Shoulda, woulda, coulda.  That's my gardening oops this month.  Here at joene's garden, the first of each month is Gardening oops -  GOOPs for short – Day. On GOOPs day, I fess up one of my gardening blunders in the hopes that you might avoid a GOOPs of your own after reading one of mine.  I figure we all learn from our mistakes, and often from mistakes of others.  So why not share our mistakes with each other and, therefore, enhance everyone's overall chance to learn.

This month I present a cared for but not nourished basil plant I brought inside last fall before frost.  Yes, I watered it regularly, and gave it as much natural light as possible, but you can see it did some serious toward-the-sun leaning .  I shoulda picked more of its leaves.  I woulda enjoyed their  flavor in tomato sauce or on a home made pizza.  I coulda done this had I paid a little more attention.  But I didn't, and last week when I noticed tiny white specks on its leaves, I knew that aphids had hatched.  I shoulda and coulda given my tender herbal companion regular bi-weekly showers to stave off any budding aphid infestations.  Had I done this I might have been able to keep the aphids at bay.  But I didn't.  I have a pretty strict policy of banishing any small, replaceable plant from the house when aphids take hold.  I've tried fighting serious infestations in winter's past and it's not anything I choose to do again … I never seem to win the battle.  So when the aphids moved in, the basil moved out.  Here it is, on the front porch on a relatively warm January day – temperatures in the high 30's F.  The plant did remarkably well for the first few hours, then quickly drooped as night time fell.  By morning it was dead, aphids and all.

Caring for plants, just like caring for any other aspect of life, requires vigilance … sometimes more and sometimes less.  At times, growing plants also means making tough choices, like banishing one to never-never land.  Gardening, real gardening, means making mistakes.  Joining in on GOOPs day means admitting some of these mistakes.  Here you have yet another of mine, and the chance to share any mistake you've made in a comment below.  If you choose to share your GOOPs on your own blog, I'm thrilled.  Just leave a teaser in a comment below, along with your link, and anyone who reads here can pay you a visit too.

And if you really thrive on delve into past mistakes take a look at GOOPs – Gardening Oops for all the gritty details.  Here's hoping my GOOPs do not become yours.