Do you kill house plants? I am here to admit that I often do. This is not a goal of mine or even an outcome with which I am contended. It kind of destroys me. I can’t help but become attached to this beautiful little creature I bring into my home that only needs the right combination of soil, light, and water. Gosh you would think that plants would be easy to raise, especially when considering the needs of another person or pet. But, where I seem to succeed with the later two, plants continue to baffle. I watch people like my mother who have an instinct with plants that I so glaringly lack and envy. I want a home jungle, I want clean air, I want a verdant green reality to help me through our monochromatic winters. But I am here to say, I have not yet been successful.

In walks, “The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family” by Darryl Cheng. Darryl has a relaxed style of writing that welcomes even the most dreadful house-plant parent. The book offers wonderful tips and tricks, as well as plant specific information. However, Darryl often reiterates, that to grow plants successfully you need to break a routine and actually pay attention to your plant. Make sure to offer that specific plant the right combination of light, water, and soil that it may need. This is starting to remind me of how we care for each other, noting differences in attitude and emotion, and offering space for another individual to be comfortable and grow. Thanks Darryl, that’s good information. Reassuringly, the author repeats the fact that some plants will lose leaves, grow in a leaning Tower of Piza kind-of-way, or even live contentedly as a smaller version of what you see online from their brothers and sisters. Plants change. And if you make room for that change, accept the responsibility for the things that you can control….light, soil, and water, the rest is up to the plant. I feel like going and buying a Snake Plant…wish me luck!