February 1, 2011

If you think this title is boring just wait until you see the post.

I have plants in my house.  Quite a few actually - and for the most part they are all thriving.  There are many good reasons to have lots of plants - good feng shui, it improves the air quality in your home, they are good for relationships.......

Okay, I'm making all that up.  Actually, the only reason I can think of is that they are a good way to quickly fill up some empty spaces in your decor and as to why I have so many - well, I'm not sure.  I think people notice I have plants and decide that they make a good gift for me - so now I have more plants than I can possibly keep up with.

Just a quick aside - have you ever noticed that no matter how many windows you have in your home that all the plants will only survive on one side of the house?  No, you've never noticed that?  Well, maybe it's just me.  But all of my plants are located on one side (the west side??) as that seems to be the only place they are semi-happy. Anyway......

You know, the key to having healthy plants is to ensure that each plant has the proper type of soil, pot, food, humidity and . . . . 

Okay, I'm making that all up too.  Usually, I just throw the plant in a pot with some dirt and try to remember to water it.

This plant is my barometer.


When he wilts then I know that I've forgotten to water the plants . . . again.  It's actually quite surprising that any of these plants are still alive considering how often I forget to water them....

Some of these plants thrive seemingly without any love from me at all.  Like this one.


I received this one at Thanksgiving.  I've given it the bare minimum of attention, water and love because it's a poinsettia.  Usually, they die upon receipt and aren't really expected to be kept as house plants.  This one though apparently loves it here.  If it continues to thrive, I suppose I may have to re-pot it and see what happens.  Although I expect that once I begin to put any effort at all into it - it will give up the ghost.  Because plants are fickle like that.

My Christmas Cactus (so named because they are supposed to bloom at Christmas time, of course)


Has officially been re-named the Holiday Cactus.  This sucker blooms for every holiday that the calendar can throw at  it.  As you can see it's preparing to bloom again - well, it is Groundhog Day tomorrow so I suppose it's due. 

Now this one - the Cyclamen?  Well, what can I say?


I love these plants - they are, generally, beautiful.  I've tried to cultivate them at least four different times - and this is always the result - no matter how much loving care, water, light, etc. that I shower upon them.  They always die.  This species hates me.

They should look like this:


After four previous attempts I gave up on this plant.  The relationship was just too volatile.  I'd bend over backwards trying to please but every time it would leave me within just a few short weeks - usually it didn't even take that long.

But then received one as a gift and once again I tried so hard, so very hard.  And, as you can see, after just a short time.....


once again I failed.  I've decided if I ever receive another one, I shall smile and say thank you and then,once the giver is gone, in the interest of saving time and energy promptly throw the damn thing away and grab a glass of wine instead.  

23 comments:

  1. I gave up on house plants. I kill every one I get. Thank goodness I did better with kids!

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  2. I hate being given plants because I know the next time that person comes they'll look for it and it will be dead. It's a wonder I've managed to bring up five children and have never forgotten to feed and water them in the same way! ;0S

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  3. I love plants but am not green fingered and they always die!

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  4. You are too hilarious for words : )
    No one has ever given me one for inside. Just outside. And I kill all of those quickly : (

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  5. I'm also not of the green thumb kind. I do have a few hearty plants that have survived. Just barely!

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  6. You call this post boring? Oh no. You have touched on something here. My son sent me a plant through the mail and I do nothing but tend to it all day, hoping it survives. It's a fixation that just may land me in an institution of some kind.

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  7. Now young lady! LOL! Some of those are NOT supposed to live thru the winter hence the clymatis dying off and the poinsetta - you may as well just set the burial date for that one now. Okay - Christmas or Easter Cactus is the EASIEST to grow of the ones you have here. The http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/html/SpathL.htm Loves moist soil - MOIST - or lightly damp - but not sopping at all. And it LOVES light - check out the article - you have it in a corner it looks like. It also likes it a tad warmer than 65 ... LOL! And cold weather is NEVER okay for this plant. Check out my blog article on my house plants - for some reason they are THRIVING this year - but the house is warmer than usual - 69 this winter and although it's been pretty dang grey out - well I don't know - I think I'm watering them and misting them more. Now the white flag one LOVES misting - if you could do that in your spare time - oh - once a week that may help. They are difficult to kill - BUT they will die eventually.
    Now if you want a hard to kill plant - oh - you already have one - that's the cactus. But the Grape Ivy is one of the most difficult to kill and needs the least care apart from the plastic variety.
    Oh - you got me going today - LOL!
    Hope some of this helps.
    And if it dies - just replace it with something easier to care for. Hence your house will look like a Grape Ivy jungle - LOL! That's why grape ivy's were in restaurants in the 80's and 90's - very difficult to KILL. LOL!
    Ok - here's the link to my article: http://bevinnesthots.blogspot.com/2011/01/house-plants.html
    Love you - love your plants.

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  8. I can't grow Cyclamen either - damned things are meant to be easy to grow!!
    I'd love some house plants but with the cats and the kids I know I'd end up with something bodily in the pot!!

    BNM

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  9. My excuse for not having houseplants: I have cats.
    The truth: I can't keep them alive, either.

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  10. Chief & I were thinking about getting a plant. One of those rubber plant thingy's. Or a cactus. I don't have a green thumb, so would have to be something that can survive harsh conditions. :P

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  11. I have killed every plant |I've ever got. I still keep the dead ones in pots though, sums up my approach to life really :)

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  12. I am awful with plants. The only reason why I remember to water the one I have is because it's in a flower pot that sings when it needs water.

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  13. My plants love to be in my foyer because of the huge windows in there but they all grow on one side of the pot because I never remember to rotate them so the far side will get some light too. Maybe they're trying to grow right out the front door and escape my home.

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  14. All my plants seem to be dying lately! I water them once a week on Sunday. My Christmas Catus hasn't bloomed in 3 or 4 years but it is still alive.

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  15. Well, if you ever need to...'get rid' of any plants, just let my mother look after them - she's like the Angel of Death for the Plantae world. The only one she's managed to keep alive was a cactus, and even that was only with assistance.

    Having said that, my folks have loads of plants...people give them to my mother and she passes them straight to my father. They're safe within his keeping.

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  16. I have one plant in my home that has remained beautiful for over 10 years. No matter that it's fake, it's still pretty.

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  17. I only have one measley house plant- I think I need more. BUt then again, then I'll have to keep the cats out of them AND water them... hmmmm.

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  18. I, too, have loads of house plants. When you live in an area like Minnesota, it's often the only green you see for half the year.

    Not to mention I love the little buggers. :-)

    Pearl

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  19. Oh my thumb is so not green. I'm prety good with the spider plants, but they are so not pretty!

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  20. Ok Gigi, I didn't think the post was boring, but the title had me laugh out loud!
    I do not have a green thumb so my plants end up looking like the last one.

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  21. I feel terrible whenever I or someone else brings a plant into my house. It's like seeing someone get in the wrong line at Auschwitz. Supposedly it's a rookie mistake to overwater plants. I killed a cactus and it took my over eight months of not watering it.

    Cyclamens are simply suicidal.

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  22. House plants are a big no no in this house.. I can barely keep goldfish alive!

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  23. Good grief, Gigi! You're worse than I am...well, not really because I just realized I don't have ANY! They all died. I forgot I had one last plant on the porch and forgot about it when the cold weather came in. No since checking on it now, huh? Oh well...

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