Obituary announcement - death of the green kind

It is with great sorrow that I announce the demise and passing and death of one of my senior house plants, Ms (or Mr.) Christmas Cactus. Ms Cactus had been ailing for a while and in spite of generous injections of water and "TLC" - she has gone to meet others of her kind in that great garden in the sky.

There is a certain amount of personal guilt attached to this death since her earth had not been changed for a number of years. Okay. Seven years. Its demise most likely is due to indifference on my part to CC's well being and root system. To my credit, though, I did turn over the soil on occasion - okay twice but that counts - to give it breathing space. Obviously, this wasn't enough to sustain her (or his) life force.

In retrospect I don't think I really liked CC that much but since its a living thing, I didn't have the guts to discard it. Instead, all I did was give generous doses of liquid to assuage my indifference when I remembered, and that was the extent of care on my part. I should have transplanted it years ago - sigh - life is full of should-have, would-have, could haves.

CC even survived the move from her placement on top of the fridge in our former home, to the second shelf on a plant stand in the dining room. Maybe there wasn't enogh light or possibly she (or he - go know!) was too old for a sudden change of surroundings. Plants are so finicky at the best of times. As I wrote - go know.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized but most likely it will get a final send-off in front of the garbage shoot down the hall. Perhaps - depending on if anyone else is within hearing range - a few departing words will be spoken in addition to remembering how she brought forth pretty flowers in earlier years.

RIP Ms (or Mr.)Christmas Cactus - your spirit will live on in your replacement. One last bit of advice: never personalize your relationship with your plant and then ignore it. They know.

Day 2: fittonia update: the news is not so good

So as instructed on the plastic information stick(?) I've been keeping my fittonia away from direct light...whatever that means. Presumably, it's telling me to keep it away from the sun.

Check.

The stick instructions also maintain that it doesn't like too much water.

Check.

However, barely 24 hours in my care and home, the tips of the leaves don't look so well. They are sort-of shrivelling and turning the dreaded brownish-blackish.

A consult was in order so I thumbed through the pages of my "Directory of House Plants" for some help or direction to take. According to the book Fitty needs high humidity and my house is drrrry. This does not bode well. The proverbial icing on the cake is the sentence: "Difficult to keep unless the humidity is high, but plants do well in a bottle garden."

Bottle garden?

This got me thinking. Perhaps - just perhaps - I could slice the top off a 2 litre soft drink bottle and Fitty could move in. Kind of a "bubble plant" type of existence. The attention value would be great especially when friends visit.

"Um...I don't want to seem instrusive," one of my nosy friends would most likely comment, "but is there any reason why your plant is in a Coke bottle?"

Going into lengthy explanations as to the rationale behind my move i.e. bottle+humidity=life for Fitty, would just make me appear even more weird than they already believe I am. Or I could place Fitty in a plastic zip-lock bag sprayed with water and see what happens.

So today Fitty is moving in to a zip lock bag. Maybe it'll work...or maybe it won't. More reports forthcoming.

Plastic plant information sticks are liars!

A new "baby"of the chlorophyll-kind has joined the "family" known as a "Fittonia" and although its a real cutie, I see heartbreak ahead. Bought at Walmart for $1.69 the plastic information stick advises that this specie likes "a little light and very little water." Problem is how valid are the instructions especially when it's applicable to 200 other plants types?

The way that I see it and read things, all tropical plants fall into one of two categories:

a) "Little light. Very little water."

or...

b) "Lots of light. Water generously"

That's it folks!

According to information obtained on the Web, this specie requires extra-special care. Here's a photo of the newcomer on the Wiki site and some information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fittonia

Can't help but note the somewhat disturbing blurb, "without water for a few days, this plant is known to "faint" but is easily revived with a quick watering and resumes its healthiness."

Oh gawd! Just what I need! A flower that faints at the slightest provocation! More guilt! If I go away for a short or longer vacation, my son who believes that all plants are created equally could either over-water or under-water her/him/it!

Furthermore, "the Fittonia is known to be difficult to grow so it is best bought at a nursery then cared for."

This just might be a really short relationship.

Anyway, according to the instructions and advice on the plastic stick, Fittonia likes "little light - Very little water." Maybe yes and maybe no.

What I want to know is who writes these information blurbs, anyway? Is it somebody who actually knows about plant raising or someone in public relations who also writes blurbs for fortune cookies? Perhaps on occasion she/he gets them mixed up and we houseplant raisers get the wrong information. Someone might crack open a fortune cookie and hoping to get some advice on their love life, might instead read: "lots of light. Water generously." At least that would explain all the deaths in the "family."

So Fittonia - I'll call her Fitty for short - is bathing in sunlight. Why I don't know because maybe she would prefer shade. I think she would prefer shade but go know! In the end a guess is as good as a plastic stick.


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