Skip to main content

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Happy accident

Captain's Log, Stardate 04.29.2008

Okay, confession time: I have a black thumb. Don’t believe me? Here’s what’s left of the cyclamen that Captain Caffeine gave me for my birthday.




I have come to realize that the only plants I can’t kill are the ones that I don’t even bother to try to keep alive.

For example, my lavender is flourishing. Although considering how hard it is to kill lavender, maybe that’s not a good example. After all, lavender can grow from just tossing some cuttings on the ground, because you can plant the stems and they’ll root.

Anyway, my gladiolas correction: bearded irises (thanks, Ausjenny!) are flourishing this year. Why? I have no clue. They are my “happy accident” plants.

Here is the key to my keeping plants alive—I can’t have been given them, bought them, or planted them. I didn’t plant the gladiolas—they were growing in the yard when we bought the house, and I could tell they weren’t weeds, so I told Captain Caffeine not to mow it down.

I watered it when I remembered to. Nothing happened all year (we bought the house in February). Then the following March, I had one stalk with two small flowers.

They seem to like my sporadic watering, because they’ve gotten more bulbs and lots more flowers, after almost eight years.



How about you? Any gardening/plant-killing stories?

Comments

Ausjenny said…
Oh Camy the bulbs at the bottom are actually bearded Iris's. but they look good.
I have them in my garden but they dont flower. some of the accidental ones are one called watsonia. they are bulbs you cant kill.
Dont give up on the cyclamen. just dont water it to much. it doesn't like that.
indoor plants everyone we have had has died.
april penny said…
I think plants only have to see me once and they immediately curl up and die.

My husband had a plant that had been his grandmother's, and it had been alive and flourishing under his care for a number of years. We got married and a couple months later, the plant died.

Someone gave me one of those long vine-y plants once when I moved into a new apartment and told me it was impossible to kill, and even someone like me could keep it alive...

I killed it too.
Denice Stewart said…
I just blogged about this very topic yesterday. I am with you, Camy. I can't keep plants alive, indoors or outdoors, so I don't bother anymore.

But we have to have landscaping in front of our house as part of the neighborhood covenant we signed when we built the house last fall.

We are going to a nursery to talk to the experts about what plants I won't be able to destroy.
www.dcstewart.blogspot.com
Carole said…
Same as you, Camy. Although my grandmother had the gift, any plant I touch dies - and it doesn't take very long either. I've gone to silk flower arrangements in the house, and have even considered purchasing silk-flower hanging baskets for outside.

But my husband is very good with flowers. He planted daffodil and tulip bulbs as my Christmas gift, and I've enjoyed them outside my desk window all spring. Next he'll do bedding plants for Mother's Day. I condider these the perfect gift.
Camy Tang said…
Thanks, Jenny! I will definitely take your advice. And thanks for clearing up what those flowers are--I just assumed they were gladiolas, but now I'm glad I know for sure what they really are.

Thanks also, guys, for letting me know I am not the only serial plant murderer on the planet. :)

Camy
Grateful Gramma said…
The irises are beautiful, Camy! Glads have a similar stem but have several blooms up and down the same stem.

I had several different colored irises but, for some reason, they all appear to have died. They haven't bloomed this year but last year all I had was the standard light purple. Pretty, but I had some beautiful colors....
Ausjenny said…
I really love your bearded iris's and wonder what i need to not do to get mine to flower. a neighbour gave me them and said hers always flower. today she asked if i feed them!
NO i guess that may help.
I do have 520 tulip bulbs to plant. will do that sometime in may.
Oh cyclemens will lose there leaves and look dead just leave it somewhere cool or in the shade dont worry about watering it to much in summer. the end of summer early autumn you will see leaves coming back and then water but try not to water the bulb. We have one mum got for her birthday 2 years ago and i would have sworn we killed it last year but its looking so healthy at the moment lovely leaves (if i can stop mum over watering)
Oh Mum had wonderful carnations only she cant garden anymore and someone didn't water them as we are in our 3rd year of drought they died.
Fedora said…
The black thumb of death lives at our house, too! We have a gardener come a couple times a month to try to stave off the destruction outside the house, and we have one plant inside that has survived our care so far. One. The rest have succumbed and are desperately trying to warn off their friends ;)
Anonymous said…
What do you know--as I cleaned my kitchen today, I realized I had a dead plant sitting on the counter.

Sigh.
Lara said…
Camy - I'm right there with you! The only plants I could ever reliably keep alive were violets. And for a while I had several. Then after I had my first child I decided to do them in (the violets). I reasoned that I couldn't be expected to care for both a baby and the plants, so I neglected them to the extreme. It took a while, but they finally croaked. As for the baby...she just turned nine!
Camy Tang said…
Violets were the very first plant I ever killed. :(
Camy
Want to hear a REAL black thumb moment? I actually really enjoy gardening and my vegetable seedlings are all coming along very nicely, as are the hanging baskets of variety blue flowers.

I had repotted a beautiful green plant (I don't actually know any of the plant names...) and put it in my home office.

As the weather turned cooler here (Australia) I started cleaning out the fireplace and set a fire blazing. This is an old cast iron fireplace that is incredibly dangerous and gets super heated.

Anyway, there I am, enjoying the warmth and crackle of the first fire of the year and there is my poor potted green plant MELTING! The pot was on the bricking beside the fireplace and the poor leaves were blackened by the heat, the soil was devoid of moisture and even the pot itself was second-degree-burn-style hot.

The poor plant is still trying to recover. I've moved him well away from the fire to a bright spot under a window where I can give it regular TLC. I don't think he'll ever be the same but hopefully I can bring him back from the brink of death.
Camy Tang said…
LOL! Somebody send the plant patrol to Rebecca's house for endangerment of potted plants.
Camy
glee said…
Camy,

I have two cyclamen in my backyard and I wrote to the company I bought them from the first year I had them because they sprouted but then seemed to die. They patiently explained to me that cyclamen are cool weather flowers and they look dead in the warmer months (as well as in the dead of winter.) They urged me to be calm and just let them lie dormant in the summer. Sure enough, when fall came, they sprouted new leaves and flowers and everything!

Depending on where you live, yours may be okay, too. Just keep them protected from the sun and keep the dirt moist. They will probably rejuvenate on their own when your weather cools off again!
Camy Tang said…
Thanks, glee! That makes me feel better. I probably shouldn't water them so often, too.
Camy
Unknown said…
Hiya Camy!

You're yellow bearded irises are lovely.

As for having a black thumb, my sister actually killed one of those miniature cactus which is apparently indestructible until they come under her care!

hehe, so yeah, I understand all about that!!

Popular Posts

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Camille's Writing Progress

Join my newsletter to get regular updates in your inbox!

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Captivating, chapter 3

Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.30.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is CONSIDER LILY by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. My Thursday book giveaway is LOVE ONLINE by Kristin Billerbeck and Nancy Toback . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for CONSIDER LILY and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Haunted by a Question: Sorry, this is really long again. As before, some things I liked and some questions. Eve—What Happened? The authors say: “[Eve] brought strength to the world, but not a striving, sharp-edged strength. She was inviting, alluring, captivating.” I don’t know if I buy that. I don’t know if I really see how being inviting, alluring, or captivating is a strength. I understand how restfulness (restful inner beauty?) can be a strength, or solidity like a rock. To me, that’s strength. But being alluring? Captivating? Then they talk about “Why do so few wom

Keriah's Narrow Crescent Scarf

In my series Lady Wynwood’s Spies, my character Keriah is more emotional than her friend Phoebe, and so when writing about her in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 6: Martyr , naturally I described her scarf as having more lively colors than the greens and blues that Phoebe favors. I didn’t really have a particular yarn colorway in mind when I wrote the scene, but when looking through my stash to knit her scarf, I found the Carnival colorway in Knit Picks Chroma Twist Fingering, and it was absolutely perfect for her. Chroma Twist Fingering is discontinued, but you could knit this in Chroma Fingering or any other color-transitional yarn. In the Regency era, a tri-color 3-ply yarn like Chroma Twist Fingering would probably not have been sold in shops, but it also may not have been completely unheard of. It is made by simply dying the wool rather than the finished yarn, and then the dyed wool would be split into 3 parts and each part spun into a single ply, before all three plies

Knitted Bible cover

Captain’s Log, Stardate 04.24.2007 Yup, I’m at it again. My new Bible needs a cover, and one of my youth group kids suggested I knit one. This was a great idea because I wanted a cover that was pink and fuzzy. Isn’t it awesome? I used 7 types of eyelash yarn for the stripes. I knitted the cover with one strand of eyelash yarn held together with one strand of worsted weight acrylic yarn, and I did a simple garter stitch. I made a mistake and the cover ended up too long, so I had to fold the edges over. I also made the inside sections with two strands of worsted weight yarn, but I should have used just one strand because it’s a bit bulky. However, on a whole, I’m pretty pleased with it. What do you guys think?

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Free ebooks - Clean Romance

Sign up for these authors’ newsletters and get free books! Click on the graphic to check out all the free books. You might find a new favorite author! Cupid's Library Escape