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mgood4u

Anybody have favorite tales of garden mishaps?

mgood4u
19 years ago

This is the first time I've visited this forum. I like it. It's fun to read. The threads are sooo old though. Isn't anyone getting annoyed with still receiving emails from a thread that began in 2001 & 1997? Or, is that the point of the forum-to keep the same threads going over the years? Anyway, does anyone want to share their garden mishaps or funniest lessons learned as a (new)gardener? You learn new things all the time, so even our garden masters should have some great tales that us "newbies" can learn from!

Comments (10)

  • mgood4u
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Well, to answer my own question, I just realized that you can choose not to have replys emailed to you. Well, I'll start with my stories. When we moved to our new home I knew NOTHING about gardening and plants (and had no desire to learn either). My husband and I choose to cut down a HUGE & invasive weed growing out from under our Rhodi. After learning more and developing an interest in gardening I realized that the HUGE weed we hacked up was actually a Hydrangea! OH WELL, live and learn. At least maybe it will flower this season-I hope. Another time I said to a friend of mine, "Wonder what the large shrub is with all the pretty purple flowers? I've never seen a bush like that!" I thought it must be pretty rare around here. Turns out it's a big purple Chrysanthemum! MUMS! Now you know how little I knew at that time. And that wasn't to long ago either! Even funnier my friend said, "I don't know what it is but I'd like to find something like that for my yard". A little embarrasing but funny when I look back at how little I knew. I love it so much now that I wish I would have had the interest sooner. I'd probably have A LOT more stuff!!!These are stories only other gardeners can fully appreciate!

  • Lady_Pennywort
    19 years ago

    When I first started gardening I did not realize that many plants die down to the ground in the winter but are still alive and waiting to come back in the spring. I pulled many things out by the root & tossed 'em cause I thought they were dead. :)

    Fiwa

  • DebbieSue
    18 years ago

    When I was a newlywed, 35 years ago, I got some ivy for my very first house plant. I had it setting in a west window so it would get plenty of sun, this was in the late summer months here in Okla. I watered it daily with a whole glass of water & even stuck a rusty nail down in the dirt because I thought it would give the soil iron & the ivy would thrive.
    It didn't thrive.

  • betts123
    18 years ago

    When I first became interested in gardening I thought I was really smart by planting bulbs at the right time! The only thing was - I planted them all upside-down!

  • vetivert8
    18 years ago

    When I was little at school, one teacher had a plant in a vase of water on his desk. It lived there all year, green, flourishing, happy. At the end of the year (school years finish in December here) he decided to give away the plant.

    I got it, took it home, planted it out in the garden with loving care.

    Tradescantia fluminensis. 'Wandering Willy'. It nearly overtook my mum's precious Aspidistra. I've been in awe of the power of weeds ever since!

  • Eliza_ann_ca
    18 years ago

    It was our second spring in this house,and I had to work one saturday,while dh stayed home.
    When I got home from work he couldn't wait to tell me all the work he had done for me that day.Thinking that the little green shoots were weeds in all three of my perennial borders,he had pulled,dug up and trashed every single one of my perennials.
    I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.He felt terrible when I told him he had thrown away about 200.00 worth of plants.
    That was one year that he didn't complain about how much money I was spending on plants.He didn't dare.
    Eliza ann

  • laurelann
    18 years ago

    I always tell my DH not to whippersnip around my plants and vines. He absolutely cannot be trusted! I had planted a hops vine at the side of my deck, and it was just begining to climb the wall. One day I was sitting on the deck and noticed that one 6'vine was whithering. I thought, 'What the..........?' So I went to check it out. Nothing looked out of place, so I started to check the soil line....the vine popped out of the soil at the slightest touch. Upon further inspection, I saw it had been cut clean off, and stuck back in the soil to hide the evidence. Needless to say, he had bad dreams and fell out of bed that night!

    Laurelann

  • mgood4u
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    i CAN'T BELIEVE HE STUCK IN BACK IN THE GROUND! lol. what a howl.
    The first time I planted bulbs they were all upside down also. My six year old son said, "Ahh mom, arent the roots supposed to be facing down in the ground"?

    One thing my mother did a long time ago was that in front of the house she had 2 huge Azaleas. The guy who lived there previously told her it took years for them to get that big. So, you think that would be a hint but one winter she told my father that the bare stems we're ugly and he needed to get that dead thing out of there. So, he did. Luckily she still hung on to the other one!

  • LaurelLily
    18 years ago

    Do I have a gardening mishap/lesson? DO I? Oh, yes, my friends, do I ever! But no way I'm typing all that again, you'll just have to click on the original thread. The first long post from me gives all the background. The second long post from me is a tale of tragedy and angst, woe and near-defeat, hope and joy, and suffering, and ultimately triumph. For it is the classic tale of The Plague that lives deep within (well, ok, right on top of) the shrub beds that come with a brand new home these days. The heros include DH and I and our earthworm allies, and the evil ones include fungi, disease, cheap landscapers, ignorant neighbors, sun, ants, and a host of other things I'm too tired to remember.

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Lament of the Bed that Came With the New House: A Tragic Comedy

  • drtynails
    18 years ago

    Not exactly a gardening mishap but my husband and I were in the woods when I thought I spotted a sarsparilla. The leaves looked similar so I quickly grabbed one, scrunched it up and sniffed. What I failed to realize was that the leaf was fuzzy and I snuffed up a whole bunch of the fuzz. It was like snorting fiberglass! All I could do was squeek, sneeze and paw at my nose like I had encountered a porcupine. Not quite the experience I had in mind!

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