Succulents, a Fountain... and Murder!

Remember the post wherein I revealed that I am a murderer?

(A plant murderer that is.)

It was in that same post that I professed my love for succulents.

(Because I can't kill them.)

(And that makes me feel good about myself.  I don't actually aspire to be a murderer, you know.)

In light of these revelations, I need some advice.  Sitting in the back corner of our garden is this:

And when it's working properly, it is positively lovely.  

As I sit at my "desk" doing my work (no, not the murdering; that's more of a hobby), I can look out upon it and enjoy the pleasant sound of water flowing from its concrete tiers.

As you've probably already guessed, the key words here are when it's working properly.  Because the other 90% of the time, that sucker is nothing more than a giant cement eyesore.  

Which is why I am trying to convince my husband that we should do this:

Or perhaps this:

Aren't they pretty?!  I saw them at the San Diego County Fair and fell. in. love. (!)

My husband, however, is not sold.  

He loves the sound of flowing water and seems perfectly content to settle for 10% of the time over nothing.  

As for me, if I can't repurpose the fountain into a succulent planter, then I just want to get rid of it.

(Because as far as I'm concerned, the back corner of the garden would be a perfect place to throw the bodies.)

So, internet, what would you do?

I Suck...

...at gardening.

I really suck at gardening.

Well, I shouldn't say gardening, that's not broad enough.

What I actually suck at is anything plant-related.

I am a killer of plants.

Send me your beta fish, your dachshund, your four-year-old daughter.  No problem.  I can totally take care of those guys.  Ask me to watch your philodendron?  Yeah, you're going to regret that.

Except there seems to be one type of plant that is immune to my plant-killing super-powers: 

The mighty succulent.

I discovered this quite by accident.  You see, whenever my in-laws come to visit, we play this little game:  They buy pretty plants to put in the planter by my front door.  They take care of the plants during their stay.  They leave.  The plants die from my gross neglect.  They quietly replace them during their next visit.  

But on their last visit?  Well, something miraculous happened.  

They bought a succulent.  

And it lived.  

This was a revelation.  Positively inspiring.  So much so that when I recently saw this footed bowl in the Wisteria Catalog, I immediately envisioned it filled with succulents.  (Hmm...  now that I've pulled the link, I see that they have it pictured with succulents inside.  So much for "my" vision...)

Anyway, the bowl arrived last week and I was able to get to the garden store yesterday.  

First I picked out these: 

At the recommendation of the saleswoman I also picked up a bag of this:

Then I took my bowl (isn't she pretty?)...

...poured in a little soil...

...and started arranging the plants.

(Beyonce watched with interest through the pool fence.)

And here's the end result.  

(Much like my first daughter, my first plant is overly-photographed.  Plant #2 can attend therapy with daughter #2 after they look through the family photo albums in twenty years.) 

So, there you have it.  I'm hoping this will be my first successful attempt at plant ownership.

Second if you count my in-law's purchase.  

Well, third if you count this guy...

That's right.  While everyone else on earth has gotten rid of their Poinsettias (this being April and all), I can't seem to kill this one for the life of me.

Go figure.

(3/20/13 Update:  Come see my most recent succulent creation here.)

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