I Wish...

That Tsunami's pumpkin plant didn't wither up and die for no apparent reason.  One day...

The next, such withered, brown devastatingly ugliness that I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture to show you.

I wish that my Clematis didn't go from this...

A plant clearly trying to grow to this...

One very dead plant.  *sigh*

So, I turned my luck around and wished for green.  Of course, wishing for green anything in New Mexico when it isn't a cacti, agave nor chili plant, you're in for a lot of work. A. LOT. OF. WORK.  A lot of work or not, I am determined to have a pretty little oasis within my courtyard, a relaxing environment in the backyard for entertaining, and an incredible place to play for my kiddos.  All while growing a lot of my own food.  And maybe collecting my own chicken eggs.  Someday.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I went to the big blue store that really isn't exactly a nursery to see what they had on sale in the middle of summer.  You know they needed to get rid of some stuff.  And I had lost enough plants throughout the beginning of the summer and had some that didn't bother to grow at all, that I was going to try it anyway.  Try what?

Plant in July.

In New Mexico.

When it's nearly 100 degrees outside everyday.

And drier than the Sahara Desert.

Okay, not really, but it feels that way.

I was pleasantly surprised by the finds I retrieved.  To replace my Clematis (my poor, sickly Clematis that I so desperately desired), I found the Trumpet Vine.

See that pretty orange flower?

I hate orange.  But for whatever reason, THIS orange is okay.

See that price?  Cut it in half and see what I got:

Yep.  Pretty darn well grown already.  Not one sick or beaten or battered branch nor leaf on the entire plant.

I dug a whole and turned my sickly looking Clematis corner into...

*drum roll*

So much better!  Eventually, this beautiful plant will grow and grow and grow and just keep growing until it's draping over my courtyard wall showing off it's pretty (ugly?) orange flowers.

*insert giddy happy dance here please*


Then there was this minor problem.

Ick.  I hate the brown.  I hate the cable wire coming straight down OFF CENTER between my bedroom windows.  I hate the sandy clay that won't grow anything right there.  And I'm dying to have those planter boxes stained and set level and filled with beautiful, rich soil.

I had had a Delphinium planted there.  It died.  Even though I buried it's healthy root system in really amazing soil and kept it watered appropriately.

Whatever.  The Horticulturist's Universe is out to batter me and leave me broken and bruised in my desert clay grave.  Yes, "The Horticulturist's Universe" exists and requires title capitalization... because I said so.

So there.

For this vomit-inducing section of my courtyard, on the front of my house, where everyone can see, I needed something that will grow quickly.  Something tall.  Something GREEN.  And something truly tougher than the desert it's fighting against.

This pretty flower had me sold.  I've seen it everywhere in our neck of the woods, as well, so I was feeling pretty confident that I wouldn't kill it.

I dug a huge hole.

I dug a bigger hole than recommended on the label.  A lot bigger!  It might have had something to do with my anger with Bad Boy that day.  Gardening is rather therapeutic for the frustrations ones spouse may cause.  As well as the stresses your spawn seem to constantly throw straight at your gut.  In the diaphragm.  The stresses that seemingly knock the wind out of your lungs so fast you barely have time to catch it before it explodes all over the room.

Shovels are awesome.  Just sayin'.

Side note:  why in the WORLD does "diaphragm" have a "g" in it?  Words like this baffle me.

See how much better it'll look already without it even having been put into the ground?  Eventually, it'll look like this:

That sucker can get to be about eight feet tall and can be pruned back like a shrub.

PERFECT!  I buried the beauty in excellent soil.  Watered it well.  Kept it watered.  Gave it a basin to drink out of and everything.

It almost died.  Almost.  The stubborn thing is still putting out new leaves and blooms daily though.  So I'm not worried.  I like stubborn plants.

In the raised planter bed outside my kitchen, the Sun Gold Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes and New Mexican Green Chili plants are thriving! 

Yep.  There was my first orange Sun Gold right there.  Three weeks ago (when I INTENDED to blog about it).

I'll keep wishing for stubborn plants while these succulent beauties get obese.