I never would have thought.

Ok, this is not the post I lost. I have to gear myself up to repeat that one later. But let me go back and tell you about something very strange that happened to me this summer. So strange that I can still hardly believe it.

I have always described myself as either having a black thumb or a green plastic thumb. My house is full of fake plants and I'm happy that way. I have had very little luck keeping houseplants alive--you know, that whole watering thing. Who can ever remember do that?
What started out as buying a hanging flower pot on sale turned into a summer of roaming around Garden Centers, evenings covered in dirt, and the start of a new hobby--gardening. Yikes! Gardening was always this big, vague unknown that made my stomach hurt. I wanted to want to do it but I didn't know where to start and it was outside in the dirt. I'd rather stay inside and organize the junk drawer. For whatever reason, this summer I felt inspired to go for it and I'm already looking forward to next Spring so I can plant flowers and see how our new plants are doing.
So, here is what this little strip looked like for the past 5 years. We've actually had to replace these a couple of times because they didn't survive the winter. That's part of what got me going this summer. One of these died and I thought we should add something interesting instead of putting in the same old thing.My loot from the Garden Center. I seriously had so much fun looking at all the plants and trying to figure out what to get. I've NEVER had the desire to even think about it before. So strange.We had some hot summer nights and I got more sweaty and dirty than I had been in years...maybe ever.It was hard work and I used muscles that had been dormant for a long time but it was also very satisfying. You can see the hanging pot of red flowers that started it all.So, here is the after picture. Not very dramatic, I know. That is part of what turned me off from gardening in the past. You do all this work and then you have to wait for the final result. I'm excited for next Spring to see some of these in bloom and for the plants to fill in as they grow. It might not look like much but I added about 13 plants and moved 3 bushes. We also added some bushes on the other side of the garage. I will say that when it was all done I was ready to take a break until next season.Stay tuned for more pictures next Spring!