Question about that talk I had with my neighbor on the porch last night

I was out watering my front bed around 7pm and my neighbor Carol came over. She said she used to get upset when her plants died too, but then she started keeping a notebook with dates and weather. She showed me hers and said "you'll notice the pattern after three fails". It hit different because I realized I've been blaming myself instead of learning what the sun does at different times here. Has anyone else had a conversation where someone pointed out something obvious you were missing?

2 comments

2 Comments

theathomas1mo ago

Oh man, that notebook trick is pure gold. I finally figured out the same thing after killing three hydrangeas in a row. I just started jotting down which spots get full sun versus shade at different times of day. It sounds so simple but it really does change everything once you see the pattern on paper. Your mileage may vary but I'd say give her advice a real try, it saved me a lot of dead plants and guilt.

anthony4261mo ago

Why bother with all that tracking? I've got a spot in my yard that gets morning sun and afternoon shade and I just plant whatever looks good and see what happens. Half the time it works out fine. You might be overthinking it - plants are tougher than people give them credit for. I've got a hydrangea that gets cooked by afternoon sun every day and it still blooms like crazy. Reading too much into sun patterns just stresses you out and wastes time you could spend actually gardening.