Colin and I have always loved nature even before we met each other, but since we’ve been together, our individual passions have joined. He is the king of the backyard, researching and purchasing native plants that subsequently invite more insects, birds, and wildlife critters to our humble urban home. We’ve been delighted by the arrival of a short and stout groundhog who we’ve dubbed “Beavis”. We are hoping that he will soon find a lady who we’ve already decided will be named “Beatrice”.
I, on the other hand, am the indoor plant queen. This all started in college, back when I was living in a matchbox dorm room with one window and very little responsibility. I was keeping small succulents that I bought from Home Depot and overwatering almost all of them. Since then, I’ve bought and lost a handful of plants during my time in grad school, victims of overwatering, underwatering, neglect, and worst of all, a particularly terrible event known as the fungus gnat pandemic (we hate fungus gnats). Over the past year though, my indoor plants seem to be experiencing a golden period. I’ve moved back into my room at my parent’s house, with its southwest-facing windows, and I’ve learned more about the care of different types of plants.
As of now, my collection includes a peace lily which has bloomed a lovely white flower each summer, a long and leggy golden pothos which I have propagated multiple times, a Christmas cactus which bloomed generously in Easter as well, a pilea peperomioides which Colin and I got on our vacation to Collinsville this past summer, an asparagus fern who is sharing a pot with a string of spades, a dramatic stromanthe triostar, a ficus elastica tineke with beautiful watercolor leaves, a staghorn fern mounted by yours truly, a fiddle leaf fig tree, and of course, a handful of succulents. At Colin’s house, where sunlight is a little more limited, we have a snake plant, a pair of ZZs, a baby pilea, my pothos propagations, and a large pot of succulents as a housewarming gift from his friends.
I’ll be sure to update the blog with any new interesting indoor plants I acquire.
