House Plant Challenge

You would think that coming from old farming roots, I would be able to grow plants and keep them alive. But as I have discovered, not everyone is born with a green thumb. I seem to have more success at killing house plants then keeping them alive.

My biggest ‘problem’ is finding a place to put them where they will get enough sunlight AND are inaccessible to the cats, who like to nibble on plants. And I 'try' to remember to water them on a regular basis but, quite clearly, I do not manage to accomplish that. I don’t want to make excuses for myself because they would all sound quite lame.

The first one was an orchid that was sent to the funeral home when my mother passed away by the ladies at the flower shop she used to work at. It was a lovely purple & white orchid. I went online and read about how to take care of orchids as I’d never had one before. I thought I was doing everything right. Sadly, it did not last long.

The second one was a spider plant given to me by a friend. It never really thrived in my house though. It was in my bedroom, high on top of a shelf with no direct sunlight coming in the window. It did last longer than the orchid but over this past winter, it declined rapidly and died. Big sigh.

The last one was a lovely white lily, dropped off at my front door by a local church group at Easter this year. I had planned to plant it outside when the weather got better but it snowed even in May here and the lily did not make it. The living room smelled so glorious when it was in full bloom. I’m not sure if the bulb can still be planted outside at this point. I may have to investigate that possibility.

I think that I’m going to have to stick to artificial flowers and plants inside my home from now on. They always look fabulous. They don’t require sunlight to thrive. They never need watering. They can survive any level of neglect. All you have to do is take them outside once in a while to shake off the dust. And the cats ignore them too.