Ranunculus are one of my favorite flowers, second only to the peony, and supposedly easy to grow. Since January I have been doting on the bulbs I planted in a set of teak window/flower boxes. As stems started to slowly rise from the soil I started to say hello to them every morning and night. Whatever, I had something to look forward to in the winter!

They began to grow and grow, then wilt, then come alive again yet it seemed they would never come close to growing a bud, never mind bloom. I frowned but remained patient.

I didn’t give up on them until one morning on the way to work when I spotted the flower in bloom at the Green Market in Union Square. Damn it! I realized that it could take years to get gardening right and for $4 a pot I could enjoy the flowers now.

So when I woke up to a sunny Saturday instead of the expected rainy one, I went back to the market and hesitated a little before betraying the plants at home. I bought six potted beauties and four potted herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary, mint).

At home, I sighed over all the hard work I was about to undo and tore the roots from the soil (sorry!). I had the new ones planted before JBA woke up with “Ah! What did you do?! Is that what you’re gonna do when we have kids? Are you going to throw them away too and get better ones?” I thought about it. I would like to think I’ll be a better parent then I am a gardener.