Thanks Raye,
I really am a beginner gardener. And I have so much to learn. We bought this house, 2 years ago this week. And I finally got tired of seeing my "blah" yard, and at the very least, wanted some
flowers.
Now, in case you haven't seen my story, here's what happened. I love pansies. I wanted a pansy border, and some other items as well, but mostly was focusing with starting easy, with the pansies. I had a box of mixed pansies with about 700
seeds. Never did the
seed thing before, but figured I'd follow the directions and hope for the best. We spent so many hours in the blistering heat Mother's day weekend, cleaning up the mess where we wanted the beds to go, tilling, weeding, making the wood border, and just getting it all done. I never imagined it'd be so much work. But, in the end, I was pleased and anxious to see if anything would sprout. About 2 weeks later, we got our first sign of green. I was so excited, they were actually going to grow. And they did just that.. grow, and grow, and grow.. these were the biggest dang pansies I ever saw. I thought they were taken over by aliens, the leaves were getting so big, and yet, no
flowers! Well, several weeks later, when my bed is really getting nice and full of all these huge green leaves, a friend, who was raised on a farm, asked what I planted. I told her in a not so certain way.. pansies?
And she said, funny, looks like pumpkin or squash to me.
So, then it hit me. The little pumpkin that sat on our porch last halloween. The one that never got tossed in the trash, because it was mush, and I didn't want to touch it.. just gently nudged it with my foot and it fell off of the porch. It must have not gotten all cleaned up after winter, and some
seeds were left. We tilled and worked so hard. We tilled them
seeds right in the ground, planting pumpkins and not knowing it. Never did see a pansy. (So if you ever see me post about my pansies.. that's the joke.) However, I wasn't terribly upset. My girls were excited we were going to have our own pumpkins. I was excited something lived under my care. It was looking so good. I had done *nothing* for these
plants to grow, other than water &
weed regularly. No fertilizers, no sprays, no beneficial anything, and they took off on thier own. I was just really enjoying the fact that there were pumpkins
growing, and that I even helped start them out before the bees became so very active, by hand pollenating. I had read about it, so thought, why not. I have several pumpkins
growing. Now, I just hope they live, since the leaves are all looking so bad. I had noticed bugs, and worried, so I found out what they were, and did my first time of spraying for them, the first time I did anything for them, really. It seemed to work. Then, I got some ladybugs & lacewing eggs to put in there. I only wish I'd gotten the nematodes while I was at it. And Phil on here had been trying to give me so much helpful info. I thought I had beat it. Then this. I am just really a
plant killer. I can probably count on one hand, how many
plants have lived under my care (this includes hardy house
plants) in my 34 years on this earth.
So, I don't know if I'll attempt pumpkins again or not. It was fun this year, but definately, if I do it again, I'll likely not put them in the same place, in my front yard..lol. My yard isn't that big. I live in town ya know. Less than a 1/5 acre total, and my house is in the middle of that, and the cars are parked too.. so really, not that big of a yard.
Thanks for all the help you've been giving. Between you & Phil, and really everyone else, I may have a fighting chance at
growing something that lives, perhaps next year. Really, hubby kinda was hoping that maybe I'd
plant corn & green beans. Not a whole lot, but a small veggie garden in the back of the house. So.. next year, this may be something we attempt. Ya know I'll be asking for LOTS of help then..lol.
Meg