I finally gave up on the astilbe in the front garden--the begonias and vinca are doing ok, and the hydrangea are doing spectacularly well, but the astilbe were crispy fried. They just never really took. So I got a pair of ivy geraniums (one fuchsia, one white and pink) and a couple more coleus at a mid-season, buy-one-get-one-free sale at the garden center.
ARR loves gardening. He wanted to help. He was doing pretty well--we'd managed to dig some holes without stamping on anything, and got the geraniums safely in. But then some folks came up who were considering renting the house down the street and wanted to know about the neighborhood. And I looked away for a second.
When I looked back, ARR was holding a coleus, snapped in half, and a forlorn expression.
So we planted the bottom half, and stuck the top half in a vase with a dahlia for company, where it looks quite jaunty.
But then we got to the water-retention crystals. You're supposed to put in, like, a teaspoon. You see where this is going. Entire bag, straight in the hole.
So I've got a bag of mixed dirt-and-crystals, and the garden looks a bit like someone buried an ice chest in there.
But the flowers look great.
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