Highlights

I love lists because even more than I like making them, I love checking things off.  Last week, I made a short list of goals, and I'm happy to say that I am making progress on the gardening front.  Here's a few highlights:

Sniffing my jasmine one last time... and then hacking it down with all the rest of my dead plants:

*sniff*

I'm sorry, plant

The biggest moth I have ever seen in my life:

Fully 3 inches long, ie, monster-sized

If only I could understand Japanese...

Going to Armstrong's Garden Center to research plants for my garden:

Another happy new pot:

Say hello to my one-eyed sunshine...

Gilding terracotta pots (whaaaat??  I did whaaaat??  Yes, I am proud of myself, more on this later):

Not perfect, but I feel like a Martha Stewart genius

Also, after calling a few more wine stores without success, I bought a wine crate online from Wine Pine which I am eagerly awaiting (picture to follow... can't wait!).  Next up, actual plants! 

Faces of root rot

Oh, how sad it is to watch your plant-child grow as you've nurtured it with sunshine, water, food and caressing of its leaves, only to one day succumb to... ROOT ROT!

Here is Jasmine as a baby:

And here is Jasmine, post root rot attack:

 

Notice the large chunks of plant that are dying.  Horrible!  And so characteristic of root rot.  Naturally, once I figured out what was going on, I indignantly asked the gardening universe, "What causes root rot??" and discovered (with the help of the internet) that in fact, I am to blame for my damaged plant-baby.  

A few things contribute:

-Overwatering

-Poorly draining pots

-Overly heavy soil

And for the science geeks (ie, myself), it's specifically frequently caused by a mold genus called  Phytophthora.  But mostly it's caused by the overwaterers who are happily, unknowingly drowning their plants.  Sadly, there is no cure-- "lethal," says Wikipedia-- and my Jasmine will probably die.  

As a side note, Jasmine has a lifetime warranty on it from Armstrong's Garden Center who will replace it in case of death (all trees and shrubs!  whaaaatt?).  I am far too proud, however, to bring in a plant that I managed to murder after only one year in my care, and instead, will probably wait for it to die-- but hopefully bloom first-- and then replace it with something awesome.