How to Not Kill Hanging Plants.

How many times have you said to yourself, for whatever reason, "THIS year is going to be different"? 

You just have a feeling though that perhaps or probably, you're wrong.  

Every summer for the past 4 years I have done this very thing.

You see, I love flowers.  I love my old house.  And when I can combine the two, it's a wonderful marriage.

I buy hanging baskets every spring.  Always I'm excited.  Always I'm determined that "this year will be different."  This year, I will be ever so diligent.  I will not let them die!  I will do everything "right" so I can enjoy their loveliness into September.

Yet every year, something has managed to go awry.      

Let me explain. 

We have this, big older home, with a front porch that is perfect for hanging plants.  The flowers make sitting on the front porch something I want to do on those cool summer evenings, enjoying the breeze.  We don't have A/C, so I appreciate it even more.  Basking in the scent of those lovely hanging baskets, sipping some lemonade, even? As cliche as this may be, it's on my list of loves.  

[Note:  Not all hanging plants are equal.  I've found a great greenhouse where I can get these amazingly fertile, bright, and lush hanging plants.  Not the run-of-the-mill kind sold at your chain stores.]

After 4 summers, I think I'm finally confident enough to say that this summer, yes, this summer, I will NOT kill my hanging plants.  Do you think I'm setting myself up for disappointment?

Here's my sad history with the hanging plants I love so much:

1st year:  Plants thrived for a week, then slowly went downhill.  I didn't realize that I need to fertilize the plants, especially since the nutrients are depleted with each watering.

Also, don't hang your plants up high.  Since heat rises, the higher the plant hangs, the hotter it is for the tender plant.  It's essentially like putting your plant in an oven.  So, hang the plant from a chain, like so--

2nd year:  Someone actually STOLE one of our hanging plants.  Can you believe it?  That's like stealing, I don't know, someone's Bible or journal.  It's just plain wrong.  You'd think people who enjoy flowers would be cultured.  They can appreciate their beauty, therefore, they'd be above stealing, right?  I guess not.

Further, I got lax in my attention to watering.  Not a good thing, especially in the middle of July, in Utah, when the scorching, dry, heat combined with lack of watering is enough to kill even the most resilient of plants.  This was the year I learned the importance of consistency & diligence.  A huge watering once a week is not the same as watering a smaller amount every day, turns out.

3rd year:  I was diligent up through July.  Then we went out of town.  And no one can love your plants like you can (the neighbor boy swears he watered them every day).  We came back and my once thriving plants were now dried up, withered, crisped by the heat & lack of water.  I cried.

THIS YEAR:  I've had the plants 2 days & so far they look great, don't they?

I'm going to finally do it.  They are going to live.  Every day, like a diligent mama, I'm going to water & fertilize those things as if my life depended on it.

Because sometimes, it just takes a few years to get the hang of things.  Maybe it's the optimist in me, but I have a feeling this year is going to be different, right?

{More loveliness.  Pansies.  I'm going to plant them to line my front walk.}

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Have you ever, despite the best of intentions, completely destroyed something beautiful?

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Upcoming posts:  breastfeeding vs. your spouse, a new workout, & how I save $300 a month on my grocery bill (& you can too!).  

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