December 2, 2011Free tillandsia Friday!
Mixing up Free Book Friday with some groovy garden items perfect for gift giving this year is this tiny tillandsia drop mounted on stone and ready to hang near a sunny window, on the patio, even on the holiday tree. Wear it as a necklace too, the pendant measures 1-inch by 1.5-inches tall.
To win it, leave a comment about the plant you loved more than anything but killed none-the-less. A winner will be chosen at random, eyes closed, pinkie promise.
Last weeks winner of the burden cloth: Maureen O’Brien. Yay!
Courtney Bettle says:
I loved my little green succulent. I was told they are impossible to kill, but after 9 months of struggling to water properly it was all stress hairs and not the last little bit of green fell drammatically to the carpet.
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 8:45 am.
rob says:
My favorite plant that i love the most but have killed???
I am trying my darndest to not to do this exact thing is the Plumeria i brought back (legally) from Maui…..
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 8:48 am.
Taylor says:
Every year I try to grow basil from seed. And ever year, once it gets about three inches high, it just dies! I always end up buying an established plant.
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 8:48 am.
courtney says:
oh, i still remember the five orchids i bought on clearance on my birthday, totally dedicated to keeping them alive in my cold, winter house. one by one, over the course of a few months, i killed them all… it was so sad. since then i’ve read up on orchids and about a year ago bought four and have only killed one!
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 9:11 am.
Julie says:
I was given a beautiful fern and it lasted for almost a year but then it died.
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 9:29 am.
Sarah E says:
I loved the world’s most beautiful little jade plant. I keep succulents on my patio year round - in Texas it’s usually not a problem, until last year’s hard freeze. I moved it to the closet for a week to escape the cold and avoid destruction by the cat. It turned white, crumpled, and died. Heartbroken, to say the least.
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 10:03 am.
Shelley Kuhlmann says:
I had an orchid that I just loved and tried to keep it alive and it was for about a year then it died not sure what was wrong with it
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 10:29 am.
Rachel says:
The plant that I most regret killing…..my poor bonsai tree :(
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 10:38 am.
Grace says:
For my birthday my boyfriend bought me a bonsai as we wandered through China Town searching for good dim sum. I had always wanted a bonsai of my own, but moving 8 times in 18 months and bouncing around less rapidly before that meant that I wasn’t a fit parent for plant or animal. I watered it, fed it, and set it in the sunniest window of a dark house (north-facing). Nevertheless, it died. I researched but I still don’t know what happened. All it’s leaves shriveled and dropped off. Unwilling to toss it, I set it outside with my container herb garden. Three months later I noticed that the very top was sprouting fresh leaves. My bonsai is now fully back to life, though it’s lower branches are now all completely bare. It looks like a twisty trunk with a green hat. Perhaps there is hope for me yet.
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 10:45 am.
natasha says:
I just actually killed my tillandsia which is the third one this year….
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 11:42 am.
Melissa E says:
Definitely my bonsai tree I had when I was a teenager. I thought it was so cool, but I was a dumb kid and just put it in a terribly lit place and never remembered to water it (basically just didn’t think of it as a real, living thing). It could have still been alive today (and possibly a hundred years from now), and it makes me feel guilty just thinking about it.
Posted on November 30, 2011 at 12:26 pm.
Wehaf says:
For the life of me, I cannot grow green peppers, even though they’re delicious. My tomato and basil do fine, but the peppers are not to be, it seems.
Posted on November 30, 2011 at 6:19 pm.
jess s says:
My worst torment is a family who loves peppers - roasted, blended into soup, pickled, made into hot sauce, stuffed, etc - and living in the Pacific Northwest. Oh, some peppers will grow here, but it’s difficult, and we compost more rotten ones than we successfully harvest. :(
Posted on December 1, 2011 at 10:12 am.
Aimee says:
Anthyriums. Supposed to be easy to care for, completely gorgeous, and yet I can’t keep them alive.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:29 am.
Stacy says:
I had a beautiful African Violet and forgot to move it to safety when I had the house fumigated. I didn’t fair well with the toxic poisoning. :(
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:33 am.
Maryann says:
I love gardenias but every-time I get a bush it dies and I can’t figure out why!
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:35 am.
Norma Y. says:
I love maidenhair ferns but always kill them. Can’t remember how many I bought, but it’s been lots. Hope springs eternal.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:36 am.
Susi Torre-Bueno says:
Gardenias! I adore them, carried them as a bride, and never fail to lean over for a whiff when I see them for sale. So far I’ve killed about 12 of them in the last 20 years or so - altho I’ve had great success with virtually everything else I try to grow, honest!
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:46 am.
candy jennings says:
I LOVE the CA native lilacene verbena sp? - smells delightful, looks great in the garden - but everytime I cut one back (which I’m told is what you’re suppose to do in the fall) it dies. Lucky for me, they are easier to find at nurseries now-a-days! 
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:48 am.
Patricia says:
Tillsandia! Yes, but I did manage, without half trying, to kill it. I thought I followed instructions, but no matter what, it died. I will try again.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:56 am.
mary paulsen says:
I love Japanese Maples. Maybe I have never found the right spot with the perfect soil, but I have yet to successfully grow one. Now when I see them at the nursery I close my purse and keep my money. Lesson learned well through experience.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:00 am.
Kathie Burns says:
A friend gave me this beautiful orchid when she came to visit. I even went to a session on caring for orchids at a local nursery. I still managed to kill it. Then I had to tell my friend what happened. No more orchids for me !
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:03 am.
Laura Blumberg says:
I had a beautiful poinsettia that I planted in a hanging pot on my patio. It was going great and looking beautiful way past Christmas, even all through spring. But has hard as I tried, it just couldn’t make it through the hot summer. I’m not giving up using them on my patio for the holidays, I just don’t expect them to still be there come July!
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:05 am.
Susan Fortune says:
Dioscorea elephantipes. I feel so guilty…
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:07 am.
Ellen B. says:
I have killed my culinary bay tree!
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:17 am.
Connie Beck says:
I teach gardening which makes it really embarassing to have killed 3 Fremontodendrons so far….either by overwatering or (once) underwatering. I’ve given up on that one.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:18 am.
Regina says:
I have killed ‘Kent’s Beauty’ and ornamental oregano a ton of times. Sheesh
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 10:13 am.
senoritafish says:
I admired a friend of friends succulent call “Dancing Bones” (also known as “Drunkard’s DreaM” because of it’s bottle shaped joints) and she gave me a small potted one. It was doing wonderfully and even growing on my patio until I decided it must need repotting because it kept tipping over. This combined with some neglect on my part (my father became ill and passed away) caused me to find a very unhappy cactus later; despite my trying to save it, it dried up and died. Very sad because it was really unique and unusual - I feel like I betrayed this person’s trust because her potted plants are always immaculate. <:(
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 10:14 am.
cynthia stetson says:
Good morning,
I have never had one of these to grow. Have always been intrigued with their beauty.
Thank you
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 10:42 am.
Cindy says:
I’ve managed to kill a number of things… a Japanese maple, a coffee tree, several varieties of orchids. But the one I regret the most is the cacao clipping my daughter gave me from the conservatory she works at. The parent tree is one of their original plants, over 100 years old.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 11:44 am.
Nicky @dirtandmartinis says:
I have never been able to keep a Boston fern alive :(
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 12:04 pm.
Karen E. says:
I love all types of succulents and normally have good success with them, but for some reason I can’t keep String of Pearls alive. This “bums me out” because I think it is a really interesting plant!
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 12:41 pm.
Donna Ross says:
I love String of Pearls but I never can keep one alive. I know next time I hear one calling my name i will try again - I hope that one won’t be a gonner.
:o)
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 1:46 pm.
Marj Myers says:
I love live Christmas trees so I bought one last year and it is already dead. Back to imitation, again. Hope I win the plant, would make a great gift for my husband who not only collects them, keeps them alive…
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 1:49 pm.
Sheri Swall says:
Although I have a small greenhouse,I have killed many a plant. I started with a full greenhouse of Orchids, then to geraniums and pelargoniums and now cacti and succulants. But the most I have killed and the hardest for me to grow seem to be the african violet. Actually they are impossible for me to keep alive. I look at them funny and they wilt and die! But the plant that I loved the most and killed had to be an orchid on a stick that I had. It was so beautiful when I got it and took care of it. Then I got sick and forgot about it and it died!
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 2:31 pm.
Jen Su says:
Despite having a somewhat green thumb when it comes to outdoor plants, I seem to have lost my ability to keep houseplants alive since I got a place with a backyard garden to tend to. My current favorites are prayer plant and iron cross begonia, but I’m not buying any more of them until I can pay more attention to them. I love air plants 
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 2:46 pm.
Carol says:
I really miss my redbud tree! I used to hang ornaments from it during Christmas and Easter, but it’s gone now. When I dug it out, I found a broken sprinkler, which murdered it.It’s nice to have a place to air our grievances . . .
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 5:07 pm.
Denise says:
Three 15-gal sized Cupressus Macrocarpa ‘Goldcrest.’ Just felt awful. Figured out they do not like to be planted in August against a wall with radiated heat.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 5:41 pm.
Gaillie says:
I was given a beautiful gardenia tree shaped plant by a dear friend when my Dad passed away but was unable to keep it alive and healthy for very long despite my efforts to find its happy place…...so sad.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:16 pm.
Linda Genis says:
I love matilija poppies, but I killed mine with kindness - aka too much water. Now I just enjoy seeing them when I visit Santa Barbara.
Posted on December 2, 2011 at 9:28 pm.
Judy Sundermann says:
I’ve killed all the plants mentioned above even though I think I’m a good gardener. Hasn’t anybody killed a Christmas Cactus? It was happy for several years, and then bit the dust.
Posted on December 3, 2011 at 6:38 pm.
RSS Feed
Kylee Baumle says:
I loved the Passiflora ‘Lady Margaret’ and tried three times to keep one alive. No clue why this particular one eludes me, but it does!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Posted on November 29, 2011 at 8:16 am.