Taking care of a garden

Many of you are aware that I actually have a tiny pot garden. I mean tiny. I have a pink to yellow tree rose, a tall grafted Fuchsia that I am struggling to deal with it’s diva behavior as a plant, and a little hydrangea who actually is a true champ. I really had to research how to care for it. These plants actually talk to you. If a hydrangea is thirsty, it will wilt, but within an hour of watering it will perk up. It was an amazing thing to see.

Now, I’ve had to cut it back and dead head many of the branches which were producing green blossoms, but after I transplanted it into a new pot with better quality soil and some additives, it’s been doing much better.

Things I’ve been using:

• Coffee grounds — I take the coffee grounds from our maker and spread it around the base of the plant and water once s a week using the grounds. It helps make the soil acidic, but this doesn’t seem to harm my plant and has actually promoted lots of these new sprouts.
• Rabbit puffs — Since I have a bunny, the best fertilizer comes free. Bunny poop is by far the best fertilizer you could ever get from a pet. (Do not use feces from your cat or dog. It does not break down the same way) I spread this in the pot once a week when I clean her cage. I, of course, separate the pellets from the litter since I use pine pellet litter in her pan.

My next plan of action is to add some aluminum into the soil as different metals in the soil actually affect the color of the blooms I am going to get, except in the case of a pure white hydrangea which will never change colors. Some older whites may get red blooms, but I have a multi-colored mop head breed and so I can actually help influence what color my little buddies are going to be. It’s fantastic!