Having a mystery plant nobody recognizes? Waiting for blooms? The weather/trying to push/cheat your zone? Pests? Budget? Space?

They say it's good to get it off your chest... I think the first person to say that was a lady unhappy with an uncomfortable bra...

I think my most anxious moments are not knowing exactly when the first frost is going to be each fall.

For me, the most anxious moments are waiting for the seeds to germinate, or a leaf or cutting to root or the first bloom on a new plant. In the case of cacti or succulents for which I have a very bad track record - waiting for the first sign of impending death. Other anxious moments occur when plants are enroute from a vendor and weather is turning cold - question is whether the plants will arrive in good condition?
However, anxious moments are more than offset by the pleasure in seeing seeds germinate, leaves and cuttings root and the first bloom on a new plant.

Waiting for peas to sprout in cold, wet clay.

Since they often rot and need to be re-sowed, "no peas emerging yet" is bad news, but it still leaves me wondering "Maybe tomorrow ..."

I get most anxious waiting for the first bloom on new plants. I also worry about my big Adenium that is now suffering with mealy bugs. It's in a greenhouse I have to leave for weeks at a time. It gets watered and temp regulated, but there's no one there to take care of the bad bugs.

I am most anxious in the spring waiting for the snow to melt and the first flowers to emerge. I also get anxious when the weather turns nice and I can't decide where to start first, getting the old plants cleaned up that didn't get done in the fall.

I'm most worried that I've messed everything up and will kill all my plants. I don't know what I'm doing. Just winging it.

I worry about not getting enough ripe tomatoes to make salsa to last us the winter!

Nice Thread Tiffany!

Propagation. If I propagate something I always do at least twice as much as I want, so I won't stress out, if some fail. And as I care for the 8 or 12 little rootless pots of hope, I have always had at least half do just great, and root up as they should within the estimated time my research said it would take.

At this point I should call the experiment a success and relieve myself of the obligation and effort to nurse puny stubborn bits of plants, who are ungrateful and no fun to hang out with. I should give all my attention to well behaved plants who appreciated my efforts from the beginning, and delight me with every new leaf.
But I never can. I have to stick with everyone of them until they root. Such a silly waste of time. Psychologically, I cannot toss a plant.

There should be a pill for that.

@lauriebasler - I think there is a pill for that. Unfortunately it's not legal.

I could use some of those pills as I have a tendency to over-sow or over-plant and usually end up with lots more than I really need - BUT can I discard the excess ones? Never! Where there's a will, there's a way - either give them away or squeeze them in somewhere.

DonfromPA said:I could use some of those pills as I have a tendency to over-sow or over-plant and usually end up with lots more than I really need - BUT can I discard the excess ones? Never! Where there's a will, there's a way - either give them away or squeeze them in somewhere.

I could have written this! When I was just starting seedlings for myself, I would start extras "just in case..." (in case they didn't all live, in case we had an unexpected late frost in the spring, in case the cutworms got them...). So then I would give the extras away to several friends and relatives who were happy to have the free plants. Then I began starting things for those people on purpose... which of course meant that I had to start even MORE extras -- do you all see where this is going?

It's actually gotten to the point where I don't feel that guilty about composting the extras anymore...

Hmmm... I'm most anxious about keeping the plant alive til fall when I can collect seed. I want big, bushy, beautiful plants and when I fail at that, well, it's not good.

I never understand why I can grow a great vegetable garden but flowers are a bit more difficult for me. Now that I live in a new state, learning what will grow here drives me batty. I'm used to southern gardening and now I'm more in the west. The sad part? I try to plant all my things that I would in the deep south. It doesn't always work and I do get sad about that. Usually whatever it is that I'm trying to grow is a throwback to something that reminds me of my mom. When it fails, I simply have to figure out a way to make it work here. Sometimes I just stupidly do not know when to give up and go on to something else.

When I am working a lot and the blackberries, bindweed, English Ivy and neighbor's Wisteria are all growing 2 feet a day, in all directions, and weeds are also sprouting by the millions in all the flowerbeds! Aaaagh! I wish there was a pill for that! Well, maybe there is, sort of, it's called Brush Killer Plus, and it's made by Bayer ;-)

KarenHolt said:Hmmm... I'm most anxious about keeping the plant alive til fall when I can collect seed. I want big, bushy, beautiful plants and when I fail at that, well, it's not good.

I never understand why I can grow a great vegetable garden but flowers are a bit more difficult for me. Now that I live in a new state, learning what will grow here drives me batty. I'm used to southern gardening and now I'm more in the west. The sad part? I try to plant all my things that I would in the deep south. It doesn't always work and I do get sad about that. Usually whatever it is that I'm trying to grow is a throwback to something that reminds me of my mom. When it fails, I simply have to figure out a way to make it work here. Sometimes I just stupidly do not know when to give up and go on to something else.

Karen, moving to -- and gardening in -- a whole different section of the country would definitely involve a large learning curve! I've often thought about how difficult it would be for me to learn to garden if I ever decided to move south. I think i'd better stay up north where I know what I'm doing . (At least more or less)

@tx_flower_child.

lauriebasler said:Nice Thread Tiffany!

Propagation. If I propagate something I always do at least twice as much as I want, so I won't stress out, if some fail. And as I care for the 8 or 12 little rootless pots of hope, I have always had at least half do just great, and root up as they should within the estimated time my research said it would take.

I plant 2x all the annuals I think I will need. And I usually find places for 90% of them. Better too many than too few.

@yardenman, your plants are amazing. I did not find you here until I began to look at cacti and succulents. So for all the time I lost, your contribution here is so valuable and so interesting. Love seeing your posts! Thank you for any and all replies.

I am most anxious when I purchase the plants that I know I always kill. Stupid as I am I keep buying them......
Orchid......I see the pretty flowers and it is the middle of winter and they just jump in my cart.

Calthea.......another cart jumper. I love foliage and they have the most interesting colorful leaves and before I know it I have my hands on it and oohing and awing.

I know I hear them screaming leave me alone you know you are going to kill me and I shush them to be quite and I assure them I will not kill them this time.

I remember one jumping out of my cart as I rolled it to the checkout. I think it jumped out because It was not close to the edge and it jumped out of the cart and hit the floor. Since it did not run I picked it up and put it back in the cart.

Cinta said: ...
Orchid......I see the pretty flowers and it is the middle of winter and they just jump in my cart.
...
I remember one jumping out of my cart as I rolled it to the checkout. I think it jumped out because It was not close to the edge and it jumped out of the cart and hit the floor. Since it did not run I picked it up and put it back in the cart.

Or: "It couldn't out-run me, so ..."

You reminded me of a friend of a friend, who said that anything that wasn't nailed down was free for his taking.
And, if he could pry it loose, it wasn't REALLY nailed down.