Garening and Me Questionnaire

Took this off of Playing in the Dirt's blog.
1. Why did you start gardening?
I started gardening because I have a strange fascination with plants. After visiting the Botanical Gardens and suddenly opening my eyes to the world I fell in love. It's something I always wanted to get into but never did. After doing some reading and browsing online I realized this could be the rest of my life and I would be forever happy

2. Do you remember the first thing you ever planted in a garden?
Well the first thing I planted as a houseplant in my apartment was curly locks ivy. After that on my balcony it was either my weeping dwarf crape myrlte, pampas grass, or corkscrew vine. The pampas grass is gone now because well it's HUGE!!!

3. Everyone goes through the Crazy Newbie Gardener thing: tell us about one of the silly overzealous things you did then:
The most overzealous silly thing I did was buy pampas grass seeds and plant them in a planter on my balcony. That was back in the days when I didn't know squat about gardening. I thought "Oh that plant looks interesting and it's good for zone 8. Cool I'll buy it". Not even taking into account how high it got or anything else.

4. Favorite plants: what was your first favorite plant, and is it still your favorite? Do you have favorites that come and go, but one all-time favorite that you've always loved, no matter what?
I've always had a heart for ivies. To me that ivy covered building is my dream house. If I could just keep on buying ivies for my apartment I would. I just don't buy them anymore because I am in love with the curly locks ivy that I just keep cutting and rooting and getting new plants from. My new favorite is dianthus. Those frilly fringe flowers are great and I love their foliage too! I have many favorites. I'm always wanting vines vines vines.

5. What's your favorite gardening or yardwork chore?
My favorite is potting plants. I like to dig the holes plop and cover. Anything that is repetitive but does not require great strength since I'm a weakling currently.

6. And your least favorite?
Anything that requires arm muscle. My arms do not have muscle.

7. If a Magical Garden Genie granted you three wishes right now, what would you wish for?
I would wish for a home with a large yard. Right now I just garden on my balcony in containers. What I would do to have a yard. Next I would wish for endless amounts of money to spend on plants and all the things that are need like fertilizer and soil and pots. Lastly I would wish that whatever plant I wanted would grow where I put it and in my zone and thrive.

8. You have ten dollars left to your name, and you get to spend it at a nursery. What do you buy?
A flowering tree. I would buy a flowering tree because it would be something that would last me many years and grow to great heights. If I bought just any old plant those precious 10 dollars would be gone in a year or two.

9. Tell us about one thing you learned about gardening in the past year:
I learn tons about gardening in the past year. I went from knowing nothing at all to knowing enough to sound like I've been gardening for a while. The most valuable thing I learned was to buy plants that will work in what you got. Don't try to pretend they won't grow or that you will prune them to the size you want.

10. Will you be trying anything new this year? A plant you haven't grown before, or a new technique?
I'm sure I'll be trying many new things. I would like to purchase more plants but really I don't have much more space for any new plants. I would like to try and learn even more and more and more everyday. I'll be making lists of seeds and plants I want for next year though so I won't go on spontaneity. It's better to look for something that I know will survive then hope will survive. I'm sure I'll learn many new things and techniques and try new things when I do my internship.