I’ll bet that title caught your attention. But hey, before you get the wrong idea, please let me explain.
You see, early last year, during late winter, I received an azalea in full bloom as a gift for my birthday. Being a much more diligent indoor gardener than an outdoor one, I placed the plant in my bay window, fed and watered the azalea then watched it quickly outgrow its pot. As soon as the warm weather had arrived, I repotted the azalea and placed it outdoors on my deck. The plan, you see, was to nurture it along there until I had time to plant it in my garden.
Well, much as I hate to admit this, I am a procrastinator extraordinaire and never did get around to planting that azalea in my garden even though I had an entire summer to do so; even though I knew that when September arrived, it would be time for me to go back to Tufts University to attend my final semester as a non-traditional age undergraduate student (Resumed Education for Adult Learners [R.E.A.L.] Program) and that I would have even less time for anymore gardening.
But when cold weather arrived, guilt and a little panic set in. I thought, now what do I do with this beautiful azalea plant? It had come so far and I really didn’t want to lose it. I know that all woody plants like azaleas and rhododendrons require a dormant period and so I couldn’t put it back in my bay window; it would not get cold enough. Besides, the plant, already quite large when set out on my deck, had grown a great deal more over the summer. There was no way that it would even fit in my bay window. I should not have procrastinated; I should have planted it in my garden and maybe even covered it with burlap for protection. Well, it’s too late to think of what I should’ve done. Maybe I could put it on my porch but it gets pretty warm in there too during the winter. I decided to leave it on my deck in a protected corner, believing that it would get cold for dormancy but not damaged by snow and ice. Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, that turned out to be a bad choice. As springtime arrived and other plants began to leaf out, my azalea did not. The stems were brown, 
there was not a bit of life. It did not appear to have survived, that is at least, to my eyes. My procrastinating ways had killed the plant and feeling the guilt, I knew the now dead azalea was destined for my compost heap.
Still, it seems, the lesson was not strong enough for me to mend my ways. Being the supreme procrastinator that I am, the azalea remained on my deck and I continued to ignore it; saying to myself there’s no rush now. Then, one day last week, while checking out my pot of pansies (another story indeed!), I happened to glance over at my dead azalea and couldn’t believe my eyes. The plant had made an 
attempt to bloom! There were five or six partially opened flower buds. The plant was not dead after all. Now, I really felt the guilt! Shame on me I thought, not only had I abused this plant but worse, I had given up on this plant yet, quite admirably, it had not given up on itself! This time, I must do something to help this plant! I can’t just toss it on my compost heap. Not now! Not after all of its effort to survive and bloom. I mean, really, talk about the will to live!
***
There are a number of lessons in here no doubt. Still, in all honesty, I think that my azalea is still past any real chance of survival. I’ve cut it back severely and found some green but really very little. But I promise, if it shows even the slightest sign of life, I will procrastinate NO MORE! This time, I will plant it in my garden in a very well deserved place of honor!
