A Gardener in the Making

It is true, boys love dirt. As a child, I liked dirt too, but I was what people refer to as a Tomboy. Growing up with two brothers and generally prefering the company of boys as a child will do that to you I guess. The fam found out this weekend just how much the Boy loves dirt, rocks and flowers.

It should come as no surprise that the Husband and I know nothing about gardening. We are not sure how this happened as we have family members who are avid gardeners, but we didn't get that gene. Apparantly the Boy did. His Great Grandma Ellen should be proud as she is a magnificent gardener and the Boy is shaping up to be one as well. If we could just get him to understand that he cannot step on the planted flowers, we will have better success.

Needless to say, our yard is in dire need of assistance and The Husband and I are flying by the seat of our pants. I don't think it helped that the previous homeowners did quite a number with mesh and mulch, not too mention planting a bleeding heart next to day lillies, next to a flowering bush...repeat pattern. It is a mess. We weeded our front beds (so much fun, let me tell you) and split the day lillies. The day lillies don't look so good, but we hope they will bounce back. Then, we made a trip to Home Depot to search for flowers to put in the flower beds.

The Boy picked all the colors, but was slightly upset there were no blue flowers. We went with impatients and something that looks like a daisy, but has a name that refers to lemons. We had a hard time deciphering if these plants would work under a tree and if the front flower beds get some sun, a lot of sun or no sun. Who knew picking plants would be so difficult. Enter water, dirt, a trowel, two adults who aren't exactly sure of what they are doing and one very excited two-year old. A few hours later, the flower bed looked great. A two-year old really slows you down. The Boy's favorite part was pouring water on the plants with the watering can. He thought the flowers were taking a shower. The Boy was so dirty when it was all said and done. He had dirt everywhere. I am serious when I say that his bath water was brown. Ick!

We aren't sure how the flowers will fare given our lack of knowledge, but we are hopeful. After all, they were planted with love.