Gardenageddon!

She looks so capable, doesn't she?


This morning, Stephanie, Erin, and I picked out a tomato plant (left) and a red bell pepper plant (right). Stephanie--in her soft, soothing voice--asked the farmers how to best care for her new charges.

After visiting the market, we picked up soil and pots for these new victims--er, plants. She pulled out the Miracle Gro, and she watered them. She arranged her tomato and pepper plants on the balcony so they would get enough sun to survive the spring.

Such tenderness, right?

However, we must not forget Stephanie's sordid gardening past:


That used to be a basil plant.


And this used to be a pot of flowers. ("What kind of flowers?" I asked. "You know, the kind from graduation," she said. "I think. I don't know.")


One of these used to be a bamboo plant. The other--well, we don't know what that other poor plant used to be.

Stephanie allowed her spearmint plant to live.


But what kind of a life is this?

I can only hope these new plants survive. After all, thriving tomato and bell pepper plants mean delicious salads in the summer. Right now, she gazes at the balcony, at these fresh plants--and I can believe for one shining moment she means well.