It seems like one of my houseplants dies - or needs medical assistance - every month. Yellow leaves, wilting leaves, no new growth. Houseplants were much easier to keep alive in Michigan. Here in Arizona, there isn’t much humidity and I can’t get a watering schedule right. I shop at a variety of places: cactus nurseries, regular nurseries, Lowe’s, Safeway. A nicer store or higher price doesn’t correlate with a healthier plant. (A note: I don’t know plant names or Latin. I’ve Googled all the scientific names used in this blog entry. Also, I flop between “botanical nomenclature” and nicknames.)
^ My newest purchase: a burgundy rubber leaf from Safeway’s floral department. Everything I put in this yellow pot dies. We shall see…
Some plants are beyond saving, so they go in the trash. Other plants are uprooted, rinsed and transferred to water. I could call it “propagating,” but it’s really just rehabilitation/survival. As of now, I have four plants growing in soil. The other ELEVEN plants are in water. I’ve had a pothos wilt in soil, so I moved it to water only. It sprung back to life, so months later I moved it back to (fresh) soil. It wilted again.
Plants that died:
Chinese evergreen
Dracaena fragrans
Ficus altissima
Ficus elastica tineke
Monstera
Sansevieria laurentii
Sansevieria moonshine
ZZ Plant
Every cactus and succulent
Plants I’m propagating:
Monstera
Pothos
ZZ Plant
A segue from plants to businesses closing: About four years ago, I bought a twisted lucky bamboo at 99 Cents and Silk Flower Store. It was a bizarre but fun dollar store. About a month ago, it closed. My favorite - and brand new - Starbucks (profiled on this blog) closed after less than one year in business. Cafe Français (a French bakery, also profiled on this blog) closed. And the relaunched Quizno’s closed.
^ Before
^ After
^ These candles are intended to be repurposed as planters and even have drainage holes.
^ The only surviving plant from this photo is the heart-leaf philodendron. But its drape is a lot shorter now.
^ I started a propagation station in the corner of my kitchen nook.
^ The ficus altissima from Pueblo, the hipster plant store in Phoenix, only lasted a few months.
^ It has been replaced with this monstera clipping from a massive pot at my job.
^ The lucky bamboo is going strong.
^ I haven’t been able to keep any cacti or succulents alive.
