I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy had been having a very long week. She had ridiculous deadlines to meet at work that weren't physically possible without putting in overtime, her car broke down and cost $1400 to fix out of her savings to move to the country, and to top it all off two of her houseplants had been infested by insects and had to be thrown out to protect the others after expending every effort to save them.

Parting with them felt like losing two very dear friends. With no one to talk to, she ended up telling her plants about her day as she lovingly watered and pruned them. 

She had lost a Chinese Evergreen and a Ficus. She wanted to replace them—the spaces they used to occupy looked so empty—but getting more soil and the plants themselves would cost her even more money she really shouldn't be spending right now. 

That was what she told herself and yet she drove to the nearest nursery to get some new babies anyway. She had stressed a lot this week and she deserved a pick-me-up, dang it! Who cared if it wasn't in the budget this month? 

Her settlement after the accident had primarily gone toward medical bills that weren't covered by insurance but she had a little leftover and intended to use it toward buying her dream house and land somewhere things grew well. She had heard good things about gardening in Florida but that was an expensive place to live, let alone buy real estate with multiple acres. 

Daisy would be lucky to be able to afford a house with a regular yard here in Ohio. She wouldn't be able to plant all the flowers or vegetables she wanted to that way. 

As it was her apartment was jammed with all sorts of plants and windowsill herbs. She wanted to grow tomatoes or something as well but that would require an expensive LED growing light and space she didn't have. So her dreams of fresh produce would have to wait. 

She braced herself against the cold as a whoosh of wind hit her the moment she opened the car door. Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth as she headed inside the nursery. 

What did she want to get today? The same plants she had lost or something new and exciting she had never tried before? 

Daisy had had a lot of different plants in her day, starting with the small succulents she had gotten for cheap at Walmart in college to brighten up her dorm room. But because indoor gardening was a somewhat expensive hobby she hadn't tried nearly as many varieties as she would have liked.

Something new might be best. Maybe something that flowered since the majority of her plants didn't. Most flowers tended to thrive outdoors and she had never lived anywhere she had the ability to plant outside. 

When she walked into the nursery it felt like she was coming home. She always felt more comfortable around plants than people. This was one of her favorite places to be. Only the botanical gardens ranked higher but this time of year everything was dead. 

Humming to herself as she browsed, she wondered if she should go with an African violet for one of her new plants. She had always wanted to get one but hadn't gotten around to it. 

Those could potentially flower year-round indoors if properly taken care of. It seemed like a solid choice. The problem was figuring out what to get to replace the Ficus. Should she get another tree?

A money tree might be a solid choice. She had read a lot of good things about them. The problem would be potentially fitting one into her car. Someday it might be nice to have a truck for transporting things but in the meantime she was stuck with a little four-door sedan. 

Daisy had picked up the African violet she wanted and was cradling it in her arms while walking around looking at potential baby trees. That was when she overheard someone asking for daisies as the bewildered store clerk informed him that this wasn't a flower shop and they didn't sell cut flowers here. 

"I don't want cut flowers. I want to grow them," a male voice insisted. 

"…in the middle of winter?" the nursery worker asked like he was crazy. "Daisies need to be planted in the spring."

"Can't they be grown inside?" 

"Uh…not really."

"Not really isn't the same thing as no. Can they or can't they?" 

Daisy felt the need to jump in there. Daisies were her favorite flower so she knew quite a bit about them. She happened to have grown some Gerber daisies inside in college and it was doable even though it would be easier to have them planted outside because they could be fussy indoors.

"They can," she piped up. 

The nursery worker seemed relieved someone more knowledgeable intervened and the man stared wide-eyed at her. She had been one aisle over before and hadn't seen them but as she approached she realized this was the same guy who accidentally rang her doorbell the other day. 

She normally didn't remember random strangers but this one was rather distinctive. Not only did he have tomato red hair he had heterochromia. He was no supermodel but he was certainly striking. 

For some reason her heart skipped a beat seeing him again. Maybe it was because there was an actual guy around her age in a nursery trying to grow daisies. That sort of thing didn't happen often. Her ex-boyfriends had barely tolerated her love of plants, often going as far as calling it an obsession. 

"Really? I'd hate to be a bother but would you mind telling me?" the man asked hopefully.

Daisy barely managed to stifle a laugh. His earnestness was kind of cute. "Sure. You'd need to do it with Gerber daisies but you can grow them inside with the right unusual combination of bright sunlight and moderate temperatures.

"You can keep it in a sunny window in the morning and move it in the afternoon so it doesn't get scorched. If you can't move it around all the time you can keep it in indirect light with some sort of lamp or overhead light to supplement it. Light is the biggest issue with them. 

"Aside from that they're fairly easy to care for though you do have to be mindful of the watering as well. You can't let the soil get too soggy. They also benefit from monthly fertilizer feedings during the spring and summer. 

"You'll want to pinch off wilted blooms immediately to ensure new growth and remove damaged or dead leaves as needed. If your pot seems too crowded you can move it to a bigger one at any time."

The man seemed grateful for the help and smiled brightly at her but there was a strange sort of sadness to it. As if talking about daisies was somehow bittersweet for him. 

"Thank you so much! That's really helpful."

"Anytime. Always happy to share some of my plant expertise with a fellow enthusiast. I have to ask though, why daisies specifically?" Daisy asked. "There are a lot easier houseplants to get if you're a beginner. Have you ever gardened before?"

"Fruits and vegetables, not flowers. I'm afraid everything I know about flowers came secondhand. As for why daisies…they're my favorite flower," he said a bit wistfully. 

She was surprised. She had never heard a man admit he had a favorite flower before. They were usually dismissed as being girly. There was nothing girly about a naturally occurring plant in her mind so she had always thought that was a stupid way to think. 

"Hey, they're mine too! Probably because I'm named after them. Daisy Miller, at your service," she said as she adjusted her grip on the African violets to shake his hand. 

The man smiled at her. "Leo Blaze. Your name suits you." 

Daisy had never heard that before. She raised an eyebrow. "Really? How so?"

"I've always thought of daisies as rather cheerful, friendly flowers. I'd say that suits you very well."

Wow. She had never gotten a compliment like that in her life, let alone from someone she had officially met less than five minutes earlier. He didn't know anything about her except that she was willing to jump in and help a random person with a flower question so she supposed she couldn't fault his narrow view of her. 

Still, it made her feel slightly warm and fuzzy inside. Unused to that sort of feeling, she swiftly changed the subject. "Thanks. Your name kind of suits you too. Did you dye your hair to match the fire theme your last name has going on?"

Leo shook his head. "No, this is my natural hair color."

"Seriously?! No way! I've never seen hair like that before that didn't come out of a bottle. It's really pretty."

Daisy's cheeks immediately flamed because she had inadvertently called someone she barely met pretty. What was wrong with her today? Was she seriously letting her guard down because she happened to meet a guy that liked daisies?

He grinned at her, though the same strange sense of sadness she saw before lurked in the depths of his mismatched eyes, and she was momentarily stunned. "Thank you."

In a desperate attempt to cover her embarrassment and play it off like she hadn't just complimented him for no real reason she jerkily gestured for him to follow her. "Come on. Seeds are this way.. I'll help you find what you're looking for."