Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tending Gracie

Those that have followed our blog long enough might remember a post from May called $59 and a Really Wonderful Husband. It told this sweet story about Danilo following me through a nursery picking out flowers and tools for our first "garden" on our front porch. Well, folks... except for the toughest of the tough, the flowers are dead. Here's a little before shot of our freshly planted flowers:
And here's a picture I took today before I toss them... the picture is slightly crooked because I was holding Gracie in one arm.I was so excited the day I planted my flowers. I told my mom, "These are going to be the best taken care of five flowers in the world," because that's about how many I planted. Well, here's how it all went down.

The petunias were flourishing until my water broke and I didn't get back to our house until four days later. They were crispy brown when we got home.

The gerber daisies needed more sunlight than our shady porch provided, and I watered them to death.

The violas were in a pot with the gerber daisies. After several revival attempts, I finally tossed the whole thing.

The vincas are the only flowers that have survived. There have been a couple of occasions when I've been sure I've lost them. They'll be drooping and looking super thirsty. I water them and when I see them later that night, they'll be chipper and upright again. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

When I told my mom about the sad state of my garden, she told me about a book she'd read called Tending Roses. It's about a young wife who goes with her husband and family to live with her grandmother and the lessons she learns there. Here's a pretty line from the book, "The best times in my life, the times that have passed by me the most quickly, were the times when the roses grew wild." The woman had been wishing she had more time to prune her roses. She's not able to tend to them as she'd like to because she's raising her little ones. That's the lesson she learns from her grandma. I wish I had wild roses instead of dead flowers on my porch, but I don't know, tell me. Is she worth it?


6 comments:

Amy said...

If it makes you feel any better, all of our plants died this year too, and I didn't have a baby. I have to say that Gracie is the cutest baby ever! I think that she looks just like you. You need to post more pictures of her. I hope all is well with your family.

Souli & Ashley said...

They are worth it . I've been there with the flowers. Even this year my front pot got destroyed by some little two year old. Naughty boy.

Unknown said...

Speaking from the unbiased viewpoint as her grandfather; I must say that not only is Grace amazing she is amazingly cute as well! Amazing Grace! Hey am I the first to say that?

Christy said...

Gracie is way worth it! too too cute!

Lisa said...

oh gosh that is the cutest picture! I can't wait to see her:) Oh yeah and you know what I didn't even bother with flowers this year...sad huh! Next year hopefully we will have more time:)

Mom said...

Someday Gracie will help you tend your roses & you'll work side by side. You will all learn & grow together! I see blossoms already!!! I love you!
Mom