SILLY ME, AGAIN...

As I pulled into the parking lot for an irrigation class held again by UC Davis Master Gardeners I saw no other cars. It was the Saturday before Easter and, of course, there was no class. As I was getting into my car and turning it to go out of the parking lot, a neglected pot of hanging flowers which were sold at last week's plant sale was just thrown. Knowing that these hanging baskets are very expensive, I got out of the car and went to see if I could salvage it.

Sure enough, the pot was cracked open, the poor array of flowers were on their sides and partly out of the pot, but not enough to easily take it home, tape up the side of the pot and have a beautiful flower arrangement. I saved another plant life.

There used to be a time I'd go to K-Mart and Walmart and look for plants they were going to dump. Usually they'd all be in a cart. I'd ask the salespeople if I could have a couple that I could still nurse back to health. The salespeople would look at me with a questionable look. For about a year they'd say that I could take them and then they said no. I don't know why they'd just want to dump them. After all, I'd be saving their lives...most of the time.

Needless to say, the hanging planter was so easy to save and I had a beautiful flowering plant. Not many of the flowers were damaged that I had to take their heads off and with the recent rains, the plant actually benefited, even though it was kind of smashed.

When I got home, I taped up the pot, carefully arranged any flowers and their stems that were out of place and placed it upright in my wr0ught iron pedestal, since the original hangar on the pot was also damaged beyond repair and it couldn't be hung. So on Easter morning I had a wonderful array of flowers that started perking up and looking as beautiful as can be. Maybe it wanted to perform so well for me to show me it really appreciated my caring for saving its life. The tag on the plant said it's OK for about 29 degrees, so that's also a good thing. I won't have to lug it in when temperatures dip down below that...which hardly ever happens here.

When I carefully laid down the smashed plant in my car, I thought, I was going to get a tomato plant I saw at Rite Aid for $1.29. I was really motivated to do more gardening, even though I'd have to buy another planter and the tomato plant didn't look all that great, but again, I could save it and care for it. I guess that's what I thrive on, saving something that would die for sure in the very near future.

Since we've had some rain, today I'll go to get the organic potting soil for my tomato plant. I'll pinch off all of the bottom leaves, which are yellow and spotty and plant them in the planter with a saucer that matches the one I purchased for the four free plants I got from class. When everything is set up, I'll post a photo of my postage stamp corner of my patio for you to see.