Bye Bye Black Thumb

I told you guys one of my goals for the new year is to "Keep some plants alive". I figure I should give you a little background and some pics to base progress on, right?

We did not have a single plant inside our old house. In two-and-a-half years. Hell, the only plants we had outside were shrubs and the Hostas that were so hardy even I couldn't kill them. Not that I tried. I did nothing to anything on the exterior of the house. We were renting and I figured there was no point. The house sat back off the road and the only neighbors had their backs to us, so I figured why waste my money... I did trim some of the bushes, but that was it.

When we looked at this house it was May and everything was verdant and beautiful and I figured how hard could it be to keep up with? When the paperwork finally came through and we closed in June, a lot of the plants were gone. Apparently the kids had come and taken whatever they wanted. Classy. So I was left with a few bushes and enough ferns that I felt like we were living in Land of the Lost. I finally dug up all the ferns, planted some Hostas, Creeping Jenny, and Mums, and mulched in late August, or maybe it was September, of this year.

So I have no idea how the exterior of the house is going to look come Spring, beyond knowing I'll probably have to re-mulch. I do plan on trying my damndest to keep the outside plants thriving as well. But I'm really more focused on indoor plants.

I had a fun tree-like plant with a braided trunk and leaves that look like marijuana. ("Marijuana is bad, m'kay?") I loved it and it was super cute.

But it died.

I also still have a fun little Elephant Palm Tree.

But it's looking a little worse for wear.

It had mites! I sprayed it down with soapy water and I think it's slowly coming back to life... Slowly. Maybe. 

My mom gave me this cute little rubber plant. It lived outside all summer long and into the fall. Then there was a freak snow in October and it died too.

 

I brought it inside hoping it would be okay, but alas... 

I have managed to keep this ugly cactus alive. I water it once a week, just a little, and ignore it the rest of the time. Too bad it's not very pleasing to the eye...

So here's my first attempt in the new year at keeping a non-cactus alive. He lives on top of my bookcase in the office/craft room, where he will hopefully get the "medium light" the tag says is required. I bought him on Friday, January 7th, we'll check in on him in February...

I also planted some clearance Paperwhites in the Beast's Feast Bowl my mom got me for Christmas. And I just realized these shots are all fuzzy. Hopefully she'll get me the tripod I requested for my birthday!

We shall see if I can keep our new friends alive. Stay tuned...