Gardening

Last year I was evacuated for a nearby fire (thank god my house didn't burn down), we were gone for 10 days and it was around 90-100 degrees. Our electricity was off, and so was our water system (they wanted all water resources to fight the fire).

Anyway, I lost 3 Hydrangeas that were is very large pots, and I lost a small (6 ft) Chinese Maple tree. Coming home to all that death was so depressing!

Since then I've been looking to replace the 3 hydrangeas, and I usually see them in the grocery store for around $8-12. These are usually sold in full bloom, as gifts, etc. in the grocery store, but they continue to live and grow. Well, I have not seen any in the grocery store for over a year now, so I went to a hardware/nursery store and couldn't believe that they were $40!!

So I look around for other options, that was just too much $ for my budget. I was not sold on buying seeds, the reports of too few germinations were not encouraging. One company sold baby starters (from cuttings) that shipped for around $8-9 and I bought one to see how it looked when it got here. It had 2 small leaves (that looked like they had been cut actually), and the idiot that I am, I damaged one of the 2 leaves when I was watering and moving it. But it still seemed healthy. Until .... The Cat.

I didn't realize the cat would go for it, (and I learned now that it is poisonous, fortunately my cat didn't get sick other than the initial vomit) - but he chewed up the other leaf pretty badly, and he ate the one that I broke. Anyway, I now have the plant protected, it is still too hot out for this young starter to be outside, and I did order one more since I did actually receive a live plant. Now it is just a matter of time (and no cat interference).