How does your garden grow?

With roses, gardenias, and new life.

A story about the avocado tree:  I started the seed the way I'd seen done previously.  Using three toothpicks gingerly stuck into its flesh, I delicately balanced the seed over a glass of water with the base barely submerged.  I tended to it, and it began to make roots.  Once Alex and I agreed that it had enough of a start, we planted it outside in the pot you see above.  The very next morning, with a sad look on his face, Alex said, "Amy, I have some bad news."  He'd just come in from outside, and he'd found the avocado seed in pieces.

We knew immediately that the culprit was the squirrel that terrorizes our garden.  After all the time and patience we'd spent nurturing the seed to sprout, it'd taken the squirrel less than 24 hours to destroy it.  We figured it couldn't hurt just to leave the seed as is.  We didn't have any other immediate plans for the pot anyway.

Fast forward to this spring.  With a smile on his face, Alex says to me, "Amy, you'll never believe."  We had the beginning of an avocado tree.  It seems that the torment of the squirrel was actually good for the seed.  The little tree looks very happy - so happy that it'll soon need a new pot!