Patience is the best remedy for every trouble...

...quoth an old Roman dead guy, and how very right he was! I got a beautiful deep, shiny green Gardenia bush at Sunrise for my birthday--which is in NOVEMBER, mind you--and it just bloomed for the very first time today!

I had it inside all winter and it had tons of buds, but they kept falling off before they bloomed. Then it started to get all brown and icky and I felt guilty wondering what I done to it. I'd kind of given up on it a bit, so when it got warm enough I put it outside to fend for itself. A few weeks ago I was about to throw it away even, but I figured it wasn't hurting me to just let it sit there and give it a chance.

And wouldn't you know it--after all my babying and mollycoddling, it finally bloomed when I left it alone! It's still far from a pretty plant at this point, as you can see from the brown leaves, but the flower is very redeeming. I think it means there's hope!