You’re Turning Violet, Violet

Every year around this time, I get all excited about growing things. I dream of having awesome flower beds and maybe even growing something edible.

Sometimes I take a stab at the whole gardening thing. The flowers usually make an appearance of some sort. In Texas, we had a huge front flower bed, so I took the easy way out and sprinkled a can of mixed flower seeds all over it and watered it a couple of times. Those things must’ve loved neglect, because they grew like crazy and I had Zinnias that were four feet tall with blooms almost as big as my head. I had fresh flowers all summer long. Loved. It.

And one year I grew some jalapenos on the back patio. Husband loved those. But we found out fresh jalapenos have a bigger kick than the kind from the jar, just in case you were wondering.

But inevitably, summer comes. Which means it’s blazin’ hot, the flowers/plants need tons of water, and I’m too lazy frugal to drag the hose out every day. So whatever I start growing usually ends up in pretty sad shape by mid-summer.

And I’ve tried inside plants. They usually don’t last long. Even things like ivy that are supposed to be able to grow anywhere meet their demise under my care. And my fake plants look terrible sometimes, too. Who kills plastic plants? Apparently, me.

However, there’s one plant I can successfully grow. Ironically, it’s one that others sometimes find difficult to keep.

It’s the African Violet.

Maybe it’s because I once read an article about African Violets in Martha Stewart Living, and Martha really does have some magic.

My most recent one was in sad shape when I bought it a couple of months ago. In fact, it was on the clearance rack for 75 cents.

See? I’m cheap when it comes to flowers, too.

But with a little randomly placed TLC in between all the forgetting, it has begun to bloom.

It makes me feel like not quite so much of a failure when it comes to growing the green things. Rock on, little Violet. Rock on.