A Simple Lesson from My Gardening Failure Also Applies to Life

Inside: Growth requires the right food. And not just for my favorite red impatiens. ~

I love container gardens featuring the tried-and-true “thriller, filler, spiller” design, but year after year, I find myself filling most—if not all—my flowerpots and planters with red impatiens.

I am a creature of habit, and red is my favorite color. More than that, though, I just like how these annuals look.

In the strawberry planter on my porch. In the cracked concrete birdbath that I turned into a flower pot. In the rock with a hollow just big enough for one starter plant from a cell pack. And in what I call my “step planter” on the side of my house, which used to be the back step out to our patio.

In the past, I could go to the local hardware store and get a flat of 50 red impatiens each spring. The store stopped selling my favorite annuals in this format a few years ago, so now I embark on the hunt for red impatiens in early May.

This year, after coming up short at three stores, I finally found healthy looking eight-packs at Home Depot. I planted them in all my favorite containers and started watering regularly.

After a few weeks, I noticed that the impatiens on my porch and backyard pots were growing well, but the ones in the step planter along the side of my house were not.

What Went Wrong?

I couldn’t figure it out. The plants all came from the same place. They were all getting the same amount of water and were growing in the proper amount of shade. So what was wrong? Why were some thriving and other struggling?

One day, the answer finally occurred to me. I had used fresh potting soil in the pots, but I had just dug out the old roots and added a small bit of new soil to the step planter.

The old soil looked fine. Despite years of experience that cautioned me otherwise, I thought it would be OK.

It wasn’t.

By then, it was too late to buy more impatiens and start over with fresh soil. Instead, I bought some Miracle-Gro fertilizer and began using it on the puny annuals in the step planter. A few weeks later, they were thriving too.

Turns out, growth requires the right food.

Not just for impatiens, of course. This principle applies to so many situations and conditions, it’s hard to know where to start.

Life Application

I don’t think there’s a supplement for everything. But sometimes, our lack of energy or endurance has an obvious (and maybe even simple) solution.

More sleep and less sugar or caffeine. Apples and avocados instead of chips and Coke. An evening walk instead of 30 extra minutes of scrolling.

If the malaise is more spiritual or emotional, the antidote could include a few moments of prayer. A chapter or two of scripture. A face-to-face conversation with a loved one. Reading a good book instead of the aforementioned scrolling.

I’m not trying to minimize or over spiritualize or toss out pat answers. We often face complex problems that require patience, outside help, wisdom from above or perhaps all of the above.

But sometimes, as I discovered with my impatiens, different soil really does produce different results.

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Have you ever gotten disappointing results only to realize you had overlooked or forgotten a simple step or remedy? Please share in the comments.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with InstaEncouragements and Let’s Have Coffee.