Never give up!

sallysmom said:I can't get down on the ground anymore to weed. So last year I used the weedeater and cut it all down to the ground. When I finished, I was sick because I thought nothing would come up this year. Some things have not returned and I am upset about it but I have to take responsibility for that. But also this year I have had voles eat my hyacinths. I have never, never had voles. So, I don't know which is worse - the weed eating I did or the voles

Hey Sally, I can't bend over and weed anymore either. I take a hunk of cardboard and scooch around. Someday someone is going to come into the yard concerned I've passed. I tend to stretch out sometimes to the point of being prostrate. I don't care. Nothing like old bones is going to stop me. Getting up does sometimes pose a problem tho....

Lee-Roy, I'm sorry, but I am not going to "baby" you! "Rudd" from the Netherlands, adjacent nation, gave you just excellent advice!!!!!! Could not be better! You have some phobias (i.e. fungus) which are unfounded, and although I did not read all the plants you have, you obviously have not yet done the suggested "read and learn" part? Canada is the second coldest country on the face of the earth, if not the first- since the USSR broke up, not certain, and Belgium is not even close, yet I know of no one who "lifts" daffodils bulbs in the Fall?? Your neighbours, the Dutch, the "inventor of bulbs" do not lift same. If you keep your plants in pots, you run the danger of over-fertilizing same, and the picture you have shown, (along with your admission of high nitrogen fertilizer), appears to indicate that. Gardening is a science! One learns by trial and error, and lots of searching for knowledge from the Internet, Grower sites, Forums, Friends, etc. It takes patience, lots of patience, and if one does not have that quality, one hires someone to do it for them and takes up Golf. LOL. Cheers! PS. I think you can do it - if you want to!!

I felt like giving up gardening several times in the years I've had my hands in the dirt. Didn't actually do it until this last winter. I didn't put up my greenhouse and carry out my annual ritual of hauling all my plants to the safe harboring of the warm greenhouse walls. Every single cherished plant froze and withered away. What was I thinking!!!???!! The realization hit after a while. Plants that had grown into mountains of foliage and rarities of past travels, gone. All gone! What was I thinking? I could have started my own nursery business with all the different flora and fauna I've hoarded over the years. After realizing my error, I was heart broken. I think the devastation of intentionally not caring for something I truly cared so deep about, actually hurt worse than the woes and pangs that accompanied the joy I got from tending these plants. So now, I'm praying the majority come back from the roots. It doesn't look good for a lot of them. My birthday is April 20th. To spare my husband the anxiety of deciding what to do nice for me, I've requested a day of plant and flower shopping. I won't make the same mistake again. I won't give up again.

Note: I read some new posts by Lee-Roy in other threads, he is doing great, and great pictures to show as well!

oh ouch Sasha!
Hope you get some fun B-day plants to start over with

Sasha- you only just "Cleared the plate" so you can do some other kind of garden. Maybe you were just a bit bored.

@DaisyRyder — Check your mail. Sent you some acorns.

I totally sympathize with your 'What was I thinking?' issue. I've asked myself that about a number of things in my life. Once I gave away a treasured poster from the wild and crazy '60s because I thought I ought to grow up. Duh! What was I thinking? (Of course I didn't know that being an adult was never really in the cards for me.) Gave away an incredible screen print because I was cleaning out my cabin in the mountains. And those are just 2 examples of 'What was I thinking' episodes from when I was in my 20s.

What kind of plants do you hope to grow? I've got a lot of seeds for perennials if you're interested.

Thank you. 🙂 Definitely starting anew whilst pining over losses. Alas, I plan to plan on not giving up again. 🌱☘️🌸🍃

Every time this pops up, I hope some are thinking "Letting go" instead of giving up. For example, letting go of stressing over difficult plants/tasks, and finding an easier way to enjoy gardening.
Right now I'm letting go of a parlor palm that I have enjoyed for some years, but last year it spent the summer just getting back to looking OK, then dries up again over winter. I don't need another big plant, esp one that I would have to fuss with and wait for months again to see it look respectable.

This is an ancient post. Arico has moved on....to other forums.

Why not start a new thread to inspire folks to hang in when the going gets tough?

It certainly is an old thread. Didn't realize it was posted in 2016 until this morning. But it definitely struck me... close to home and heart. As that whole "letting go" and "giving up" got me this winter.
A "never lose hope" thread is definitely in order. 🙂

DaisyRyder said:
A "never lose hope" thread is definitely in order. 🙂

If you start a thread "Never Lose Hope", I'd follow it. Maybe also put the word gardening in the title?

greene said:

If you start a thread "Never Lose Hope", I'd follow it. Maybe also put the word gardening in the title?

Thank you. For the inspiration.

The thread "Never Lose Hope ... with Gardening (in the title) 😉" in All Things Gardening forum