Five months ago, I purchased several skeleton flower plants from a nursery in Nebraska. I’ve tried and tried and tried to get skeleton flowers, with the hope of taking incredible photos of their wisp-thin petals and entering those photos in competition and walking away with a boatload of ribbons.
Heck, I even blogged about the concept.
And I had it planned. I purchased the flowers in January from the nursery, with the understanding that the nursery would send me the stems and I would plant them and the flowers would grow in my girlfriend’s garden. Yes, my girlfriend will actually trust me to plant flowers, even if she knows my thumbs are made of RoundUp.
The plan was that the nursery would send me the flowers AFTER the last frost in my area, so that the plans could go into good solid soil. Simple enough, right?
On Friday … I received a phone message from the nursery. Great. The plants are on their way. Granted, with all this rain in the area, I won’t have to worry about watering the soil.
“Mr. Miller,” the caller said.
“Yes, I’m excited about the skeleton flowers, I’m looking forward to planting them as soon as they arrive.”
“Yeah, about that …”
Oh, no. Any time you hear the words “Yeah, about that,” from anyone, it’s never a positive.
The wedding cake you ordered from the bakery for the wedding? Yeah, about that…
The $175 Japanese A-7 Wagyu steaks you ordered online? Yeah, about that…
Well, here’s what I was told.
Apparently the plants that were designated for delivery did not survive the growing stage. According to the nursery, it was a poor harvest, and none of the skeleton flowers that were designated for shipment survived the harvest. And ordering new ones would not arrive from the Netherlands until next year at the earliest.
That sound you heard was me screaming into the ether.
The nursery apologized profusely and promised to return my money immediately. Which I did appreciate. But man … I waited FIVE FREAKIN’ MONTHS for those plants, and to be told – at the last minute, mind you – that the plants didn’t survive the harvest? From what appears to be the only nursery in America that can even sell the plants?
Oh yeah, I could order some plants from the Netherlands if I wanted to deal with import fees and tariffs and whatever other Trumpflation might come my way. Sure. Let’s just get RIGHT ON THAT.
Ugh. Just … ugh.
I really wanted those plants. I wanted to grow them and photograph their little clear-white petals.
And now I can’t. And this time … growing the plants wasn’t my fault.
But still …
God damn it.
Chuck The Writer 
As the philosopher Jagger said …
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Make the most of your passion:
Take a chance on Amazon’s 5-seeds-for-$15., pot, seed starter soil (mix in decaying leaves), window, keep moist, TLC, patience…
Then you own the whole process, including the miraculous and rewarding end result.
The start of your new woodland plantation will be the envy of the neighborhood.
https://www.thespruce.com/skeleton-flower-plant-profile-4802581
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