[2] Ethan Inglebrink (Ronnie Gene Blevens) is an agoraphobic heroin addict who lives in a homogeneous California town where nothing ever happens.

A misfit, clad in a powder blue tux, he has convinced his poker buddies, and surrogate moms, Roe (Diane Ladd), Sandy (Cloris Leachman), and Lou Anne (Lin Shaye), that he is diabetic and his needles are for insulin, not heroin.

His next-door neighbor is his landlord and former high school football coach Trevor O'Hart (Rip Torn), who wants nothing more than to kick Ethan out on the street.

Meanwhile, as the Garden of the Year competition draws near, Ethan becomes convinced that he can take the $10,000 top prize and pay off his delinquent rent if he can just grow the perfect American Cowslip.

Little does Ethan realize that salvation may lie not in the money he could win for growing a rare flower, but with the companionship and understanding offered by his 17-year-old neighbor Georgia (Hanna R. Hall), who longs to escape her abusive father (Bruce Dern).