Here a pot, there a pot

The main reason why I signed the lease for my current apartment almost as soon as I saw it was because of the long patio. Of course, the building being located in a pretty neighborhood at a convenient location helped - but the double patio, with the sunshine streaming in was what majorly completed the good impression.

In my mind, I immediately visualized the patio filled with lots of plants with pretty flowers. That there were two big obstacles to actually fulfilling this vision viz. - 1) My lease agreement specifically had a clause saying that the patio should have nothing on it including brooms, deck chairs and plants (Right! I paid rent for it too I thought) 2) My gardening experience is limited to watering the potted plants my mom has at home - did not deter me even for an instant. The first obstacle did not bother me - I could see my neighbors patios filled with all kinds of stuff. The second obstacle only served to challenge me.

Anyways, I moved in and the very next weekend went hunting for plants. I had chosen some pretty flowering shrubs (yeah, the kind they have in those small tubs in the store) and was all set to buy them. Which was when I read the instructions that those flowers had to be replanted in pots. Oh! I had thought that I just had to transport them to my house, keep them on the patio and start watering them. I never knew that transplanting was an in-between step. So I took a deep breath and decided to first buy the pots (yeah, I decided to stick with the transplanting idea because I thought that would be real gardening).

Ten months later, I was yet to buy those pots. While I enjoyed the abundant sunshine from the patio, it had nothing more than two blue-colored beach chairs on it. No plant, no flowers, nothing. Hmm, I thought that I really should buy those pots soon.

Finally, my procrastination got defeated from an unexpected quarters. My colleague at work, S, had some mud pots which she wanted to give away. I immediately perked up and volunteered to take them. Here, at along last, were my pots. Now I would feel compelled to use them. Yaay :-)!

Three weeks ago, those pots rattled away to glory in the boot of my car as I drove home (really, I need to be given an award for not forseeing the rattling. I swear, after I pulled out and drove away, at the very first signal, I almost got a heart attack when the pots banged against the sides of the boot as I slowed down!). Once home, I unloaded them onto the patio. I just had to get the plants and I would be all set.

This weekend, the grand event finally happened. I went to Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) to get plants and soil. I have never been to OSH before and I looked like a villager in a candy store as I gaped at all the gardening related paraphernalia. I tried to not look too newbie-like and managed to pick out potting soil, gardening gloves as well as two "annual" plants. The only reason I picked out the annuals was because a) they were cheap b) if I was going to kill plants, I might as well start off with inexpensive ones.


Then it was back home. The very next morning was "gardening" day. I put the plants into different pots filled with potting soil. Then I realized that I did not have enough pots to plant all the saplings I had. I need to go and buy more pots now (and this time, I really hope I do it soon). Anyhow, this is what my plants look like at the end of it:
My plants are two days old now. And they are still alive. Yippeeee :-D! My patio has a lovely splash of color to it. The plants are already noticed and appreciated by visitors to my apartment :-). I am a happy person now!

I am just hoping that this happy status of affairs will continue and my dear plants won't die on me. I am hoping further that, maybe, they will at least shoot out a couple of flowers under my tender care. Amen to that!