Green Thumb?

I am not a gardener; in fact, I am most adept at killing plants, any plants - house plants, easy to maintain plants, philadendron (the manager of the garden department at the local Home Depot insisted that even I couldn't kill the Phil!) Really it's a matter of neglect, and I know this about myself. So, why, in the spring, do my fingers itch to dig in the dirt? I see flats of pansies at the local grocery store, and they call my name. I come home with two...flats, that is. There is something about the act of planting that speaks to me, perhaps my genetic code hearkens back to the days that my Irish ancestors scrabbled in the peat attempting to grow food.

While I love the initial digging and planting, I can't be bothered to nurture plants once they are in the ground. At that point I develop a mentality about plants and growing that reflects a "do it yourself attitude" surprisingly different from my attitude about teaching. My grandfathers (both of whom had large, lovely gardens in upstate New York) must be rolling over in their graves at the lack of plant instinct and waste. And so, because this attitude is deadly for plants and results in many guilt-ridden glances at the planter boxes and garden beds for myself, I vow this spring not to purchase plants that will only die...rather, I will spend time at Home Depot helping my husband pick out plants that HE would like to take care of!