×
  • Home
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening LIfe
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
  • Authors
  • GreenPrints Writer’s Guidelines
  • Keyword Index
  • Join
Celebrating 5 Years of Food Gardening

Food Gardening Network

Growing food, fun & more

Give a GiftJoin
Mequoda Publishing Network
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening Life
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • Sign In
  • Search

My Garden Story of Revenge

My Garden Story of Revenge

My garden story today is about revenge. Or perhaps it's just fair play. I'll let you be the judge of which is correct.

By Amanda MacArthur | July 10, 2023

Revenge or fair play? That’s what my garden story is about today. Are you ready to be the judge in a case of a garden crime?

We all have that favorite plant. You know the one that you’ve tried to grow for years and is finally thriving? That’s the plant I’m talking about here. It could be the asparagus that you’ve lovingly tended year after year. Maybe it’s the daffodils that you forgot about and are now surprising the entire neighborhood with their brilliant color.

For Rose Halter, that plant is a pink hydrangea bush. “I have always struggled to get a pink hydrangea to grow. All my previous hydrangeas always turned out to be shades of blue and purple. So I’d become quite fond of this one.”

Imagine her surprise, then, when she found her husband chopping away at the beloved bush! Why would he do such a thing? And perhaps more importantly, what would Rose do to get her revenge?

In A Plant for a Plant, Rose shares with us her devious plan of … what? I suppose you could say this story is about vengeance. I’m inclined to say Rose is the hero in my garden story that I’m sharing with you today. Like I said, though, I’ll let you be the judge.

Turnabout Is Fair Play? That’s What My Garden Story Today Is About, But There Are Plenty More Funny Garden Stories in GreenPrints.

This story comes from our archive that spans over 30 years and includes more than 130 magazine issues of GreenPrints. I love pieces like these that turn stories into comical moments of laughter, and I hope you enjoy this story as well.

decorative border

A Plant for a Plant

He got mine. I got his.

By Rose Halter

My name is Haleigh Halter and I am submitting a story to you on behalf of my grandmother Rose. She told me this story several years ago and always wanted to write it down and submit it to GreenPrints. So I have done it for her.

Woman Cutting Tree

A couple of years ago, I walked through the dining room and saw my husband, Bill, chopping away at something. I pulled the curtains back to get a better view—and to my dismay he was chopping away at my pink hydrangea bush!

I opened the window and yelled, “What do you think you are doing?!”

He hollered back, “That hydrangea bush is getting too close to the air conditioner, and it’s not getting the circulation it needs!”

Heck, there was a good two feet in between the bush and that air conditioner unit. I have always struggled to get a pink hydrangea to grow. All my previous hydrangeas always turned out to be shades of blue and purple. So I’d become quite fond of this one.

Crying, I walked out to look. It lay in shambles. Barely a little sprout stuck out of the ground. I grimly walked back to the house, and as I did, I had the perfect idea.

An English walnut tree had plagued our yard for years and years. It had a diameter the size of a two-liter soda bottle. It refused to grow, its trunk was busted, and webworms made their messy homes in it every year. Bill always refused to cut it down, so I planned to get my revenge by chopping it down myself. An eye for an eye and a tree for a tree, if you will.

I headed to the barn and found a hatchet. I stood next to that tree, swung back, and started hacking. My son who lives down the road came by. He burst out laughing and started taking pictures. He asked if I wanted him to get a chainsaw, but I stubbornly refused. I finished the job late that afternoon. Bill never said a word about it.

Till the next day. Then he told me I had to complete my job and dig out the stump and roots so he wouldn’t have to mow around it. So I went back to work snipping, cutting, pulling, and digging. After two hours, I hadn’t gotten very far—and I was exhausted. I realized that, at 70 years old, I might have gotten in a little over my head. Eventually my husband must have started to feel bad about it all. He got his tractor and a chain and helped me pull the rest of the tree out.

That following year my pink hydrangea grew back and bloomed all over. It was absolutely stunning.

I can’t say the same for that English walnut tree. ❖

By Rose Halter, published originally in 2022, in GreenPrints Issue #130. Illustrated by Tim Foley

decorative border

Can you relate to Rose in this story? Do you have any tales of fair play in the garden? I’d love to read your story in the comments.

« 10 Ways a Food Gardening Journal Can Improve Results
Time To Invest In Garden Monkeys? »

Related Posts

  • Digging Up Gardening Humor in Manure
  • Beetlemania and the Backyard Battleground
  • “Leveling Up” to Farm Life

Tags

asparagus, funny garden, greenprints, my garden story

Comments

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Give a Gift

FREEBIE!

With your FREEBIE, you’ll also receive regular email messages from the Food Gardening Network. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your email address is private. We promise never to sell, rent or disclose your email address to third parties.

Freebies

  • Worst Best Gardening Jokes Calendar
  • 5 Easy Healthy Carrot Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Lemon Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Salsa Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Apple Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Chicken Breast Recipes
  • Top 11 Food Gardening Tools You Need to Succeed
  • A Printable Companion Planting Chart
  • Plants for Bug Control Chart
  • Printable Seed Germination Temperature Chart
  • Printable Tomato Garden-to-Table Chart
  • Planning Your Perfect Food Garden
  • Printable Butterfly Garden Planting Chart
  • The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes
  • Printable Composting 101 Charts
  • How to Master Spice and Herb Gardening at Home
  • Printable Monthly Gardening Calendar
  • 10 Best Garden Poems of All Time
  • Vegetable Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Printable Flower Garden Companion Planting Chart
  • 10 Things You Can Grow That Your Pet Will LOVE To Eat!
  • Rose Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Printable Kitchen Garden Planting Charts
  • Sunflower Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Seasonal ArtPrints Collection Kit Sampler
  • Sampler: Gardening Humor
  • Sampler: Wit, Wisdom, & Learning
  • Gardening in Every Season
  • How to Start a Freedom Garden
  • Recipes from Your Garden
  • Sampler: Animals in the Garden
  • Sampler: Healing Gardens
  • Sampler: Joy of Gardening
  • Growing Vegetables Indoors for Beginners
  • 15 Easiest Fruits to Grow at Home
  • How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

Browse Topics

  • Buyers Guides
  • Composting
  • Container Gardening
  • Easy Healthy Recipes
  • Food Preservation
  • Garden Design
  • Garden Tools
  • Gardening Life
  • Growing Fruits & Berries
  • Indoor Gardening
  • Ornamental Gardening
  • Pests & Diseases
  • Seeds & Seedlings
  • Soil & Fertilizer
  • Spice & Herb Gardening
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegetable Gardening
  • Watering & Irrigation

Buyers Guides:

  • 9 Automated Garden Tools for Effortless Growing
  • 12 Cool Gardening Tools and Gifts for the Plant Lover in Your Life
  • Choosing the Best Shovel for Your Gardening Needs
  • 10 Gardening Tools for Seniors That Actually Make a Difference
  • This Countertop Compost Machine Turns Scraps into Compost in a Few Hours
  • 10+ Food Gardening Gadgets We Love
  • 15 Adaptive and Accessible Gardening Tools and Raised Beds
  • 13 Canning Tools, Supplies & Equipment You Need
  • The 3 Best Gardening Shoes
  • 5+ Best Bird Deterrents for Gardens
  • Shop Our Amazon Store

Authors:

  • Bill Dugan
  • Amanda MacArthur
  • Mike McGrath
  • Don Nicholas
  • Norann Oleson
  • Christy Page
  • Becky Rupp
  • Beth Rush
  • Pat Stone
  • Diana Wells

Enter Your Log In Credentials

This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

  • Lost your password? Create New Password
  • No account? Sign up

Need Assistance?

Call Food Gardening Network Customer Service at
(800) 777-2658

Food Gardening Network is an active member of the following industry associations:

  • American Horticultural Society
  • GardenComm Logo
  • GardenComm Laurel Media Award
  • MCMA logo
  • Join Now
  • Learn More
  • About Food Gardening Network
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Food Gardening Network
99 Derby Street, Suite 200
Hingham, MA 02043
support@foodgardening.mequoda.com

To learn more about our Email Marketing and Broadcasting Services, Exchange Program, or to become a marketing partner with any of our publications, click here to contact us at Mequoda Publishing Network.

FREE E-Newsletter for You!

Discover how to grow, harvest, and eat good food from your own garden—with our FREE e-newsletter, delivered directly to your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Powered by
Mequoda Publishing Network
copyright © 2025 Mequoda Systems, LLC

Food Gardening Network®, Food Gardening Magazine® and GreenPrints® are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC.

Go to mobile version