MORE PLANT STORIES

         Yesterday I posted about Pam and the begonia which made me start thinking about the part plants have had in my life. In fact, today I transplanted the plants that needed it, and moved some of them around. I still have some to go, maybe not a complete transplant, but they always appreciate a trip to the deck and a serious hosing off. It started to rain, so I’ll need to finish this up another day.

          When I was growing up, my Grandma Alice grew gorgeous African violets. She would give me starts, but no matter what I did, they never ever equaled the ones she grew. Perhaps I didn’t pay enough attention…when you’re a teenager, there are so many other things to grab and hold your attention. No one else in the family really did anything with house plants, but they did garden outdoors.

          When John and I bought this house, I didn’t have a single plant. When we separated six years later, I eventually moved into a little house by Green Lake. I built a brick and board bookcase for my stereo, records and books. It looked a bit bare, so I began to purchase a plant here and there. By the time I moved back home, I had the beginnings of a collection. My brick and board bookcase took up residence at the east end of my living room.

          Yesterday I said I’d had the begonia going on 40 years. Well, the Beefsteak Begonia pictured here I’ve had for 48 years. While John and I were separated and after I filed for divorce, I went to the Open Door Clinic in the University District. I needed some help getting strong enough to make John stay away from me, not AJ, just me, because I still loved him so much and it was so hard.

I made plant stand too

          I got the help I needed, but something else came to light in my sessions. I had a tendency for child abuse…not physical, but mental. My counselor signed me up for sessions at the Ryther Child Center. I learned a lot during the time I attended all those group sessions and maybe I’ll write about those another time. Anyway, my Ryther counselor had this plant hanging in her window. At some point she gave me a start of her Beefsteak Begonia.

          As you can see in the photo, it isn’t very big. Over the years it has grown big, been cut back, almost died, been nursed back to health and continues to live with me. It was in a much smaller pot before today. I hope it likes the new pot it’s living in now.

          In the process of doing this plant maintenance, I also noticed that another one of the Begonia gigantiosium has a bloom stalk. If you look in the middle of the photo, you can see it.

          A couple years after moving home, John replaced my brick and board planter with a three-tier redwood tongue and groove planter. He also installed gro-lux lights up against the ceiling. I’m sure lots of the neighbors thought we were growing pot, but we weren’t doing that at that point in time.

          A neighbor and I taught ourselves how to macrame. I made macramae hangers for my plants. At one point in time, there were two plants hanging in front of every single window in the house. I even tried selling them at the Lake Forest Elementary School craft fair one year. John built me a beautiful display and one of the PTA ladies told me that she could tell how much he loved me just by the way he looked at me…nice.

          I’ve also included a photo of a macrame hanging I did way back when. It used to hang on the living room wall, but I have an original painting I purchased at the Jungle Party one year. Amazingly, I haven’t been able to find the artist anywhere on the internet…guess the kids won’t be able to sell the painting to some museum for a ton of money.  When I made the hanging, I followed the directions to the letter, but no matter what I did, the central portion came out not centered. Finally, I threw the directions down and just did what made sense…it came out centered that time.

          Over time, and as I grew older, my plant collection dwindled. Some of them died. I gave some of them away. Some I didn’t pay enough attention…I’d love to have my red orchid cactus back. I took it outside for a wash, left it there and didn’t get it back inside before it froze…sad, sad, sad. We repainted and removed the hooks from the ceilings in the process. I just didn’t have the time or energy to give them the care they required. At the height of my plant phase, taking them all outside for a cleansing spray and repotting could take almost a whole week.

          John took out the redwood planter when we removed the carpet and had the hardwoods restored. Since Haley is 18, that would be 15 years ago. He also removed the gro-lux lights from the ceiling, so the plants now have to depend on whatever natural light comes in through the windows. I do have one standing plant light, but it doesn’t provide enough light for the entire group. Just the ones that could use some extra get to be close to it.

          When I was thinking about having a garage sale and eliminating a lot of stuff in the house, I figured I’d include the majority of my plants. I'd keep my two special begonias and probably a couple of others, but I do believe I could let the remainder go for a good price. I know if I move to a small place, I wouldn’t want all that many plants, plus if I ever get to travel again, I wouldn’t be able to be gone for long periods without providing for their care.    

          I’m seriously hoping I can save my black bean tree. I’ve had it forever and it’s been through a lot. When Zooey the cat was young, we came home one day to find the black bean on the floor, some of its leaves shredded and it’s roots out of the pot. I babied it and it recovered and continued to grow. Now, it has scale again. I put it in the shower, washed it off and have put a No-Pest Strip between two of its branches. It's residing in the bathtub until the scale is dead. If the scale doesn't die, then I may have to send it to the yard waste can…don’t need scale on all my other plants.

I do need to finish with the house plants so I can turn my attention outside. I have an appointment at Swanson’s Nursery on Friday to go pick out tomato plants. With all the cars except mine gone, I can now grow my squash, tomatoes, beans and who knows what else down the north side of the driveway…they’re all going to love the heat from the asphalt…and I’m going to love eating them and maybe sharing them with friends and family.

It felt good today though to mother my plant babies and think about where some of them originated. I like the way I’ve arranged them this time, but then I always like the way they look when they are dust free and shiny. I’ll get to the rest of them in the next week or so and then I’ll be done, except for watering, until this time next year...unless I have that garage sale.