Those of you who follow the LOTB Facebook page know which plants I have inadvertently executed, but before I publish a full mea culpa, I want all of you to go on record. So fess up, who has killed at least one plant in 2011?
Photo by mohilic
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These are books that I really enjoyed reading (and refer back to regularly). They'll be a great help to you on your container gardening adventures:
Garden Up! by Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet
Succulent Container Gardens by Debra Lee Baldwin
Sugar Snaps & Strawberries by Andrea Bellamy
Bountiful Container by McGee & Stuckey
Small Budget Gardener by Maureen Gilmer
Southern California Organic Gardening by Pat Welsh
Container Gardening for California
{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
I only voted “11 or more” because I left a whole tub of baby spinach plants on the balcony…and it snowed last night. Maybe they’re still okay?
Were they still alive? I basically killed my plants by doing the exact opposite. I left a tray of seedlings out in the hot sun without enough water.
I voted 2, my peas were doing great but needed a bigger pot…they died after the transplant.. (soooo sad) and my passion vine was hidden and didn’t get watered..(not as sad..the flwers creep me out)
Why do passion flowers creep you out?
Well, this would have to mean houseplants in my case, since we are just now getting into the growing season outside here. In fact, it’s still too early to plant annuals. Our “safe” date is Mother’s Day. That said, I killed a very large Norfolk Island Pine in the last four months.
Oh no! Norfolk Pines are so pretty. You must have been bummed.
this looks all too familiar! anything besides succulents or indoor hanging plants i kill.
What seems to be the problem? Not enough water?
Just a few pansy and gazania seedlings. And some cosmos….shh!
Your secret is safe with me.
I had a perennial that was sprouting. I was excited because I wasn’t sure it would come back. Well, no sooner had I seen the little green shoots than my dog decided to chomp off the top of them. I’m still hopeful it will grow back again, so I’m not declaring it dead just yet!
Nothing yet, but it’s still very early in the season. Ask me at the end of the summer and you might have to add a 12+ option on your survey.
Luckily, I haven’t killed anything in the company garden but at home is another story. I was very excited to see my poppies sprouting in the garden but unfortunately they were forgotten when we raked up the adjacent hedge clippings. Haven’t seen them since.
( Definitely recommend using plant makers when direct sowing, would have saved my pretty poppies. Hopefully we will have more sprout up in the next few weeks.
There wasn’t an option for zero! I can’t think of any plants that I have killed so far but the year is still young. All the best horticulturists have killed tons of plants though so no worries.
Dear Fern,
Yes, I have killed off several plants. My apt. has a balcony on a corner which gets sun and wind. None of my plants is ever in a very big container, so they tend to dry out. Missing a day or two of watering by getting too busy has caused my casualties of plants. I still buy plants, though, and now am starting things from seed. This has its own perils….meaning the critters that eat young shoots. But I love to garden on my balcony and love your site.
I am not sure these really count as PLANTS per se, but I voted 2 because my cactus cuttings never did root and they are dead, dead, dead.
Zero for me. It’s still a tad on the early side out here on the east coast. Give us a month or so, and we’ll be more in the (unintentional) killing zone….
I’m pretty sure I’m about to loose all my seedlings. We had to vacate our house quickly and move into a hotel – where the seedlings would not have been welcome. There was no weening for them sadly. They spent Saturday, their first day outdoors, braving tornado warnings winds, torrential rains followed by a sweltering heat. If any of these puppies make it I’m harvesting ALL their seeds.
I’m counting one because someone abandoned a poinsetta near the trash and I tried to rescue it; I failed.
I have a couple more indoor plants that had a very hard winter, but I’m hoping they will perk up and recover so I didn’t count those.
I just bought some new window boxes and soil and seeds, but no planting outside until after Mother’s Day here (and even that is a little bit chancy!), except for the lettuce, which since it likes colder weather (from what I’ve read – I haven’t planted lettuce before!) I think I can get away with trying to start that this weekend. I just painted a wooden grape box this weekend after I was inspired by your wine box project to do so and that’s where my lettuce will go. Yippee!
@Serena Holy cow, I hope you are all OK!! And also your plants – indeed, if they survived, those babies should be counted as super-varieties!
Somehow I killed my cactus which has to be a pretty pathetic feat!
I’ve done a marvelous job at killing plants so far this year! I killed a flat of Eva purple ball heirloom tomato seedlings, some Amish paste tomato seedlings, and several varieties of peppers, basil, leeks, and other herbs. What I have going for me is the whole Darwin thing, though. If they are tough enough to survive until transplant, they’ll be the strongest of the lot. And if not, they make good compost!
My cat dug up a whole pot of radish seedlings yesterday. But in her defense I left the window open. ….knowing she can’t resist a pot of dirt. BLARGGHhghghhh
Lost 2 this year during a freak snowstorm superbowl weekend (Fort Worth). Apparently basil and sage don’t like extremes : / Bringing them inside for a week seems to have done more damage than leaving them out might have! Luckily, the rest of the pile is just fine!
(The sage isn’t technically dead, but it looks awful and isn’t getting better with care and warmer weather… may have to sacrifice and replace lol. Can plants be undead? Zombie sage…)
Well as of today I have to officially vote 1 … my young French Tarragon I was so proud of this year succumbed to injuries sustained in last weekends storms on the Virginia peninsula
( I guess I’ll have to go see if I can find a new one this weekend 
(
Oh no! So sorry Ali! Glad you’re safe though. That storm sounded scary!
I lost some baby tomato seedlings when I transplanted too early, and I lost some pepper seedlings the same way. Miraculously, that is all so far… cross your fingers, because I’m a little new at this!!
I knocked over a tray of lettuces. I also killed a basil plant, but that’s nothing new. Basil hates me.
I’m still waiting for my mint from last year to come up. If they don’t come up, you can put me down for killing 3 plants.
i haven’t planted anything outside yet because it’s still getting below 0 at night…but i didn’t know at first that you shouldn’t plant..it’s a good thing i checked before i started!! i was going to seed grass in this one area i’m redoing. that wouldn’t have gone so well!
I voted for one because I haven’t killed any so far this year but I am respectfully requesting more time. I live in the northeast and growing season hasn’t really started. I am sure I can catch up to whoever is in first place by end of June.
Not that many yet, but it’s still pretty early in the season.. haha. On another note, do you have any tips for dealing with soil gnats? They are driving me bonkers. I even tried putting a quarter of a mosquito dunk in my watering can (tip I read about elsewhere), but it doesn’t seem to be helping that much.
Nothing killed yet but the year is still young!
I’m excited about building an herb and flower garden on my balcony thanks to your site. Starting with some cilantro, hot peppers (but just realized those are a 1 time deal), mint and spearmint. Can’t wait.
thanks for a lovely site.
I’ve killed quite a few purple petra basil seedlings and a handful of zinnias. My lovely cat has also done a nice job of killing a few chives and cuc seedlings. Guess we’ll see the survival of the fittest! It snowed here this week and I’m eager to get them all outside!!
Technically none, though rather a lot of cuttings have not taken. I think the soil I was using had too much clay and not enough sand, so the pots were waterlogged. I have transplanted 15 pumpkins, 7 tomatoes and 8 chili plants that grew in the compost heap as bonus extra plants, so I reckon that puts me in credit up to 30 unfortunate plant deaths, should they occur! The hot weather is about to start here in Hong Kong and its my first summer gardening on our roof terrace, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I’ve been keeping records of what plants I’ve bought for 10 years and have recently been entering them into Dave’s Garden Journal ( It’s public…look for suewylan) It’s horrifying how many have not survived, and I’ve almost regretted keeping track this way.
The most shameful is when you buy the plants, then just let them sit on the patio until they die. Cruel!
Sue–Actually I think you and I know what a lot of beginning gardeners don’t know: LOTS of plants die.
The only reason I haven’t killed any plants yet is quite simply because I haven’t planted anything this year.
With planning a wedding and never being home I decided to forgo the balcony garden this year. When I get back from my honeymoon I may just plant some flowers since the weather is pretty good year round in california.
(Love the blog!)
Too funny. I didn’t vote as I killed them all in 2010 and not brave enough to start more this year. Well, guess I could count the paper whites I always grow in December and then oops, we now travel to visit our kids for the holidays and forgot to take them to a neighbor’s house. Oh my …
Aww, don’t let last year’s mistakes keep you from gardening this year, Tina!
I don’t kill plants. I let them go dormant permanently. ::Snicker::
I lost a load of seedlings – three cucumbers and lots of tomatoes – thanks to a vicious frost and non double-glazed windows. I assumed my seedlings would be safe inside on a windowsill but they weren’t strong enough to cope. Managed to salvage enough that I’ve still got good potential crops though. And I’ve found peas to be wonderfully forgiving – they were even fruiting while they were still in yoghurt pots prior to planting out. I figure that it’s part of the process – half of them would have been thinned out anyway. Still sad to lose any of them at all though. I like having a nice stash of extra seedlings for seedling swaps
I killed a Rosemary bush. A nice big one. I moved it (twice). It did not like that. At all.
Definitely between 5 and 10… So far I’m doing ok with the balcony plants and seedlings, but I keep neglegting my indoor babies – and I confess there have been numerous casualties already this year.
I don’t know if it technically counts as me killing them, but I had a flat of heirloom tomato seedlings, a flat of green pepper seedlings, and some marigold seedlings that I had started indoors, and my “Innocent Kitty” decided she wanted to eat the leaves off of each and every one of them. So, I guess you can put me down for around 70+. You didn’t have a button for that many though. lol.
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