Plants and My Black Thumb

So I am on a mission... plants! I have the blackest thumb there ever was. I cannot keep plants alive... I can't get a garden to thrive. So I am on a mission to figure out what I'm doing wrong. So the past couple of months I have been tracking some things. I coincided it with a unit on plants for homeschooling with oldest dude. So we have had some fun with it.

Back during the Christmas season, I mentioned how on every black Friday I go to Home Depot and load up on poinsettias that they mark down super cheap. I love decorating with them every year so I buy at least a handful. I try to water and keep up maintaining them. But every year they only last till about mid January. Well this year I was able to keep two alive! One though, we took apart so the kids could examine the parts of the plant especially the root in the soil. But I have one going strong... and it is April!!

A few years ago we set up a raised garden to grow some vegetables. The only successful thing I grew was squash, which apparently is the easiest thing to grow lol. So we scrapped that. I couldn't get the soil to the combination it needed to be. I have tried growing herbs on my windowsill. Failed miserably. So this year I am trying container gardening.

squash seeds going strong!

parsley...basil...mint..and cilantro coming in under there... the mint is doing so well...I guess I need to get to drinking more mojitos!

The boys and I planted various things. Some from seed others already planted. I always see these ideas of replanting an existing vegetable to start a new plant. So we are trying that too.

a sweet potato about three weeks ago

it has now rooted and started flowering...i'll be planting it now so lets see how it turns out

I also bought a citronella plant... you know .. to ward off the mosquitoes that like to ravage us... whether it works or not is still to be determined. 

 We did the green house effect on a bean and have been pleasantly surprised with how much it grew.

all of that from a tiny little bean

We did some arts and crafts and reading up on plants.

this was a random book I came across at the library... i am going to end up buying it. It is so good!

We also took a trip to our local botanical gardens. Its so pretty! Our allergies kicked into high gear but the boys enjoyed it. I gave my oldest my point and shoot camera and let him explore and take pictures on his own. He did a pretty good job...here are some of his shots.

So any tips or advice on gardening would be appreciated... or just positive growing vibes.. Its pretty cool because I am learning right along with my little dudes while I try to turn my black thumb green. Thanks for following along.