Monday, April 23, 2012

Lessons From a Plant


Last March 2011, I ordered four mosquito plants from an out of state mail-order nursery. They looked so pretty in the catalog, I couldn’t resist. And, since I am total mosquito bait, I jumped at the chance to purchase something to keep the pesky little buggers away. Yaaa, I’m going to be “mosquito-free” for change.

When the plants finally arrived on May 20th I was as happy as a ‘hog-in-slop’. Sniggling giggling and itching to tell somebody about my prize, I opened the package. (Sigh) 

My happiness quickly turned to disappointment at the sight of the puny little pitiful looking things I found inside the package.


Rant time! I fussed and fumed and got all bent out of shape for a good little while. How dare they mis-lead people like that!? That’s a crying shame, fooling folks into buying something then sending them this junk. Okay enough already, I decided to go ahead and put the sickly little souls in pots. What did I have to lose?

Every day I watered, waited, fussed and fumed some more. What was I thinking? Did I really believe I would get that huge lush green beauty of a plant they advertised in the catalog? Well, yeah. Might need to call an attorney, that fringes on false advertising. Huh, they can’t do that to people.

I kept watering and waiting, sometimes fussing sometimes not. The mosquito plants took hold and began to perk-up a bit. That was promising, maybe they’ll be alright. Yes, this just might work out. By the end of May they looked almost like they had a fighting chance.


Early in June I stopped griping, they started to look so much better. By mid June I was a happy camper again, my mosquito plants were holding their own, looking like real cute baby mosquito plants. I started to look on the bright side and, forgot all about bad-mouthing the company. I put my efforts towards keeping my little mosquito plants alive and healthy.

My little darlings made it to and through the summer during the worst drought I have ever lived through in my life. It was a struggle but, we made it. And, by March 2012 my mosquito plants are a sight to behold!


I saw it coming but, I wasn’t quite sure what “IT” was. March 26, 2012, I stepped outside to a totally new look on my babies. Blossoms, blooms, flowers and, an awesomely ‘decked-out’ mosquito plant greeted me. The beautiful lilac flowers nestled sweetly inside lush green foliage seemed to whisper softly…

…“Thank you, Mama, for taking such good care of us. Here is a gift from us to you for all your loving patience. Enjoy!”

Lessons learned:
  • Never order plants through the mail again
  • Visit  local nurseries so I can see what I am actually getting
  • Don't jump the gun and get all bent out of shape right away
  • Change my attitude and do something positive instead of fussing
  • Be patient!

7 comments:

  1. lots of lessons to learn, I'd say you got your money's worth...

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  2. Those are good lessons indeed. It seems I'm learning that quite a few things require patience and looking at the positive first instead of fussing.

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  3. I went to the nursery last week. For veggie plants. Plus seeds. Now it's time to grab some flowers. I agree about the mail order thing. Leona, I been there done that and learned a lesson too. *wink* Great to see you!

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  4. P.S. I added you to my blog roll. (((hugs)))

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  5. Thank you for the visit...You did an amazing job with those little plants and it is one I have never heard of before..it is disapointing when you order sight unseen and it doesn't look anything like that...Michelle

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  6. Fantastic! I was wondering what those mosquito plants would look like. My mom had those same plants in Hawaii a long time ago. I think they worked. She used to put sprigs of them in the room when we came to visit.

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  7. Blessings.....
    The victory is in the lessons learnt. That is why the plant came, to bring you through the journey and the lessons.

    See how God works?|

    Stay blessed.
    peace.
    Rhapsody
    https://plus.google.com/101099217204323189067 http://twitter.com/rhapsodyphoenix
    http://www.shelfari.com/rhapsodyphoenix

    ReplyDelete

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