Palm Fronds & Garden Centre Woes

Let me start by saying I'm not good with plants. I'm terrible actually! So when I saw these stunning tropical images courtesy of the talented India Hicks I thought I might have found a solution to having fresh foliage in my home that I don't need to water or take care of permanently - palm fronds in vases! So clever...

I love that you can get the tropical look of a palm without the responsibility of the whole plant! We had two little palms in our dining room until recently, they were doing quite well there with their very occasional watering's until a few weeks ago when I accidentally watered them with ice water straight out of the fridge, which made them go all crinkly and then killed them, oops!

My palms in happier days...

They have since been replaced, but not without much humming and haring from my hubby! There is nothing he hates more than the garden centre! I even looked it up to see if he might have some kind of phobia (FYI - the fear of plants is called 'botanophobia') I don't really think he is botanophobic hehe, I think he just sees garden centres as 'the place Kirst goes to waste money on things she will kill within a month' sad but true, so although my success rate with plants has improved since the early days of our marriage I always have to bribe him to go with me since I need his lovely biceps to lift those enormous bags of compost and potting mix!

So last week when we were picking up the replacement palms (the new ones are much bigger and sturdier for added posterity!) I had to promise him new attachments for his garden hose at the hardware store followed by Wendy's hamburgers for lunch when the ordeal was over! Ahh, good times, they do say marriage is all about the compromise don't they?? ;)

Along with the new palms - which are doing well so far! - I recently took some clippings of different types of greenery from around my garden for some wallet-friendly tropical displays a la' India Hicks! I'm loving them for summer and they don't cost a cent...

My take on tropical fronds in a vase...remote on table
= keeping it real ;)

I popped these little ferns on my bookcase, kinda patriotic!

Does anyone else's hubby hate the garden centre like mine does??

I kind of love it there! The colours, the smells, the beauty of nature - it's divine! What's not to like? Strange these men. Ah well, he's pretty good at going clothes shopping and he can be so funny when we shop for home wares, he sometimes races ahead through a store and points out things I will like before I see them, he's pretty spot on now too! Apparently he 'chose' the mirror in our dining room (because he saw it five seconds before me) and I can't help but smile when I hear him proudly telling people he picked it out, you've got to let the boys get their way sometimes right?!

Do you or your other halves have any quirky shopping habits? And do you have any tips for keeping my new palms happy and alive? I won't be ice watering them this time I promise! My hubby will ban me from real plants for life if I kill these ones and I'm not ready for another husband and wife garden centre trip anytime soon so I'm all ears! ;)

xo K

Images via Google

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