Is it possible to have a pink thumb?

I’m not a “get your hands dirty” kinda girl. But I pride myself on being (almost) willing to try anything once. With less than a month before our dual birthday party extravaganza, this weekend meant we needed to get into action mode! So…

I made my first attempt at gardening. As most homeowners know, and I’m learning, is that there is a never-ending list of “to-do” jobs. We have hired a landscaping company to do the extreme heavy lifting jobs like leveling off our yard, digging and disposing of our thirty tons of nasty rocks, and seeding grass. But the more moderate jobs (which are actually colossal jobs when discussing my green thumb) have fallen to Adam and me.

So I set out with my best attitude to the gardening center. I got flashbacks from picking out paint colors. The only difference with that was that I had some idea about paint (I mean what’s to know about paint). There are plants that need a certain amount of sunlight. There are plants that have already bloomed and died but will come back next year (which are cheapest). There are plants that currently have bloomed but have some life left (which are cheaper). There are plants that haven’t bloomed yet (which are the most expensive).

Cross referencing bloom status to sunlight exposure to visualizing a landscaping picture made my head spin. Managing children running around like madmen destroying plants and tempted to run into the parking lot while trying to focus on these crazy plants was enough to do me in. And as I was about done with my plans, I found a whole new slew of plants that I questioned I may be better off with! I am suddenly understanding why so many people I know use landscapers for it all!

Ok, I managed to finalize everything and make my way home. Now you want me to do what with these?!?! So I start digging and I guess I got the concept. But I’m pretty sure my thumb didn’t turn green or anything. That being said, I wouldn’t say it was the most miserable experience in my life either. So I guess I’ll consider it success, right?

Here’s the thing though – I bought the right plants, I successfully planted them, BUT it doesn’t have “the look.” Does it just mean that I’m anxious, per usual, and I have to wait it out? It will eventually grow and flourish into a beautiful piece of landscaping? Or I significantly missed something and need to do something differently that is significantly outside my current realm? I guess it’ll just be a work in progress…