For Valentine's Day, Kyle got me a potted rose bush.
This was folly. I can't keep plants alive. I've told him this, but he's never seen it in action. But here's a good example of my previous work:
So yeah, I was worried about this rose bush. And was not at all surprised to see its steady decline over the following months. We've kept it outside, on the balcony, where it gets the most sunshine it possibly can. We water it. But once those rose buds it came with died (they didn't fully bloom, they just sort of fell off), it never bloomed again. It did get bigger, though, so we moved it to a larger pot. And then things got really bad. And now it looks like death. Parts of it are completely brown, and the best-looking parts are spotted. BUT it has a rose on it!
It makes no sense at all. And, like I said, the rest of the bush looks truly horrible. The good news is that we think the spiders all over it are eating the other bugs (?). I honestly don't know how this thing is still alive, let alone flowering. But we wanted to share this little miracle with you.