Another contest: Celebrate lessons learned from failure

It's been fun celebrating the success some of our great hybridizers and severely addicted Brugmansia Addicts have had lately..... however, some of us may have a few skeletons in our closet (or compost pile) that we're not so proud of. I'll go first. I spent almost 2 years as a plant murderer. My method of murder was drowning them .... not an easy feat in Southern California. I thought if a little water was good; a lot had to be better. Surely the yellow leaves meant they needed MORE water.?! Wrong!!!! However, once I decided that I had a brown thumb and almost gave up, the plants started to thrive. Benign neglect helped them far more than my compulsive over watering. LOL Lesson learned.

So .... bring out your dead or dying plants and take a picture of them.

Enter from now till 9 PM Monday night (Pacific time), Then I'll open a new thread for voting, which will be open until 9 PM Tuesday night (Pacific time).

The prize will be a Decorative Tiding Stone Just like the one pictured, only new and in a box, stating "I tried, But it died". Also a pair of Wonder Gloves, size Medium, so you can work comfortably in your garden and hopefully avoid future disasters. LOL

Edited to say that it doesn't have to be a dead or dying brugmansia - it can be anything.

Mary

This message was edited Jul 16, 2005 8:11 PM

to funny Mary

Don't make me pullout more ICU pictures....LOL

oh man i am so sorry i had to post this pic but i love that rock:) i feel like such a bad mommy but i cant toss anything lol here it is... its going to make it i swear!

better view

What a fun contest.....I'm going looking tomorrow morning :)))

Tooooooooooooooooooooo FUNNY, Mary!!! And to think we get too see CC's huge collection of half dead plants again. LOL

I hope I have a few left. I usually toss them fast so no one sees them! LOL

I just remembered seeing some at the rented plots tonight. They looked like I should put them out of their misery fast. But I didn't have time.

Hands down, annac...yours look really pathetic!!!

LOL

!Mary! You are so full of surprises... Thank you
Here is my sick Sang seedling. Poor guy has black splotches moving up his trunk. I don't know what is wrong or what I did to him. So he is in Isolation with a superthrive IV drip.
:-(
Edit- Here is thread of close up pictures.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/529563/

This message was edited Jul 17, 2005 4:27 AM

GGK you might want to post a close-up of the black on the trunk. May need to dispose of it if it is SB

Thanks Donna
I placed a hyperlink into post.
;-)

Lovely photo... GGK... what a hoot to see it with the red cross unit...
Well .. without any of the fan fare here ... the closer to death unit has one I can share...
I have no cool paace for dormancy here... everything is too well heated in the winter ... and the basement has three water heaters and two furnaces going so it's way out of dormant areas.. I keep everything up and growing in the house with me..
Snowbank was doing so well for the last few years... I could never fault it in any manner... I couldn't let the fact every bug would prefer it to all of the others sit as a strike aganst it.... but here for me it did marvelously.. This was to be the third or fourth year for it .. and it was fine throughout most of the winter... but then lost it's leaves... as did a few others... perhaps my new worker who sometimes starts here with some chores helped in his watering style... as I did get plenty of BTR on my plumerias for the first time ever ..
So it got real sick... but I figured it was still alive and the sun would bring it out when it finally became spring here... well it did become spring and it didn't help it much so I started cutting back the progressive rot... and finally got it to stop and after 2 1/2 months out in the sun. on the hot roof deck... here it sits... it's underpalnting looks better than it does... I'll post a follow up picture of the leaf... named Carrie.. as I think it's carrying the plant...
Gordon.. NYC roof gardening ...... zones 4- 14

horrific isn't it... Well here is Carrie's picture... it was actually visable on the last shot as that little white spot... I was awaiting it's recovery to send out a section for a trade... I allways thought it would recover .. and I guess I still do... although I've bought a little Snnowbank plant from the local nursery as a replacement.. and one for the trade partner... I'm sure she thinks me to be a dead beat already.. I'm not an incompetent... unless it's not watching over my worker in his gardening chores.. I did after all have about 30 blooms last night .. spread out over a dozen or so brugs undergoing their first trial blooms.. Heavenly aroma.. I do admit to a bit of previous mite damage visable on the other leaves near by.. and i was going to give everything a dose of Floramite [ a miteaside w/ an ovaside for killing eggs ] with the phermone addative Stirrup this morning [Stirup is a phermone that suposedly excites the mites to move about more .. increasing the likely hood of contacting the poison in the floramite ] ... but it's rainning some today.. Gordon.... NYC Roof gardening... zone 4 - 14

This is a vine I realy tried to keep alive,BUT was it too much water, not enough water, too much fert. wrong kind of fert, I haven't a clue but suddenly all the leaves started dying, it was on the Patio so I brought it in to my new plant room but she doesn't like it here either. now there is no sign of life.

i dont feel so bad anymore:)

blue pot brug 2 yrs old, small one month..

one more kyles pink x trash can 2- 3 months old very sad ate up...

Kin - ROFLMAO!!! Love the Red Cross picture!
Hmmmmm, I wonder if that IV system would make a good 'drip' irrigation system. Never thought about it because most of the bags have saline in them.

Anna, Gordon, Twyla and Doris: They're all pretty pitiful! LOL

Come on, CC - drag out those ICU pictures. You can always throw in that pink chick to distract us from their sad state. LOL

Guess what I did today?! Made room in my garden for more Brugs, and ordered 25 pounds of Cal Mag. Such a glutten for punishment. LOL

Mary

Hope 43
Good kill job !
Couldn't have done any better my self ?
roflmho
I feel so much better, after seeing these pictures .
I thought I was the only plant terminator ?

yeah pretty sad look pretty darn bad or rather sorry..Just call me Arnold...

now at least I can look at some plants that are as bad as mine *LOL*



Doris

doris you did have some green looked like may make it.. mine i think are ready for? but i have kept one 2 yrs hoping may get some cpr... think not now.. hate to throw it if is a chance. Twyla

hope43, no hope I am afraid since I took this picture every leaf has dropped and the stems are browm.

OK
I love the rock and it matches my gardening expertise
here are my entries

this may look like there is life but its a different plant behind it

here's #2

OK
# 3

and here's whats left of the ICU
Everything else started grown 'cept these
After I took this picture I chopped them down and will try rooting the dead sticks

some of my chickens snuck in the picture

Oh Dear!! # 3 Looks like it Drunk itself to death....LOL
I'm sorry but I just can't stop laughing. You are the greatest you know for showing us your brown brug Thumb... What a sport you are..

This message was edited Jul 18, 2005 10:15 AM

This is my Gardenia plant, anyone have a " revival pill " I can give it.





Doris

Hard to beat some of these in your dreams beauties, esp CCs. LOL. Hey CC, post a better pic of your chickens. They are so cool looking!!

I should be crying over this one. She is my RK. I dragged her over to the gate because you could not see her nakedness with other plants in the background. She also was in full bud when I gave her fertilizer and burned her. She did a full leaf drop and bud drop. Even her little branch end tips are browned out. I think she may make it now though. She kept her pods though.

I can beat that one too........
I have a pot full that I got in trade
They looked OK when I got them
But.....sad....so ...sad now

as for my "problem Brugs"
I kill them
yes,yes I do
ya gotta laugh about it
and I'm embarrassed but I want newbies to see that Sh*t happens
You are not gunna get EVERY one of them to grow and thrive
These seedlings,the dead ones in the ground made it thru the winter
But just croaked where I put them
I think its too shady

the others in ICU were the ones that got too cold
But they were my well established oldies
butterfly
Desiree
versipeach
bums me right out.....
but they CAN be replaced someday
its the seedlings that die that kill me
You'll never know if they were the "ONE"

notice I have a half dead nana there too...LOL
I can kill anything

and what'a ya talking about
Good sport?
HEY
This is one of the contests that I xcel at!!!
I'm trying to win here...LOL

I need a tombstone for my brug compost

You also could win contests for the most hopeful and the one that believes most in miracles CC. You sure keep a dead plant around forever hoping for its resurrection! LOL

Here is my current plant I am trying to kill off. It WAS a gorgeous standard double pink hibiscus until I planted it in a gaud pot that was way too huge for it. It immediately started dropping leaves. So I watered it even more in response and that really did it in. It is now almost totally leafless. I refuse to pull it out of the gaud pot. I love that pot. When I am out there, I just look at the pot.

I put blackboard behind trying to block the background plants.

Here is my very special abutilon. Look at the great pink flowers.

After 2 years, this was gorgeous. Tibouchina heteromalla just in case you can't recognize it. LOL. Just 1 week ago, large velvety leaves, 5 inch budded stems going up up up and just about to open. And one good hit with fertilizer..............

Though I do have hope for this one. A wee bit of green left. Maybe CC will give me some advice.

And my last one for this was very depressing. It burst my denial bubble. I had no clue I had so many plants I had put into intensive care. And I have lots more. HELP!


This one makes me think of Campbell Soup "M'm! M'm! Good!"

Kell, so sorry to tell you but you are going to have a hard time beating CC although you are giving her a run for the money....or the dead plant rock~:)

CONTEST CLOSED. It's 9 PM and visiting hours at the plant ICU are over.

Please vote for your favorite plant terminator on the seperate thread started for voting.

Mary

darndet! I missed another one! I probably could have given a good one on this. Shoot!

You people email me two days ahead of a contest, ok?! I know most of mine aren't that great, but the contests are fun and that's why I do them.

Oh my, now kell, what fertilizer did you use, I want to make sure I pass on buying any of it. LOL