I have been amused at myself when a new plant or bulb blooms for the first time or when a returning bulb blooms. I find myself counting the flower buds or bloom scapes like a miser counting his gold. I have a gardenia that was grown from a cutting and is blooming for the first time this year. It has seven flower buds maturing. My Johnson's hybrid Amaryllis put up seven stalks of flowers from three bulbs and each stalk had five to six blooms. Four out of seven new iris that I set out this fall have scapes on them.
Do other people do this or is this some bizarre Obsessive/Compulsive behavior for which I should seek immediate treatment (grin)?
does anyone else count?
You are not alone. I am only a second year gardener, but I have a severe case of garden-obsessive disorder. Last year I could tell you every day exactly how many tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers of each size I had on my plants. I could pretty much do the same with the flowers on most of my veggies. People thought I was nuts when I would tell them, "I have 8 marble sized tomatoes, 5 almost ready to pick, and 11 pea sized. My peppers have 16 blooms, 12 buds, and 2 small peppers!"
This year my garden is a bit bigger, and hopefully will be more productive since I have good sunlight. I hope to be so busy picking all my goodies and cooking them that I don't have time to bother counting buds.
O you bet I do! Usually the first thing I count is how many buds come out on my peony's...which as everyone knows they bud and bloom then that is it until the following year.
So yea I count my buds on that, and usually my clemitis buds too.
I think its normal....and if anyone says it isn't normal, then we'll just say its normal for us :)
I've been gardening for nearly 20yrs on my own and I've always done it, so yea "I" say its normal as can be LOL