Garden 2019
6.27.19

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Garden 2019
6.27.19
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Plantblr Number Game
@plantaffinity and I made a gardening themed number/ask game! A few questions are inspired by a list posted in the Swedish Facebook group Krukväxtgäris. Enjoy!
1. Your first plant?
2. A plant you always kill?
3. Your favourite planter?
4. A plant you own that looks special?
5. A plant you share an interesting story with?
6. A plant you grew from seed/cutting?
7. A plant you like but doesn’t like you?
8. A plant that gets special treatment?
9. A plant you received as a gift?
10. Your best plant care advice?
11. A plant that you want?
12. Your favourite plant?
13. The least favourite plant you own?
14. A nostalgic plant
15. Your newest plant?
16. Your oldest plant?
17. When did you get into gardening?
18. When did you start your plantblr?
19. Why did you make your plantblr?
20. Which garden tools do you use?
21. Favourite plant related activity?
22. Least favourite plant related activity?
23. What are some of your favourite plantblrs?
24. Why did you start gardening?
25. How much time do you spend daily on your plants?
26. What plant related achievement are you most proud of?
27. A recent plant disaster?
28. Do you own tropical plants?
29. Do you own succulents and/or cacti?
30. Do you have a garden?
31. Do you keep a gardening bullet journal?
32. Do you spend lots of money on plants?
33. Do you have your own vegetable garden?
34. Where do you buy your plants/seeds?
35. Are you vegetarian/ vegan?
36. Do you own air plants?
37. Do you own a hanging plant?
38. Your plant that’s the easiest to care for?
39. Have you ever tried propagating plants?
40. A plant you like giving as a gift?
41. (How) do you care for the environment?
42. A plant your propagate a lot?
43. What plant do you think is overrated?
44. Favourite kind of tree?
45. Favourite cactus?
46. Favourite plant growing in the wild?
47. Do you pick wildflowers?
48. Do you pick mushrooms?
49. Favourite colour roses?
50. Favourite kinds of flowers to put in a bouquet?
51. Do you own aquatic plants?
52. Do you own carnivorous plants?
53. Favourite flower?
54. Have you ever encountered a plant infestation?
55. Are you subscribed to a gardening youtube channel?
56. Are you member of a plant group on Facebook?
57. Favourite plant you do not own?
58. Favourite hybrid?
59. Favourite echeveria?
60. Do you have a composter?
61. If you were a plant, what species would you be?
62. Have you ever harvested your own seeds?
63. Biggest plant you own?
64. Favourite roots?
65. Which plant loves you the most?
66. In what kind of climate do you live?
67. Smallest plant you own?
68. Most forgiving plant you own?
69. Favourite season?
70. How many plants do you have?
71. How many fruits does your … plant grow?
72. How many plants do you want to own?
73. Can you have too many plants?
74. what does your watering schedule look like?
75. Have you recently made a meal with your self grown plants/vegetables?
76. How does your plant set up look like/ plant tour?
77. What type of water do you use? (rainwater, tap water, distilled water…)
78. Where do you get your plant knowledge from?
79. Have you ever read a book about plants?
80. Favourite common plant name?
81. Do you know the scientific names of your plants?
82. Do you give your plants names?
83. Have you ever made a macramé plant hanger?
84. Who cares for your plants when you’re on vacation?
85. Do you visit botanical gardens?
86. Do you own any plant themed items? (stationary, shirts, pillows…)
87. Do you visit the forest often?
88. Have you ever ordered seeds/plants/cuttings online?
89. What’s one thing that irritates you about the plant community?
90. What do you like about the plant community?
91. Favourite leaf shape?
92. Favourite fruit and vegetable?
93. Do you prefer green or brightly coloured plants?
94. Favourite leaf texture?
95. Do you own any variegated plants?
96. Have you ever tried water propagation?
97. Do you have a birdhouse/bird feeder in your garden?
98. Do you have an insect hotel in your garden?
99. Favourite shrub?
100. Do you have a greenhouse?
Oh man, we had more than a couple of reblogs this weekend and I wanted to say thank you! I’ve been meaning to do an “About Me” for awhile and figure this survey’s a great way to do so. Just click the “Keep reading” link to... uh... keep reading.
1. Your first plant?
Growing up in an agricultural community, it’s hard for me to say what was my “first plant.” Some of my first memories were planting seed potatoes, participating in harvest, and playing in both full and empty cellars.
My first houseplant must’ve been either a Mammillaria cactus or a Venus flytrap. I was 8 and I remember purchasing both during different points of the summer, from Walmart of all places. If my memory serves me correctly, the cactus cost $5 (and was probably the size of a softball) and the flytrap was twice as expensive. Neither plant survived to see the next year and that failure inspired me to focus on outdoor plants, almost exclusively for the next decade. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I tried growing another houseplant (though I continued to start grocery fruits like avocados and pineapples inside).
My first garden would have been the following year when I started sunflowers inside as a part of my fourth-grade science experiment. Beneath the towering 7-8 foot stocks grew pumpkins, tomatoes, and snap peas. I’m still really proud of the sunflowers and wish I would’ve started saving seeds back then.
2. A plant you always kill?
Tough question. I’ve just killed Croton plant number 3. Incredibly unsuccessful with what most people profess to be a simple plant.
3. Your favourite planter?
There’s so many pots/planters we have that are special... right now my favorite planter has to be the old begonia’s pot. It has been with us for awhile, but it achieved story status this summer when our dog jumped the fence and landed on the begonia, shattering the pot. The plant took a digger, but I was able to glue the pot back together and the begonia has thanked us with some beautiful blooms.
4. A plant you own that looks special?
My unassuming jalapeno pepper plant. First off, this fellow has been with us for 3 years now (December 2015). The bad boy produces more fruit than any of our other pepper plants. It was grown from seed and was given to us by my coworker Kory when we lived in Bend. That’s where the “looks special” part comes to play. He started it indoors in September/October, then gave it to us as a Christmas gift. The stalk/stem/trunk of the plant is crooked but continues to grow thicker and woodier. I think it’s the combination of the story and the age of this specimen that has made it my most observed plant in our collection.
5. A plant you share an interesting story with?
See above... really so many of our plants have great stories. Another plant (in addition to the jalapeno and begonia already mentioned) that has moved with us multiple times would be our pineapple. Our apartment in Bend was so poorly insulated we got icicles on the insides of our windows. In order to keep our plants alive, we ran a space heater at night just to keep the temperature above 55F (we had central heating, but it was unreliable and incredibly expensive). Our housing situation has improved remarkably over the years, but it’s still good to remember the lengths we took to keep our plants alive.
6. A plant you grew from seed/cutting?
This year I got really fired up about all our “Gen II/III” seedlings, which included hops, peppers, and a volunteer polka-dot plant (Hypoestes)! As far as plants from cuttings... this year alone we started multiple types of pothos, a few Monstera, tons of Tradescantia, Aloes, Haworthia, Peperomia, strawberries, Kalanchoe, chestnut vine, Oxalis...the list goes on. We’re working on our plant journal and maybe someday I’ll post the link on here.
7. A plant you like but doesn’t like you?
Last year I felt that pepper seeds didn’t like me. I was struggling to start peppers by seed indoors. This year, however, I started well over 30 peppers. Next years pepper stock already has close to 20 seedlings germinated.
My money tree (Pachira aquatica) does not want to be touched. Sometimes I feel if I look at it too long it will lose leaves. It’s happy and green, but I don’t even water it. Like it’s been months since I last watered it (incidentally lost a bunch of leaves when that happened). I want to believe the plant doesn’t hate me. It hates me though.
8. A plant that gets special treatment?
I’m a pretty cruel master. If a plant gets fussy, it gets quarantined until it behaves. I don’t fertilize or fumigate. So my version of special treatment would be misting my aroids and other epiphytic plants, which isn’t really special treatment because how else would I water them?
The one exception: My jade plants. I do tote on those fellas, but luckily it’s only been one case of mealy bugs.
9. A plant you received as a gift?
I’m currently sitting next to a ribbon plant (Dracaena sanderana) that was gifted to me two years ago (December 2016).
10. Your best plant care advice?
Try and recreate the plant’s native environment with your care. This means doing your research and recognizing why your plant has specific plant care needs. It’s rarely possible, but once you start thinking of a plant as a plant instead of as decor or something else there suiting your needs, you’ll begin taking care of it a million times better. Also, plants care can rarely be summed up with a few words. But I’m gonna attempt to do so:
Find consistency. Allow your plant to dry out. Water differently throughout the seasons.
11. A plant that you want?
I’d like to collect a bunch of pineapples. All different types of species/varieties. I also want to get into growing more tuberous veggies, so I’m gonna talk my wife into spending $30ish on oca this spring. I mean, let’s be real, that’s not gonna happen. My local nursery will be selling Cobra lilies (Darlingtonia californica) soon, so that’s absolutely gonna happen. But more than anything, I’ve always wanted a Harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum).
12. Your favourite plant?
It’s the jalapeno. Don’t let any of my other plants know. But if I had to play desert island with one plant, it would be that jalapeno. Though I need to give a shout out to both the vanilla and pineapples.
13. The least favourite plant you own?
This is more of a group of plants than anything, but I do not like our indoor succulents. My wife loves them though, so it’s a struggle. I’ve found a balance by growing them with our cacti and keeping several specimen of the same species on hand in case I accidentally kill one.
14. A nostalgic plant
The nostalgia train’s been running though the first 13 questions already, but I’m partial to one of our Peperomia obtusifolias. I purchased it on the one-year anniversary of our engagement.
15. Your newest plant?
We just picked up the male pollinator for our fuzzy kiwi for $12.74 American dollars, cash money. Additionally we went kinda plant crazy in December and purchased a couple vanillas, pineapples, and hoyas.
16. Your oldest plant?
Old is in the eye of the beholder. Our begonia has been propagated from stock that was said to have come over from Sweden at the turn of the 20th century. Our specimen just turned 4 this summer. The oldest specimen, however, would be our old man cactus. It’s over 20 years old.
17. When did you get into gardening?
Like I said in my answer to the first question, I’ve been into this for awhile. I’ve been around agriculture my entire life. My first veggie garden was at 9, my first job in horticulture was at 18, and my love for gardening has been spiraling out of control since.
18. When did you start your plantblr?
Last year at this time (though I’ve got other plantish posts predating this type of dedication).
19. Why did you make your plantblr?
Mostly for my own records. I went to college for horticulture (my first two years of college, anyway) and though I’m not currently in the industry, I’d love to return someday. We’ve been collecting building materials over the past couple of years and will be attempting to build a greenhouse from scratch this summer.
20. Which garden tools do you use?
Catch me clawing at the soil with bared hands. When necessary, I’ll use a butter knife, trowel, and shovel. Otherwise I want to lose my inhibitions and feel the dirt against my skin.
21. Favourite plant related activity?
Watering. I “water” every day, which actually means I fill up my spray bottle and walk around individually inspecting every plant. Most times the only plants to get spritzed are the pothos and Monsteras. It’s time consuming but I need it. I need to disconnect from the frenzied pace that I feel we are forced to live at and nothing puts time and needs into perspective like spending an hour per day doting on my plants.
22. Least favourite plant related activity?
I don’t really mind it but I guess I wish I never had to do it: nursing sick plants back to health. I get frustrated when I can’t diagnose a plant’s issues.
23. What are some of your favourite plantblrs?
@plantsonpluto @tropicalhomestead @plantanarchy @rooted-and-reaching @plantyhamchuk @awkwardbotany @botanyshitposts @growlithops @planticulture to name a few I follow
24. Why did you start gardening?
It runs in my blood.Â
I continue to garden for many reasons, though. First and foremost, it gets me outside (according to this random website, 93% of our time is spent inside). My wife and I eat better and save a bunch of money by gardening. It’s all catalytic. Because we spend our time gardening, we’re less likely to spend money doing other things. Prepping the garden, prepping produce from the garden, and experimenting with recipes all takes a lot of time. It’s not for everyone.
25. How much time do you spend daily on your plants?
It depends on the season. I’ll spend hours during the summer. The winter will bring weeks on end where the only gardening activity amounts to checking soil moisture. On an average weekday, I’d say I spend at least one hour. An average weekend day, closer to two or three.
26. What plant related achievement are you most proud of?
My peppers. Not only has it been something I’ve been interested in for a long time, I feel like I’m starting to get good at it too. We’re producing pepper seedlings from our plants and those seedlings are currently producing peppers. My wife has taken an interest in grafting and grafted her first pepper scion onto rootstock. Eventually we would like to produce peppers year-round on a very large specimen grown from rootstock developed on-site with multiple varieties grafted to it.
27. A recent plant disaster?
A couple of days ago one of my hanging baskets fell at work. Happened to sit over top of my printer, so I’ve been dealing with that for the past couple of days. Hey, it happens.
28. Do you own tropical plants?
You know it! We have a bird-of-paradise, the previously mentioned begonia, pineapples, vanilla, aroids... I have a 6′ tall ginger plant in my office. We like a good variety of plants and types.
29. Do you own succulents and/or cacti?
Quite a few. It’s my wife’s favorite type of plant (though a couple days ago she claimed Araceae was her favorite family of plants). We have a bunch of Mammillaria, Opuntia, Haworthia, Aloe, Agave, Euphorbia, Crassula, Sedum, and others I can’t think of off the top of my head.
30. Do you have a garden?
Just a couple (right now we have our veggie garden, fruit garden, fairy garden, and soon a bog garden).
31. Do you keep a gardening bullet journal?
Nope, nor do I know what that is. I have a couple of physical journals where I’ve been writing down what I planted where, plus my seed inventory, but other than that I keep most of the info in my dome space.
32. Do you spend lots of money on plants?
Eh, not in the grand scheme of things. I spend way more on debt, food, and living expenses. My wife and I would like to be financially independent someday, so we’re working extra hard to pay off debt. Most of the money for plants comes from bottle returns and a lot of those bottles come from family members and our jobs. I think the most we’ve ever spent on plants in a month would be $100 (during peak gardening season). The majority of our plants have been taken as a cuttings, gifted, or grown from teeny specimens. Our most expensive plant would be our lemon tree, purchased as a Christmas tree this year, for $45. Second most, our staghorn fern which was purchased for $25 to commemorate our first wedding anniversary. Rarely do we spend more than $10 on a single plant.
33. Do you have your own vegetable garden?
This was our first year with an in-ground vegetable garden. Previously we’d grown peppers, carrots, potatoes, hops, strawberries, and squash/gourds in containers. The rest of our produce comes from my grandfather’s garden.
34. Where do you buy your plants/seeds?
All over. Grocery stores, local nurseries, online, garage sales. The only time we don’t hold back would be native plant sales.
35. Are you vegetarian/ vegan?
I’m about to eat pork carnitas for lunch.
36. Do you own air plants?
Nope. A few years ago my wife tried to grow air plants, but they just kept dying so she gave up on them.
37. Do you own a hanging plant?
I have two at work, five in our living room, seven in the kitchen, one in our bedroom, and two in the bathroom.
38. Your plant that’s the easiest to care for?
Easiest as in I don’t even have to interact? Definitely the money tree mentioned earlier. But the plant that thrives under my care? That would be inch plant. I could probably grow Tradescantia in my sleep.
39. Have you ever tried propagating plants?
Oh man, that’s all I do. I have 14 pothos cuttings I just potted up sitting right behind me.
40. A plant you like giving as a gift?
I’ve willingly given away a bunch of Peperomias and Pileas. My wife has given away a few of my pineapples. I returned the favor by giving away a few of her Monsteras. Sharing is caring.
41. (How) do you care for the environment?
Tons of native plants. The most influential piece of advice I got in college was to plant something everyday. So I’m trying to do both and right now I have about 200+ Oregon white oak acorns I plan on planting around my neighborhood this spring. I love our native lilies, so I’ve been working on planting those around. Lupine, native strawberries, columbine, and other plants grown for my local fauna.
42. A plant your propagate a lot?
You can probably guess at this point. Lots of peppers, pineapples, pothos, Peperomia, and Tradescantia.
43. What plant do you think is overrated?
Whatever is hot at the moment. Air plants, Pilea peperomioides, now fiddleleaf fig. They all come and go.
What plant is perennially underrated, though? Pothos. Damn champion right there.
44. Favourite kind of tree?
As a single specimen, that would be an Oregon white oak. They are majestic, beautiful all throughout the year, and native to my area. But if I’m building a forest, give me redwoods.
45. Favourite cactus?
Mammillaria mystax. Just because we’ve owned it for awhile and it cracks me up every time our specimen grows a new hat.
46. Favourite plant growing in the wild?
I absolutely lose my shit when I come across wild ginger. Such a cute little brown flower.
47. Do you pick wildflowers?
Not necessarily. Maybe this is an admission of guilt, but I collect a lot of native seeds while hiking. So I guess you can say I collect old wildflowers.
48. Do you pick mushrooms?
Nope. My family used to pick wild mushrooms when I was younger, however I can’t even remember the kinds of mushrooms we hunted.
49. Favourite colour roses?
Pink and yellow? I don’t really like roses.
I just looked over some of my previous answers and I kinda sound like an old man yelling at kids to stay off his lawn. So far true to form.
50. Favourite kinds of flowers to put in a bouquet?
Hops, Russian sage, lavender, rosemary. Things that dry well. We like to put up dried bouquets around the house. It’s pretty and they impart good scents on their little corners of the world. If it’s something that needs to be showy, I like decorative kale and hydrangeas.
51. Do you own aquatic plants?
No and I don’t have any plans to. I have a couple ideas regarding a water recirculation tank, but I need more land before I start down that rabbit hole.
52. Do you own carnivorous plants?
I do! Currently I have two Sarracenia specimen (separate species as well) and am looking forward to adding to that collection next year, starting with a Darlingtonia californica. My plan is to build a peat bog where my gutter empties. Once that is complete I will probably ramp up my carnivorous collection.
53. Favourite flower?
Pepper flowers. I’m partial. White petals with dark/black anthers and filaments... metal AF.
54. Have you ever encountered a plant infestation?
Like have I been infested with plants? Ayyyy!
I know what you meant, though, and yes I’ve dealt with a bunch of pests. Most common: aphid. Most frustrating: slugs. Most surprising: mice.
55. Are you subscribed to a gardening youtube channel?
No, but I like to peruse. Brooklyn Homestead’s pretty good, especially her field trips. It’s hard to find good videos of botanical gardens and that is absolutely my jam.
56. Are you member of a plant group on Facebook?
No. I’m trying to disconnect from the interwebs a little bit and I should actually try and join a local plant group.
57. Favourite plant you do not own?
This list just keeps getting shorter and shorter... probably one of the plants from my answer to question 11. I’ve been enamored with Harlequin glorybower since I was 18. I’ve just never had the land or funds to acquire one. Soon, though!
58. Favourite hybrid?
Mini pumpkins. I can’t confirm the variety I’ve been growing is a hybrid, but it doesn’t look like its parent so I think it’s safe to say it’s a frankensquash.
59. Favourite echeveria?
Not a fan.
60. Do you have a composter?
I have a few compost projects and one composter. Next year I hope to have an area to process my compost, but my list of projects continues to grow.
61. If you were a plant, what species would you be?
Isn’t it obvious? Oxalis vulcanicola. Brightly colored, messy, slightly sour and toxic in large quantities.
62. Have you ever harvested your own seeds?
Absolutely. Next year’s seeds so far include corn, pepper, tomatoes, and squash/gourds. I have over a pound of sunflower seeds waiting for spring.
63. Biggest plant you own?
Indoor? It fluctuates. I have a pretty large pothos and begonia, but they get trimmed up from time to time. My largest plant that has not been trimmed up yet would be a Japanese aralia, though I have a blue star fern that is attempting to rival it. Tallest plant would be Aechmea mulfordii, though it’ll die soon.
64. Favourite roots?
Jade, pepper, Monstera. In that order. Do NOT mix it up.
65. Which plant loves you the most?
My Peperomia are almost constantly in bloom. It’s an inconspicuous flower, but it always kinda makes my day because I feel like they are all blooming for me. In reality they are probably stressed and are attempting to reproduce.
In terms of plant karma, the jalapeno previously mentioned probably loves me the most. Not only have I kept it alive in slightly extreme situations, it produces tons of fruit and I’ve propagated other jalapenos from its seeds. We have a really good relationship, jalapeno and I.
66. In what kind of climate do you live?
Temperate rainforest. I live in the Willamette Valley, so we’re a USDA Zone 8b. I currently have taro growing in a sheltered portion of my yard. Actually, now I have to tell this story about the zombie plant.
Two years ago my wife and I moved in with a friend on a rainy Halloween. My wife was feeling down, so we went to the local hardware store to browse their plant selection. She bought a wimpy looking taro for $0.25 (and some other rescue plants, but that’s her MO when she’s sad). We tried to keep it alive inside throughout the winter, but it oozed sap and after all the leaves rotted off we threw it in the composter, probably around March. September rolls around and I’m doing yardwork. General rule of thumb, don’t look directly into the eye of the composter or you’ll see something squirming. That didn’t stop me, however, and what do I see in the writhing mass of maggots? Taro shoots. I pulled the plant out of the bin and brought it to my wife, who decided after rotting then surviving in a compost bin it had earned a spot in our yard. Sure enough, the zombie taro plant popped up this year, sometime around mid-June.
67. Smallest plant you own?
A couple of years ago I tried to grow cacti from seed. Only one sprouted and it has yet to do anything. It is the smallest plant I’ve ever seen and it’s been (what feels like) the same size for two years now.
68. Most forgiving plant you own?
Probably a toss up between one of my peppers and my begonia. Both have been damaged, forgotten, and yet they are still thriving.
69. Favourite season?
I look forward to and dread different portions of them all. Just because I’m in the sun most of the day, it’s summer. But there are parts of winter I’m grateful for because I’m no longer fighting blackberries and slugs.
70. How many plants do you have?
Over 200 indoor plants. I’ll do an outdoor survey someday, but until then I’ll guess at least twice that many outside (not in specimens, just species).
71. How many fruits does your … plant grow?
I’ll mix it up and tell you about my plum thicket. When we moved in to our house, there was a wall of blackberries attempting to consume our backyard. I really didn’t want to use chemicals, so instead it was up to me and a machete. Eventually I uncovered all sorts of trees and plants including several hawthorns, two filberts, and a plum thicket. The thicket decided to thank me this year for literally hacking down the competition by producing maybe four to five gallons of wild plums.
72. How many plants do you want to own?
I’d really like to get to a point where we have several healthy stock plants and are selling props retail while also donating some to community gardens/academia. Therefore I don’t necessarily want a ton more, just some bigger specimens.
73. Can you have too many plants?
Haha, I guess it depends on what would cause someone to feel like they have too many. I just realized the other day my plants were causing the air to be humid enough it was setting off our smoke detectors. I don’t want to get rid of any plants because of it, though.
74. what does your watering schedule look like?
Every day, but not out of necessity. I could pretty easily write down a watering schedule for a week or a month. It’s gonna depend upon the season.
75. Have you recently made a meal with your self grown plants/vegetables?
That’s been my pride and joy lately! We make a lot of stews because of it, but we’ve been cooking with a ton of our produce. We love to talk about cost per serving, attempting for anything less than a dollar. For our anniversary this year we had $0 dinner. We caught the salmon and grew all the veggies served with it. Two days ago we had a potato stew (only thing purchased was chicken broth).
76. How does your plant set up look like/ plant tour?
The outdoor tour will be done someday. As it is a work in progress, you only get the indoor tour.
You enter through the front door and are greeted by the largest section of the plant tour. Almost every succulent and cacti sits in this grand room. Our macrames hang over top of approximately half our collection. Our lemon tree sits next to the television. But you, like everyone else, fail to notice what should be the room’s centerpiece: our blue star fern. It’s not until you sit on the couch and realize the plant stands four feet tall and would block a good portion of the television if it wasn’t pushed back into the corner.
Into the kitchen, where you see our largest pothos tangled up in front of the sliding glass door. Beneath it sits a scientific mouthful: a Peperomia obtusifolia, Schefflera arbicola, Strelitzia reginae, and Fatsia japonica. The kitchen window houses the money tree, Gollum jade, mint, and a couple of succulents. Behind us is another Peperomia, Monstera, sweet potato vine, more succulents and cacti, a Sansevieria, and Ficus elastica.
We reach the bedrooms. These contain our prayer plants, more pothos, more Monsteras, a happy Dieffenbachia, the peace lily, two cane begonias, our large jade, avocado, pineapples, spider plants, pepper plants and, guess what? More succulents. But your breath is taken away when you look into our bathroom and see what the inchplant has done. It sits on the toilet basin and has grown up and down the wall. It’s a unit. (Legitimately everyone who looks into our bathroom says something like, “Oh...oh my.” I never know if they’re impressed or slightly concerned)
Before you leave, you ask what was in the garage.
"That’s where we park cars,” I reply with a smirk.
“No,” head tilted, eyes screaming that you’re done with my bullshit, “what plants are in the garage?” That’s my quarantine collection. There’s a ginger, some inchplant, begonia, bromelaids, and a prop platter using up that window space.
77. What type of water do you use? (rainwater, tap water, distilled water…)
Depends on the season. During the winter it’s almost exclusively rainwater. I have a basin (an old cooler) that sits under my gutter’s downspout. Come summer it’ll be tap water again.
78. Where do you get your plant knowledge from?
I was touched by an angel as a child. Gave me the heebie-jeebies, so I decided to focus my life on the tangibles instead of the inconceivables.
79. Have you ever read a book about plants?
Bold of you to assume I can read. But yes, I’ve read a couple plant books. I’ve been reading more about climate lately, but the last few I remember about plants were Second Nature by Pollan, Chasing Chiles by Nabhan et al, and The Hidden Life of Trees by Wohlleben.
80. Favourite common plant name?
Harlequin glorybower. Not just because I want one either. It’s just a dope ass name.
I looked ahead and there’s no question about favorite scientific name, so you get that one here too: Liquidambar styraciflua.
81. Do you know the scientific names of your plants?
I think I know the names of quite a few of them, but I’m still learning. And I went to school for this shit, so don’t feel bad if you don’t know scientific names. There are a bunch of duplicate common names (money tree, umbrella tree, &!@&#ING GERANIUM!), so common names do help. I don’t even attempt to pronounce them right, though.
82. Do you give your plants names?
Nah. Sometimes I lovingly refer to the fussier plants as “this asshat” or something similar, though.
83. Have you ever made a macramé plant hanger?
Never made one, but I use them.
84. Who cares for your plants when you’re on vacation?
We don’t really go on vacation. The longest I’ve been away from my plants was 8 days. We had a friend stay at our house to take care of the dogs and we gave her a watering schedule. We’re working towards hydrospiking most of our plants so that we feel more comfortable travelling, but right now our plants mean too much to us. It might sound dumb or limiting to others, but we’re ok with it being this way. We save a lot of money, which is an added bonus to staying home.
85. Do you visit botanical gardens?
I work a block from a botanical garden, so I spend almost every lunch hour there. We’d like to visit more botanical gardens and will probably do so when we are more financially solvent.
86. Do you own any plant themed items? (stationary, shirts, pillows…)
I’m definitely a plant fan. I have a couple plant-themed shirts, our bed sheets are plant themed, we have plantish statues. I just bought a plant-themed necklace for my wife for Christmas.
87. Do you visit the forest often?
HELL YEAH I DO! I love the forest more than I love all my plants combined. If I could live in the forest, I would. I’ve talked about living in the forest since I was a child. It’s why we want to own land. I want to grow a forest, die, and let my soul possess those woods.
88. Have you ever ordered seeds/plants/cuttings online?
Yes to all three.
I’ve order seeds from Sustainable Seed Company and Territorial Seeds. Both supplied us with really good stock. Sustainable Seeds threw a couple extra packets of seeds in our order, which was pretty cool. Plants and cuttings came for a couple Etsy stores.
89. What’s one thing that irritates you about the plant community?
The same thing that irritates me about most communities. Large groups of people segregate, that’s no different here. I’ve also noticed there’s a lot of know-it-alls. But that’s kind of an internet thing, I think. When I get face-to-face with plant persons they tend to be nerdy and quiet. I think the internet amplifies a lot of people.
90. What do you like about the plant community?
Everyone I’ve met who grows plants for plants, not decor, genuinely cares about plants. Caring about something completely different than yourself forces perspective and that’s necessary today. There’s a ton of camaraderie, as well. I’m not saying it happens every time, but I’m amazed how often I will get to talking to a nursery owner, conservatory curator, or even a fellow enthusiastic grower and we’ll leave plants with each other.
91. Favourite leaf shape?
Trifoliate. I love clover/oxalis leaves.
92. Favourite fruit and vegetable?
Veggies: Pepper/potato. Can’t choose between the two.
Fruit: Here’s the last text I sent to my wife: “Babe...babe. I just found out pineapples are zone 10... we could try to grow pineapples outside... I’m &$#!ing planting a pineapple outside next year!”
But based upon consumption and plantings, favorite fruit would be strawberry.
93. Do you prefer green or brightly coloured plants?
Green plants. I really like variegation.
94. Favourite leaf texture?
Waxy. Peperomia orba has the perfect leaf texture.
95. Do you own any variegated plants?
Yeah, I’m a sucker for variegation. I just ordered a variegated vanilla last week.
96. Have you ever tried water propagation?
That’s really the only type of asexual propagation I do. You can definitely divide plants while repotting, but it decreases the overall size of the specimen. I still divide, but for the past couple years I’ve started focusing more on cuttings.
97. Do you have a birdhouse/bird feeder in your garden?
Yes to both. Bird feeders on every side of the house, birdhouses in the backyard only (there’s outdoor cats in our neighborhood, so birdhouses go next to our doghouses).
98. Do you have an insect hotel in your garden?
No, but I’ve tried to make insect habitat. Specifically I’ve been piling pine needles. Last year while I was “harvesting” fallen needles for compost I found a bunch of hibernating bumblebees.
99. Favourite shrub?
Blueberry. I love the flowers, berries, and fall color. Red osier dogwood is a close second.
100. Do you have a greenhouse?
Someday! We have the doors, most windows, and some of the building supplies. Still need to pick up the rock and foundation materials. I’ve started excavating and hope to begin building by April.Â
Silver Satin pothos
1.13.19
Bristle brush cactus
1.13.19