My New Plants and Neem Oil

Spring is almost here (right?) and I'm so ready for it. My fam I and went out to Menard's (which is a home improvement type superstore here in the Midwest) and they had a few plants out and on sale. "On Sale" are two of my favorite words when used together!

This is what I came home with

Easter lilies with a couple of blooms about to open at the tops

I wish I'd had enough money to get a third Easter Lily :-( because they were one of my mother's favorites. The lilies were all I had planned to walk out with, but then I saw this cute little $1.99 grow kit for a sunflower.

ignore that awful manicure!

There were those little grow kits for all kinds of flowers - daisies, pansies, and coneflowers. I chose the sunflower for the same reason I got this huge fake one for the living room -

- because the color yellow was a favorite of my late sister's. Actually, she liked any bright, happy colors - pink, orange, green. She would have loved that canvas print hanging on the wall.

Now, I just have to hope this little pod of the seeds takes root and grows!

My sister-in-law got a grow kit set for kitchen herbs. I think there were chives, oregano, and cilantro included. I'm going to wait until full-on summer before I start messing with herbs. I'd like to get some mint and lemongrass because they both smell so good.

By the way, my little Peace Lily that I was so worried about is really showing out! I've been keeping one of the grow lights on her and today when I went to water her, I noticed she's trying to bloom! I'm so excited about this.

Poor little thang. She's one of the mail-order plants and I didn't think she was going to make it. Now, look at her. She still looks a little torn up, but... Yep, that's a little something trying to bloom!

I don't want to forget to talk about my experience with neem oil. Oh boy, does that stuff reek! The stench falls somewhere between motor oil, old wet dirt, and bad dreams. Horrible! But... it works like nothing I've ever seen. I got mine when I did a review a couple years ago and I'm sure glad I brought it down with me from Alaska.

I put some in the bottle I spray my plants with so that they get a really light dose every now and then. Also, this means I can spray and wipe down around windowsills because Neem is a natural pesticide. Unfortunately, because of the stank, it probably will keep humans away too. Ugh! By the way, for those who care, Neem is an excellent hair and skin product and it's useful in many other ways. If you can stand the funk...

So that's my little plant update. I'm sure hoping for a sunny spring and summer. So far, it's been cloudy more than sunny so thank goodness for those grow lights.


Peace
--Free