Green Thumbs
I don't have a green thumb. I wish I did. My plants wish I did, too.
In my office, I had/have 3 orchid plants and some shriveled up freesia bulbs. My orchids were doing well - all green, strong, sprouting new leaves - except they don't produce flowers. That's kind of the point. I want to see flowers, but no luck. My oldest plant is 1 yr and she's wrinkled, but green. She's also flower-free. My 2 other orchids are only 7 months old (meaning I've had them for 7 months) and hanging in there, but just barely. The roots keep jutting out and drying up. I'm not a good flower mommy.
The freesia...poor, poor freesia. When I got it in April, it was a fragrant colorful display of nature's best work. Then, it landed in my office. I don't think they have a long life (she says naively) because it soon wilted away. Since it died, I didn't think I needed to water the drying and cracked dirt. I'd look at the sandy brown mass in a cute lime green pot and thought that I should humor myself and water the dirt. Every Friday, before going home, I'd water the orchids and the cracked dirt in the lime green pot.
Months went by.
On a Monday, I got to the office and saw sprouts of life in the lime green pot. Shoots broke through the ground. Did I get weeds in this pot, I wondered? I let the shoots become larger and realized that the freesia had woken up and were springing anew. I carried the lime green pot around with me to my co-workers saying that the freesia was returning. Hurray! The freesia was returning! Pretty much no one cared, but they humored me because I was excited.
Several weeks have passed and the shoots have become long blades of what looks like bear grass. I anxiously check to see if I can identify any flowering parts, but so far none. Maybe they'll turn out like the orchids - full of greeny goodness but no flowers. Only time will tell. Until then, I continue to water faithfully.
In my office, I had/have 3 orchid plants and some shriveled up freesia bulbs. My orchids were doing well - all green, strong, sprouting new leaves - except they don't produce flowers. That's kind of the point. I want to see flowers, but no luck. My oldest plant is 1 yr and she's wrinkled, but green. She's also flower-free. My 2 other orchids are only 7 months old (meaning I've had them for 7 months) and hanging in there, but just barely. The roots keep jutting out and drying up. I'm not a good flower mommy.
The freesia...poor, poor freesia. When I got it in April, it was a fragrant colorful display of nature's best work. Then, it landed in my office. I don't think they have a long life (she says naively) because it soon wilted away. Since it died, I didn't think I needed to water the drying and cracked dirt. I'd look at the sandy brown mass in a cute lime green pot and thought that I should humor myself and water the dirt. Every Friday, before going home, I'd water the orchids and the cracked dirt in the lime green pot.
Months went by.
On a Monday, I got to the office and saw sprouts of life in the lime green pot. Shoots broke through the ground. Did I get weeds in this pot, I wondered? I let the shoots become larger and realized that the freesia had woken up and were springing anew. I carried the lime green pot around with me to my co-workers saying that the freesia was returning. Hurray! The freesia was returning! Pretty much no one cared, but they humored me because I was excited.
Several weeks have passed and the shoots have become long blades of what looks like bear grass. I anxiously check to see if I can identify any flowering parts, but so far none. Maybe they'll turn out like the orchids - full of greeny goodness but no flowers. Only time will tell. Until then, I continue to water faithfully.
posted by Cee in SF at 4:32 PM
5 Comments:
Something about office plants. One of my co-workers asked if she could put hers by my window so it could get some sun. It has become my plant by default. And along with my other two office plants, it's failing fast.
What is up with that?
First of all, nice avatar. Next, I don't know why I even dare attempt to keep office plants because they never work out. But they last a year or more without blooming. If my mom had them, they'd be blooming in a week. Green thumbs are NOT inherited.
I have a delightful co-worker who was in the nicest way possible chastising me for daring to have a ficus plant in an office. Yes, I know they are not the hardiest plants. Mine looks a bit like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
I can sympathise. I've already killed the basil plant I bought.....let me just do the math...........a month ago :(
Basil? I had basil once. Once...
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