Buster's Garden of Grief

Summary
With Fritz gone, Buster is in charge of the community garden, but it proves to be too much for just one person.

Plot
Arthur talks to the viewers about how much time and care you have to give a plant in order for it to grow. Then he scolds Buster, who can't hold the camera still or focused on Arthur. Eventually, Arthur takes the camera and moves it himself, but Buster accidentally knocks it over again in the process of coming back. Then, afterwards, Buster bumps the camera going to get ice cream. Arthur apologizes to the viewers that his "director" (Buster) seems to be a bit distracted today, and then decides to start the show.

Buster's Garden of Grief

One day, Buster receives a letter from Fritz, and he goes to the Shady Pines Retirement Home to visit him. When Buster sees Fritz, he asks him what happened to his leg. Fritz then explains that Buster is the only person he knows who could be responsible enough to take care of the Community Garden.

Arthur, Francine, and Muffy had assumed that Buster was taking care of it already, but he informs them that he was only helping, and nobody else seemed to enjoy gardening as much as he does, so Fritz put him in charge of the Community Garden. Arthur, Francine, and Muffy seem a bit unsure about Buster being given the responsibility that comes with tending to a garden.

This leads Buster to have a fantasy where he is seen pulling the weeds in the Community Garden, but gets distracted by the ice cream truck going by. After eating six ice pops, he has to hurry to pull the weeds and vines away from the plants. The fruit on the plants begin to scold Buster for not being as responsible as Fritz. Buster soon wakes up from his fantasy while in bed that night.

Early the next morning, Buster tries to figure out how he can tell Fritz that he can't take care of the garden out of fear that he may not be responsible enough. Suddenly hearing some noise, Buster rushes back to the Community Garden to see that Mr. Sloan is cutting zucchini plants with his electric trimmers. He tells Buster about how others in the neighborhood are discussing how they could turn the Community Garden into a paved area, due to the garden possibly becoming an "eyesore" now that Fritz won't be working there. Buster, not going to let this happen, informs Fritz.

After telling Arthur about the scenario, Buster gathers materials for the Community Garden, while Muffy and Francine simply make bets as to when Buster will fail this challenge during baseball practice.

Over the course of time, Buster tends to the vegetables, flowers, and plants in the Community Garden, while also doing his homework and house chores. His mom Bitzi notices how tired he seems to be getting lately, but Buster keeps up anyway, eventually showing Fritz how well he has been doing with the garden. Meanwhile, Muffy and Francine keep changing their bets, noticing Buster is still gardening, and eventually the garden springs to life.

Bitzi eventually begins to discuss how proud she is of Buster, and then she tells him to pick out some clothing he wants to take on vacation. Buster seems worried, but Bitzi reminds him that they were going to go camping. Buster then asks his mom about the Community Garden, and Bitzi suggests that someone else can water it for a couple of weeks.

Buster goes to Arthur, Francine, and Muffy for help, but they don't want to do it until Buster promises he will do what they asked of him. They agree to do it, making Buster feel happy.

However, after two weeks, a very sad and shocked Buster returns to see all of the plants in the garden dead. Bitzi is just as surprised, saying, "Well, I'll be. It was only a couple of weeks!"

Buster then confronts his friends, asking them why all the plants in the Community Garden are dead, but they deny it, claiming that they did water it, until they admit that they all put the responsibility on each other. Buster then asks them if anybody watered it, ever, and it turns out that neither of them did. Buster then sighs and walks away, feeling very downbeat.

That night, Buster is lying in his bed playing his video game. Bitzi talks to Buster about why he used to be so good about doing his homework before, but he isn't anymore. Buster feels convinced that he's irresponsible, but Bitzi tells him that it wasn't his fault for the garden being ruined. Regardless, Buster still feels bad about the scenario. Suddenly, he hears noise coming from the garden and figures that Mr. Sloan is probably mowing it all down now that it's become an eyesore.

Buster worries that the garden is being ruined, and he rushes over to stop Mr. Sloan from mowing it all down, begging for a another chance. However, when he shows up, he realizes that it's not Mr. Sloan mowing it down; it's Mr. Read. Seeing that the others are also there fixing the garden, Buster is surprised. They explain that since Buster chose to become responsible, they should also be responsible. From then on, they all help Buster with the Community Garden.

The episode finishes with Buster responding to a letter from Fritz that he had gotten from him.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Arthur Read
 * Fritz Langley

Minor

 * Mr. Sloan
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * David Read

Cameo

 * Alex
 * George Lundgren
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Ken

Trivia

 * It is revealed in this episode that Buster's address is 7 Roswell Court, in the scene after the title card when Buster gets a letter from Fritz.

Episode connections

 * Care to Ware appears, but without its makeover, meaning that this episode takes place before "Spoiled Rotten".
 * This episode takes place after "Home Sweet Home", because Fritz is at the retirement home.