The Great Responsibility is blooming!

Oh, you don’t know about the Great Responsibility?

You aren’t clinging to every word I write on this blog? Please refer back to the post on February 6th to get caught up or continue reading and I’ll catch you up.

The Great Responsibility is an African violet a friend left in my care when he moved back to his out-of-state home after caring for his mother near here for several years.

As he handed me the Great Responsibility (or is it The Great Responsibility) in mid-January,  he casually mentioned that this African violet had once belonged to his grandfather and then was cared for by his mother.

And that it used to always be in bloom, but had stopped blooming when his mother died in mid-December.

No pressure there to care for this plant.

But all has gone well so far.

I am pleased to report that the African violet has settled in nicely and is once again blooming. I will not take personal credit for this. I am merely providing it with good light and watering it when it gets dry.  It is doing the rest.

Whew. It is still a Great Responsibility, but I feel a little of the burden lifting. Now to the next step of taking a few leaf cuttings. I want to have an “heir and a spare” growing around here, in case something should happen to this one.

In other news, I have 24 tickets to the Indiana Flower and Patio Show taking place at the Indiana State Fairgrounds from March 9 – 17. I will be speaking there on the afternoons of March 13 and 14.

Before I offer these tickets on FB to just anyone, I thought I would offer them here to my local readers who might not be on social media.  To claim two tickets, please email me at Indygardener at Gmail.com with your name and address and I’ll mail you your tickets. If you miss out on this, feel free to use the link on the sidebar to order tickets for a reduced price.

The latest episode of The Gardenangelist podcast is now live. Dee and I talk about roses, broccoli, mushrooms, and a couple of books that relate to matters presidential (in honor of President’s Day this week). Please excuse the part where I say “caterpillar” when I meant “butterfly” not once, but twice. Repeat after me “butterflies lay eggs.”

I think it is a pretty snappy episode, so I paired it with some ginger snaps and a nice cup of tea (Teapig’s Darjeeling Earl Grey, a birthday gift from a friend).

If you listen to the podcast, and I hope you do, let me know what you paired it with or what activity you did while you listened.  Dee and I would love your feedback!