A few weeks ago, while cleaning our house, I took a look at our plants around the house and realized that most were in dire straights and I was headed for the well-deserved label of having a black thumb. Here's what the heat this summer did to what was supposed to be garlic:
Nicely enough, when Sarah was last visiting, she thought this might still survive...
Then, I found some hope. Just over a year ago, Bryan and I went and visited Kristen in AZ. I was a typical Phoenician tourist and bought a mini cactus to take home. Well, my, my, my, in a year this cactus has sprouted some new horns and I am SO PROUD!
Those three spindles coming off the main stalk have appeared in the last year- yay!
My proud little cactus resides on our bookshelf in the main room, yes, propping up Desert Solitaire. Not by accident, by the way.....
There are two other plants I consider myself responsible for (indoor plants, at least): my little succulent/bonzai garden and my "family heirloom" spider plant. Two weeks ago, both my charges looked as if they had spent a year in the desert, like Edward Abbey. So, I did what any reasonable gardener would do and cut those suckers WAY back. I only left really a main stalk or anything that looked like it might live one more day. I am so pleased to report that today, after re-examining the plants, I think they are well on their way to recovery! I am quite excited that I haven't placed myself on the list of those who have killed the spider plant (Mom and Sarah, ahem), and I think that given enough time, I will finally have some plant to pass along to Kristen and whoever else may want some! Below are some photos of my triumphs.... Now, I know that they may not look like much yet, but you should have seen them before!
The mini-garden's home is in our hallway window- plenty of light!
Look at that- NEW GROWTH!
The recovering spider plant calls our office home. This room gets a lot of sunlight and has wide-open windows (mainly because we haven't put down the money for blinds in the room yet....)
New growth on the spider plant.... keep on going!
Well, that's about enough for now on my musings on houseplants. My big goal: nurse them back to life. Wish them luck! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment