Attempted Gardening

After some discouraging setbacks I woke this morning to find buds on my other flower! Ahhhhhhhhh, how rewarding and encouraging to my gardening attempts! I'm still not really sure what kind of flower it is but hopefully we will find out soon!

Also this week, I have begun a new rose plant from a clipping. I decided to use a different approach this time. I read a few article on Pinterest about planting your clipping with it inserted into a potatoe. Sounds kind of crazy and I don't understand the science of it but hey, what do I have to lose.

I should have got pictures of the whole process but you know how it can be with lil ones sometimes. I always start with great intentions of cataloging so many things and then I enter survival mode! Finish this task befor anything or anyone stops you. So I took a rose out of the bouquet my husband recently brought home for me.

Another great benefit to third world living, flowers are super cheap! So I get spoiled with frequent floral deliveries. They arrive in a pink plastic bag that has been slung over the handle bars of my beloved:) He takes the time from his hectic schedule and the generally frantic traffic to stop at a little flower shop and pick out a bouquet bursting with different colors and types of flowers to brighten the day of a sometimes frazzled wife and an eager lil "princess" that loves daddy's return.

So, we cut off the top of the flower at a 45 degree angle, dip it in rooting powder, stick it into a raw potatoe and plunge it into an awaiting flower pot. Then I put out on the balcony hoping for the best while taking this pledge with hand raised.

"I, April McTague promise to never again torture my rose plant with water boarding and such unkind tactics."

Let's hope this does the trick and gets us on the road to horticulture success.

 

 

'2 Steps Backward & 1 Tiny Step Forward

In the midst of dying roses my balcony was being turned into a construction zone. For many months all of Nepal has trudged down the road of earthquake recovery. Day by day they work to repair and rebuild, unless there is a worthy reason to rest and party:) For a few weeks this meant men hopping on and off my balcony from scaffolding to repair the broken exterior of our 12 floor apartment building.

While I'm glad the building has been repaired I'm even more glad to not have people hanging out outside my window. So...maybe I can blame some of my floral damages to emotional stress on the part of the flowers. Either way their home has now been shifted to the back porch for the few remaining sprouts.

In the photo above you will see we have one flower that has endured my in-humane watering tactics and....get this, two plants of lemon grass tea. Can you believe it I've grown tea!! Say what! That's right! My husbands desires for attractive flowers are still in the works but the Man loves tea so, score on that note. Please Lord help them to be alive Tomorrow and don't strike down my beauties! Signing out with much to learn about the care and growth of anything green.

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First Attempt
I wish that when you moved to rural thrill world countries that you automatically had a green thumb but sadly this DOES NOT happen:( My husband really enjoys flowers and has expressed how nice it would be to have some on our balconies. So....this black thumb princess is going to attempt making a "garden oasis" on our 7th floor balconies that are approximately 12ft long and 2.5 feet deep.

I have many lofty goals of lemon trees in pots, hydrangeas, roses and herbs.....wowowow better back this truck up and take baby steps! I've only had one plant live in my lifetime if you can call barely clinging to life living. Sadly, it has since returned to dust when we went back to the states.

So my humble beginnings are some rose bush cuttings taken from a friends house. Surprisingly, me and my three year old have achieved watering these budding sprouts and keeping them alive!

 

I would love to see them big and crawling all over our balconies and spilling out the outer edges as a welcoming banner to all who stand outside the "badeshis ( Nepali for foreigners)" apartment. Only time will tell if this reformed plant killer is able to succeed or will succumb to barren concrete balconies.

These are my baby roses! Keep tuned to see if they flourish in apartment 6C!