulbs were flowering and they looked great. Now at week 7, I may be at a point that all I’ll see is green. There must be a trick in growing tulips. I gave them sun, water, fertilizer and a lot of love. My friend Joan tells me that tulips can be finicky.

I’ll watch the rest of the tulips grow and hope I’ll see a nice bloom or two before they fizzle. In the meantime, I’ve found myself a distraction for April, making a terrarium (thanks Jean) and checking for my crocus and daffodils out back. Can a girl have too many daffodils? For me the answer is YES. I will share more about my obsession with daffodils in a later post. I really live the statement, go big or go home.

Chat Later,


That Girl, Ann Marie