I am a plant person.
When I walk into a room, I like to see a little touch of green.
My plants have always been met with a shrug of indifference from Bob. He says they annoy him, but honestly, I do not think he even sees them. He asked me once if a plant was new, which was an annoying question to me since I had had the plant in question longer than I have even known Bob.
So, when he jokes, “It’s the plants or me.” I tend to think he either needs to come up with a better joke or pick a different battle. I was with the plant first.
Circa 2002. I was with Bob at that time, but you can tell by the size of this bad boy we didn’t just meet.
The best part about plant ownership, if you will indulge my dorkiness for a bit, is that you get to watch your plant grow.
2002 plant is still with me today. And he even had a baby.
I have other plants that I have enjoyed watching grow through the years.
2008 – Bobby in the original Spiderman costume for Halloween. The same costume that Declan found again in 2014 and wore for years.
The same plant today.
2009 – Catelyn’s birthday party (and before I lost all the weight). Little plant here:
Grown tall today.
2011 – this is my dad. He’s a nice guy. Hi dad! Although he doesn’t realize it, he’s pictured here with my little aloe plant.
Sadly, the only picture I have of my 10-year-old aloe plant is this one here. Taken recently when the boys decided to play, “Bounce the ball on the trampoline and get it to land in the crevice of Molly’s leg and rolled up body.” The dog must have been super comfortable in her little chair, because she didn’t move an inch. She just watched the ball sail through the air and land on her.
If you can tell, my aloe was ginormous.
In the past year, I have repotted it but still felt it needed more space. So, I spent some time on Google trying to figure out the best way to keep the plant together as it had a large root and growth off the side and kept growing. I could never seem to find a large enough yet shallow pot to keep the plant together, so I never did anything with it.
Then fate came crashing down in the form of Declan and his trampoline. He was very apologetic when he let me know he dropped his trampoline in the plant (?? The logistics on this one confuses me too), and broke the outer root system.
I was forced to move in a different direction.
Roots were wrapped in a wet cloth, pots were collected, and four bags of dirt were purchased.
I now have eleven new aloe plants. I think everyone was transplanted safely, and I have a ton of new plants to watch grow.
Flipping through the old photo albums to see my plant’s journey was a lot of fun. I was able to find their baby pictures and in the process, watched my children be born and grow up too.
Kids, dogs, and now plants. Who knew plant development could be so exciting? I guess it might be a little more exciting for some than for others. Thank you for indulging me! 😉
I had a long vine that I’d cultivated at work. It was probably twelve feet long and carefully arranged along my cubicle wall… watered daily. I got another job. It took my ex-coworkers two weeks to kill it through neglect…
That is very sad. Poor vine! I have had a couple of healthy hearty plants die from mites. I hate those stupid things. But generally, I am the person a plant gets handed to when someone is killing, or afraid of killing their plant. I am happy to foster or adopt anyone’s house plant!
Your plants are beautiful! As someone who most definitely DOES NOT have a green thumb, it fascinates me to see how other people are able to nurture plants so well 🙂 That throwback photo of you is so gorgeous, by the way! (PS: That throw blanket behind you with the moon gives me nostalgia ❤️).
Thank you so much! I love that blanket! I got it in college in the mid-90’s and we still use it today. It is the best!
I Don’t have green fingers, apart from the crazy plants out front that keep multiplying.
I have a couple of those too! Keeping them in their designated areas and not taking over everything else is a challenge!
My mother was/is a plant person, my ex had his own landscaping business. I was always surrounded by plants I didnt have to care for.
We didnt have house plants with my ex, we kept everything outside.
After he left and we had to move to an apartment we didnt have any room for plants.
We had a garden when Ben was little… now we dont even really have a yard.
Maybe someday we can have plants again. I really miss my jasmine and honeysuckle.
Pretty cool that you can see the growth of your plants in your photos. I hope your aloes all do well. They’re pretty sturdy.🌻💕
I am banking on their sturdiness. The ones that were growing from the extended root off the side of the plant all have bent roots. They went into the dirt wonky. Their tips are straight up but their roots are *just* below the surface pointing upwards as well. They are the ones I have no idea what will happen with, but my fingers are crossed!
So I have to ask, what did Bob have to say about 1 aloe plant becoming 11 aloe plants? 😂 I loved how ginormous the plant became and I gasped a bit when I read what Declan’s accident did it to it. But very glad to hear it ended up working for the better!!! Enjoy watching the new plants grow over the years to come.
Haha! He did okay even though our plant supply just increased by leaps and bounds :-). He was actually very concerned that I was going to be sad as Declan has crashed some plants before destroying parts that were beyond repair. Thankfully, the aloe was completely saved minus a few broken limbs here and there. I think the only way he would get really upset is if I put one of the eleven on his nightstand next to his side of the bed 🙂 and even then, he might (MIGHT) try to deal with it 🙂
Plants are fairly resilient, so I’m glad the little accident became a blessing in disguise. I can only imagine how beautiful and full they will look over time!
Our plants didn’t survive the baby years. We went from a veritable green house to a barren desert in two years. Susan has been building her plant family back up but this time I find myself completely uninterested. The only time I weighed in is when a client of hers gave her a massive aloe plant. It took up half the room. Every time I walked by it I got jabbed. Hated that thing. I might have made the ‘me or the plant’ ultimatum. Glad I won.
They can be prickly little buggers! Mine was a handful to replant, literally, and I got a few jabs too. Over the summer I move my plants that love the sun and the heat outside which really helps on space. I am going to need the space now with all these little guys.
We always keep 2-3 aloe plants around but they are constantly used and replenished–no matter how much sunscreen is used, someone always gets sunburned in my house. Nothing as soothing as fresh aloe!
Thanks for sharing your plant babies with us 🤗
Thanks for checking them out! 🙂
I admire your skills of keeping those green things alive 😉 I’ve never managed it yet. I even have silk roses 👍
Haha! Funny enough, I really only keep plants. All of my flowers are silks too! 🙂
Amazing! I have a jade plant and 2 African violet plants. The only ones that have managed to survive! Ive even killed a spider plant which is hard to do!
Thank you! Great job with your jade and african violets! I love spider plants but have never had one. Maybe it was the plant this time, and not you 🙂
Aww thanks 😆 Ill have to give it another try!
Haha! Yes! 🙂
We have tried Aloe plants here. They don’t like Yorkshire…. We have a triffid in the house that we can track through Hawklads school progression. From small little thing to taking over the back room.
Nice!
Beautiful blog
Your indoor garden looks very well maintained. Great!
Thank you!