#WritersLife
Week 24:
Gardening- Pain or pleasure?
It’s hard to believe 2019 is nearly half over. Counting by week for this 52-Week Blog Challenge makes me more aware of time slipping by. How about you?
Right away, I wanted to write “gardening is a pain.” The older I get, the more of a chore planting becomes. Then I thought, no, it wasn’t painful because although I didn’t inherit my dad’s green thumb, I miss planting flowers and having plants. He could grow anything and took great pleasure in gardening.
However, I don’t have to think pain or pleasure, anymore, because I live in an apartment without a yard.
As a young wife and mom, I had always planted flowers around my house—petunias, pansies, and other types in the backyard. Impatiens were planted in the front because of shade, and I planted geraniums and assorted flowers in pots for my porch, steps, and deck. Each year I’d pick a color scheme and add a variety of colors to blend in with whatever color I chose for my main color. Back then, my husband took care of the vegetable garden, so we reaped those rewards too.
Before moving last summer, I had an apartment with a small front yard, so I planted assorted flowers in two big ceramic planters for my patio. I had a single shepherd’s hook for hanging a good-sized pot in the sun and a double hook with smaller pots for the shade. Oh, I had one lone Tropicana rose bush that was there when I moved in.
This year, my indoor non-garden consists of the ceramic planter in my dining room with artificial ferns. As you can see, the ceramic planter still has poinsettia’s. They give a pop of color until I can replace them. Another outside planter I brought with me now sits on my awesome window ledge which is like a window seat.
I switch out seasonal artificial flowers. The expense of buying artificial plants and flowers is painful, but they last a long time.
This double hook still needs small planters.
I moved the double hook for a picture. It usually sits in my living room because it was a gift I like looking at.
Outside, I have plenty of nature’s garden to view out my front and side windows. This hides two huge trees in the front, one ahead of the brown area on the left.
Is it a wonder a squirrel built a nest in my car engine?
Yes, sometimes the work of gardening had been a pain, but it wasn’t a bad enough pain to make me stop—until I had to.
This is a blog hop. Find links to the other blogs on the Marketing for Romance Writers Blog.
Thanks for reading.
Photo credits: ©Mary J. Dressel
Hands with small flowerpots: Pixabay rawpixel
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
15 thoughts on “#AmWriting Week 24: Gardening – Reaping the Rewards #MFRWauthor”
Ed Hoornaert
I used to garden — a quarter acre spread that filled our cold cellar nicely. Then I moved to the Arizona dessert. The only things that grow here are weeds. Vegetable need so much water than green beans cost $10 a pound. After a couple years of trying I’ve pretty much give up the effort.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I don’t blame you for giving up on it in the desert, Ed. Your quarter acre from the past sounds great for filling a cellar though.
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Jacquie Biggar
Plants speak to my soul- I think I’d be lost without them. We used to have a large yard and DH built me lovely flower beds to play in. Now that we full-time RV, it’s harder, but we still manage to fill our little pad with an abundance of colorful blooms 🙂
I love your plant tree, Mary, it’s lovely!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
This topic was meant for you, Jacquie! You’ve posted lovely pictures of your gardens. Thanks! My little plant tree is cute. I’m trying to find smaller hanging pots for it. They need to be the same weight. I always thought RVing around the country would be fun. Come get me. haha. Enjoy summer.
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Jacquie Biggar
Aw, thank you! Your plant tree would make a cool herb 🌿 garden. 😊 the best thing about RVing is the small space means less cleaning, lol. If we’re ever in your neighbourhood, I’ll give you a shout.
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Teagan R. Geneviene
Mary, I’m terrible with plants. I’m amazed that the roses and cacti here haven’t already died on me. I love your wide window ledge. Mine aren’t even wide enough for a cat butt! 😀 Hugs on the wing.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Teagan, I love my wide window ledge too. I call it a seat though the lease says don’t sit on it. Well, I’ve had two big butts on it at the same time when I moved stuff in before furniture arrived. Haha. Good luck with your cacti and roses. I have a bad habit of overwatering plants.
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Dee Carver
My granddaughter and I found a bird’s nest in my building out back. I had planned on fixing the roof where it had come up this weekend but have given in to the pleas of a sweet 6 year old to leave it alone for now.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
The sweet 6 year old’s always win! Memories were made.
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Rhonda Gilmour writing romance as Sadira Stone
I like the way you keep green (and other colors) growing things in your life.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Thank you, Rhonda. I like having the ferns and flowers for a bit of outside on the inside, even if they are artificial. I found you in spam and had to approve your comment. 🙂
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Helen Henderson
love the story about the squirrel. They do like car parts.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Oh, yeah, Helen, the squirrel costs me some money, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been according to the dealership. I bought knee high stockings and mothballs, and the manager hung them under the hood for me and said to add fresh mothballs every spring and fall. Hope it works.
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Kate Hill (@katehillromance)
Hi Mary. Your indoor flowers are lovely. I wish I was better with indoor ones. The only plant I have inside that thrives is a spider plant.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Thanks, Kate. I used to have spider plants hanging on my porch. They’d grow big with lots of sprouts. I forgot all about them. My artificial flowers are all safe from me–I can’t kill them. 🙂
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