Newsflash: Plants Need Water

I hadn’t had my basil plant a full week when I started noticing that the leaves were wilting, and it looked like the plant was dying. (Sadly, I have plenty of experience with dying plants, so I know better than I’d like what that looks like.) I called my mom, who is practically a gardening expert and has a few blue ribbons from gardening contests to prove it. We both deliberated about what might be the problem. She thought maybe it was getting too much sun. I worried that it might have gotten too much water from all the rain. “Oh, I hope it’s not root rot,” she said. My concern turned to frustration, and I told my mom that I might bring the plant back to the store, explaining, “I’ve only had it for a week! There’s something clearly wrong with the plant!” Husband came home, and I told him about the plant, pointing in its direction. “Looks like it needs water,” he said. “Really?” I asked, genuinely curious, as if he had presented some sort of new, cosmic recipe for the plant’s care. I finally relented, trying to forget that I might be drowning the poor plant in water, and I gave it a good watering. The next morning it had perked up and looked like an entirely new, healthy plant. Who knew? Plants need water. Too bad I just figured out what every kid in 3rd grade science class already knew. P.S. My basil plant is doing so well now that the only “problem” I’m having is trying to find new recipes to use it all. Does anyone have any good recipes that call for basil??