Gardening Woes

Sadly, I've been over-watering my plumeria, having fallen prey to the common misconception that the plumeria is a tropical plant. It is not, in fact, a tropical plant, and, as it turns out, one of the worst things that you can do to it is over-water. Sigh. I will cease watering immediately, but it may already be too late.

In other news, having long been annoyed by the monstrous size of the Italian oregano growing in our planter boxes (where, at some point during the late winter/early spring, it oozed this weird foamy white stuff resembling soap suds), we moved the shrubs to a spot "outside the fence": our phrase for the small portion of our land that lies - you guessed it - outside of the fenced-in portion of the back yard. "Outside the fence" is a rather desolate zone with loose, gravelly soil that has yet to host much life. It is our flora Siberia. We've been trying, however, with some small success, to convert it to a more flourishing region. So far the Lilies of the Nile and tiger orchids that we've planted are still alive, if not exactly vibrant. The bougainvilla* has gone from looking like a dead branch to sporting leaves. And the oregano, despite our none-to-gentle handling, seems to be settling into its new home. So maybe we will transform Siberia yet.

* Have just learned that bougainvilla, although also looking deceptively tropical, should not be over-watered. Damn.