Warning: Plants ahead! Don’t continue if you hate plants.
Guess you have not seen any posts from my website for a long, long time. My last post was back in May 2020, a whopping six months ago. So what have I been up to lately?
One word: Gardening!
Yes I am one of those crazy plants people who literally go broke every month spending on plants! I started with a couple of plants exchange within the vicinity of where I live. I was like a busy bee, exchanging plants after work and before work. I mostly exchange with mints and tomatoes, the two plants I know how to propagate the best back then.
Slowly there were more and more plants. I started to propagate plants. Some plants start to give babies. Some died. My days are filled with joy when I greet my plants in the morning and come back to them at night.
I start to have more conversations with mom on how she took care of her plants. I am amazed at how gigantic some of mom’s plants are.
I continued with my edibles journey. I had many tomato trees.. they born some fruits and then died. It was a bittersweet affair.
I learnt to propagate by various methods. Most of them from cuttings. Sometimes from leaves as well, such as my gloxinias. I cut one leaf into 4 parts, and it grew into 3 plants! It took around 2 weeks for little leaves to shoot out from the mother leaf. Patience does pay off!
I started selling plants too! I need money to fund my addiction. When I see two types of plants, I have an urge to buy them: a plant that is below market price or a plant which is uncommon and pretty! My mom does not know how much I spend on plants. I used to ask her how does she defend her plants from pest or disease. She said she doesn’t. I asked: what if they die? Mom says: “Just throw them away!”
Oh my. We don’t have the same philosophy in terms of keeping plants alive. But mom’s natural selection philosophy does have its merits. Mom showers her love with her rice water and compost. Her plants are looking might well, many of them in sizes that you cannot imagine.
I have started to move on to ornamental plants. It does not mean that I have no more edible plants. Mind you, I am extremely proud of my rosemary. It is quite hard to keep a rosemary alive in our hot and wet climate. My bad boy has been staying alive for me for more than 6 months for now. I kept it under rain and shine. This is my rite of passage or badge of honour amongst my fellow gardeners.
I love all of my plants. I don’t think I have a favorite. I check them out everyday. I am especially happy when they woke up from their hibernation and started to give me babies or flowers. I am truly amazed by how beautiful nature has created these plants to be.
My flowering plants:
Gardening has helped me cope during this period of stressful time because of Covid-19. Things have been looking up for a while but now with the 3rd wave that has not recovered, the future is looking quite bleak. I saw a lovely quote somewhere that says:
“A garden is a friend that you can visit anytime.”
No wonder I have been seeking therapy from my friend all this while! I’m glad to have all of them. I am also glad that I have a boyfriend who is willing to help me with my gardening chores, including repotting more than 100 plants over the past few months. Oh my god. I gotta treat him better.
Last but not least, this is my “finicky plants corner” or the “princess plants” corner.
What are your favorite plants? Let me know in the comments!
LUPUS 500 DAYS 