9.03.2008

it's alive!

I kill plants. It's what I do. I try to have plants around the house because I love them... but all I do is kill them. I have the furthest thing from a green thumb.

A beautiful purple orchid from my sister-in-law: dead.
A lovely white Lilly from some friends: dead.
Our first marital plant purchase of an umbrella tree: dead.
Fresh herbs from my mother-in-law: dead.

The only thing I have been able to keep alive is one of those ivy-type vines that grows for miles. You know what I am talking about, it's green, it grows long and viney, and you can't kill it.
So, you can imagine when I got a beautiful hanging plant with what seemed like hundreds of tiny pink flowers all over, I killed it too. I don't know how it happened, but everything turned brown. I was very sad. I thought outdoor plants were a bit more resilient. Wrong. Just as I was about to throw its lifeless brown sticks and wilted blooms into the woods, my husband stopped me. There were tiny green leaves deep inside of the brown mess. He watered it (and probably whispered some encouraging words to it or something) and then told me "you can save it." ME!?! I don't think so.
But, in spite of myself I cut off all the dead leaves and brown wilted flowers and watered it daily. I was proud of my little green stems. I noticed within a few days the green started to spread a bit... but it wasn't until this afternoon that I really noticed... I had saved the plant! It's back and quite beautiful (if I do say so myself). I can't believe it. I killed a plant and then revived it-- amazing!

2 comments:

Nick and Kaley said...

I am so proud of you. I don't think my plants coming back though. That sucker is dead as a cynthia place christmas tree.

L said...

I fondly remember the fica (ficus?) tree in 1H...sadly, it too died a tragic death. Not as tragic as the cynthia place tree, but a close second.