Me & My Black Thumb

I am good at math. I've become a pretty good cook. I'm good at a lot of things...but not growing things. Well, I guess I can grow people pretty well... just not plants.

A few moons (I would say many moons ago, but that just makes me feel old and I don't like to torture myself...so it's just a few moons.) ago, I did a great job at my old apartment with weeding and planting in the tiny little "backyard" - it was a 8'x4' strip of grass with about the same size space of concrete. But sadly here in SoCal, that's actually considered a yard. I even put together cute little flower/tree arrangements in some big clay pots, all on a super awesome Ikea budget. I think I got 2 big pots and 2 little trees, and then went to Home Depot for some gerbera daisies and soil. Voila! Lovely, low budget, easily maintained plant life for your backyard/patio.

Then Hubby & I got engaged. I moved back in with my parents so we could save money for our fab wedding. I was too busy working & planning a wedding to keep anything alive. Ah...the good ol' single days.... My mom turned my barely alive "money tree" (picture to the right) into a thriving, super green tree. It's probably because she has more money than me....they say that a money tree reflects your financial situation... I've killed 2 since then. Could be why I only have $12 in my wallet. But really? It's because it's brighter in my mom's kitchen than anywhere in my old apartment. Plants need sunlight... who knew?

I have managed to keep 2 of my little old Ikea houseplants alive for a while now... Omg...could they be inching toward 10 years old?! Shut up! No way! Here are my little plant wonders still alive & kickin':

Oh wait... there's only one in that pic. Oh well, trust me. There are 2. Being the great gardener I am, I've found that Ikea plants are hard to kill... They need to be watered maybe once a month. Perfect timing for when I actually walk by for the 5 millionth time and go "Oh crap! I should probably water that!". Then when it starts to look a little droopy, I put it on my sunny kitchen window sill for a day or two. Ta-Da! Perky again! Not to mention they're easy on the bank account at a buck or two each.

After our quick little romp to Vegas, we stopped at our friend's new pad. We had to drop her off, & of course Lani & I needed to thoroughly investigate her new pad & improvements. We drooled over her fabulous new throw pillows, perfect shade of slate blue/gray on her bedroom walls, and new kitchen cabinets. Seriously, I was already making plans for her guest room (my future bedroom) and her office (Will's new room), or maybe scouring her neighborhood for a similar setup for... $12? That's all I've got! Anyways...upon investigating her lovely backyard, I noticed her basil plant as the centerpiece on her cute picnic table. The next day, I was at Henry's, and guess what I picked up! I'm so original... But at $2.99, I couldn't pass it up.

After about a week, it looked like this:

Yeah... I followed the directions it came with: 1/2" of water in a larger container with indirect sunlight. I even gave it daily doses of "Yeah! Basil! WOOO! You grow, girl!". Hubby looked at me like I was crazy, but I heard him whispering sweet nothings to her... Despite my best efforts, and a last ditch one to spruce her up by putting her outside with lots of sunshine and lots of water, she kicked the can. It was a sad day...

Until Will and I picked this up that after noon:

Really? At $2.99 a pop, it's not a huge loss. And so far, this one is still alive! I even see new buds coming in! I've been keeping her on the window sill in the kitchen with lots of water. She was outside for a bit at first, maybe that was a good jump start after being in a store...? I don't know. I've been debating on getting a little window box for a herb garden, but maybe I'll see how I do with Round 2 of the basil before get plant crazy...

Are you a grower or a killer? Any tips to help me and my awesome black thumb skills? Or any hearty, hard to kill plants? Do tell!