Keeping my indoor/outdoor plants alive

Tags

indoor plants, outdoor plants, over watering, postaday2013, under watering, winter care

This winter has been a long one, I’m sure, for my outdoor/indoor plants. As I was thinking about what to write about, my gaze fell on a gift that I received after Christmas and that reminded me that I hadn’t looked at my hibiscus and bougainvillea in a few days, which in turn led me to go upstairs to make sure that my Mandeville vine and the impatiens were alright. Upstairs, everyone was happy and I am not complaining but I am surprised that the Mandeville vine looks the same now as it did this summer outside and on the same note, the impatiens aren’t looking too shabby either.

My bougainvillea, on the other hand, is looking very sad; even its offshoots are looking tired and droopy. I gave it a good watering so I hope that by tomorrow, the bougainvillea will get a little pick me up. I would hate to lose it after these four years of caring for it and keeping it alive during these harsh winter months. My hibiscus are doing better than usual, they haven’t shed as many leaves and they were both blooming late into autumn. I don’t know if I am doing something different this year that I didn’t do last winter, which is a little frustrating because I would love to replicate the results for next winter.

Speaking of my gift, tomorrow I will be planting my paper white daffodils in its indoor container. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get around it. I love planting but somehow it got away from me. Tomorrow will no longer be the case, by this time tomorrow I will have the bulbs planted and according to the box, in six to eight weeks I will be the proud owner of paper white daffodil blooms.

Shoot first, ask questions later

Write about a time you acted first and thought later, giving into your impulses.

I would say that our little Jack, the cutest Jack Russell in the world, was an impulse purchase and upon reflection later on, he was the best impulse that I ever had. I found him on the Internet while clicking through puppy pictures right after we had lost our second dog in two weeks due to cancer. We were devastated ourselves and the sight of seeing Rex, our remaining dog depressed beyond belief, lying underneath the table and not acting normally, was what pushed me to give into the impulse of getting the cutest little baby Jack Russell, all from a picture on the Internet.

Jack was a gift from the universe. He has enriched our lives immeasurably. We have gotten as much, if not more love from Jack, than we could have ever hoped for. He makes us laugh, he is a wonderful companion and he saved us again from heartbreak when Rex left us due to bone cancer. Without Jack, we would have been inconsolable because Rex was such an important part of our family. Jack kept our grief manageable, we owe him a lot.

All it took was that special look in his eyes that made me fall in love with his little face. His eyes haven't changed with age, they still have that soulful puppy look about them.