Plants...
When I was growing up, the house was always full of plants. It didn't matter where we lived, or how poor we were--my mother filled our tiny apartment with greenery. When we moved, it took two trips to transport our furniture, books, and personal belongings. It took 3 trips to transport the plants. Nowadays, that my parents loved into a large house, some of the plants actually take up three stories, cascading down the walls and weaving across the staircases. She's fantastic at caring for them: although we've added to the collection over the years, most of the plants that we started when are still there (some of them dates back 20 years, when my family first moved to America).
Unfortunately, although I inherited her love of greenery, my thumb is definitely black. When I moved away for college, my mother gave me jasmine cutting. This little guy's pretty resilient: it managed to hang on through all four years of college. It was all but wilting by the time I graduated, but made it home in time to be nursed back to health under my mother's care.
Since, I've acquired two orchids--both as gifts. They're....demanding, to say the least. Neither has flowered since I brought them home, but at least they're still (mostly) alive.
I do far better with low- (ie, no-) care plants, like my living stones. My roommate couldn't kill it with bleach. It requires no water (literally--it "drinks" from the air. I will sprinkle on water on the gravel around the plant during the dry season, perhaps once every two months). As long as I choose a good spot for it--sunny and dog-proof--it does perfectly well on its own.
Cheered by my success (though I can't take credit for it), I'm thinking of branching out to airplants. They're currently an obsession on etsy. Although I'm a bit unnerved by the "hipster" cred that these seem to have accumulated, I can't deny that these seem like a great idea for someone like me: too snobby to resort to silk plants, too incompetent to be trusted with most "real" ones. I also have literally a dozen teacups (hand-me-downs from an Irvine professor), which are too small (4 ounces) to be useful for actually drinking tea. Coupled perhaps with a few hanging airplants and a larger display or two, I'm hoping to re-create my mother's greenhouse effect despite lacking her talent and meticulous care.
I'm hoping to pull off something like this:
Awesome, right?
Unfortunately, although I inherited her love of greenery, my thumb is definitely black. When I moved away for college, my mother gave me jasmine cutting. This little guy's pretty resilient: it managed to hang on through all four years of college. It was all but wilting by the time I graduated, but made it home in time to be nursed back to health under my mother's care.
Since, I've acquired two orchids--both as gifts. They're....demanding, to say the least. Neither has flowered since I brought them home, but at least they're still (mostly) alive.
I do far better with low- (ie, no-) care plants, like my living stones. My roommate couldn't kill it with bleach. It requires no water (literally--it "drinks" from the air. I will sprinkle on water on the gravel around the plant during the dry season, perhaps once every two months). As long as I choose a good spot for it--sunny and dog-proof--it does perfectly well on its own.
Cheered by my success (though I can't take credit for it), I'm thinking of branching out to airplants. They're currently an obsession on etsy. Although I'm a bit unnerved by the "hipster" cred that these seem to have accumulated, I can't deny that these seem like a great idea for someone like me: too snobby to resort to silk plants, too incompetent to be trusted with most "real" ones. I also have literally a dozen teacups (hand-me-downs from an Irvine professor), which are too small (4 ounces) to be useful for actually drinking tea. Coupled perhaps with a few hanging airplants and a larger display or two, I'm hoping to re-create my mother's greenhouse effect despite lacking her talent and meticulous care.
I'm hoping to pull off something like this:
Awesome, right?