The New Gardener - My Quest for Flower Power

I have never had a green thumb. Every plant I've ever owned has either sadly passed away and gone to plant heaven or has been revived by my super green mom before following the light. Yesterday my friend mentioned a garden centre near her house and I knew I just had to give it another try! There just has to be a plant out there that I won't kill!

So we set out and learned a few things about flowers during our quest for some new plant babies.

Out of all the seemingly thousands of different plants and flowers, I chose the Yellow Loosestrife Circle Flower. I just adored the features of this flower: perennial, likes full sun or partial shade, likes moist soil, grows quickly & most of all is labelled as "very hardy". Not just "hardy", "very hardy"!

Lesson #1: Garden centres often label plant "hardiness", which is a definite must for the new gardener.


I thought buying the pot would be the easiest aspect of plant shopping, but I was very mistaken. When asking an associate a question about replanting, she looked at the pot on my cart & said "That pot is way too big. You should replant into a pot that is only a little bit larger than the original pot or else the plant will spend too much energy growing it's roots to accomodate the larger pot and the plant will wilt. Only when the plant has grown into it's slightly larger new pot, can you replant it again into an even larger pot." Wow. I did not know that!

So I returned the original pot and after about 30 more minutes of searching I finally found one that looked to be about the right size! (It was still a teeny bit too big but was the closet I could get!).

Lesson #2: Many plants should be replanted in very slightly larger pots.

Lesson #3: When in doubt, always ask questions.


When we finally took our goods to the counter, I asked what kind of replanting soil I should use(thanks to my friend - as I hadn't even thought about this!). They looked at my plant & were surprised to see that I was putting my flower in a pot. Uh oh. For a moment I thought I had to go back and get an entirely different flower, but they were just concerned about drainage. The associate recommended a common soil & also recommended that I use gravel (such as fish tank gravel) on the bottom of the pot in order to fill it up, but also to help with drainage. This was a great idea, but upon returning home I found that my gravel was at my parent's house. Luckily I had this lightly used fish tank filter. It looks just as good to me!

Lesson #4: Always consider the plant's water drainage requirements when choosing a flower pot.


Upon the associate's recommendation, I purchased a standard potting soil at a sale price of only $3.59!

Lesson #5: Always consider a plant's soil requirements. Fortunately, most plants require standard soil.


Upon returning home I went to work and planted my flower. Here it is on it's first day on the balcony.

Lesson #6: Replant with care. Be gentle!

Lesson #7: Watch how much sun your plant is getting through the day. You might have to play around with the pot location in order to ensure that your flower is getting the right amount of sunlight.

Lesson #8: Love your plant & be happy!

Now I have a question that I always forget to ask. Can anyone tell me why some pots do not have holes on the bottom?