Friday, January 28, 2011

House Plant Memories








I’ve always liked growing things. When I was a kid my Grandpa and my Aunt knew of my interest and used to occasionally give me house plants. I remember Grandpa Angelo giving me a poinsettia plant once, and a plant with mini colorful hot peppers on it. Those peppers were way too hot to ever eat, at least for me they were.


Aunt Kay gave me cuttings of a plant she called “Wandering Jew”, not very politically correct, but that was what she called (actually known as tradescantia zebrina). She also gave me an African violet; she had some on the windowsill in her kitchen. That started a love affair I have had with those violets, ever since!!
               
For a while I had a plant shelf, with lights and all set up in the house and I had several African violets growing on it. I am way too busy now to have many plants around. I forget to water them! But, I do have one miniature violet on my kitchen window ledge that, of course, needs to be watered! Other kinds of houseplants I particularly enjoy are, pothos vines,

various types of cacti (mammilaria is a favorite) and succulents, and other denizens of the family
Gesneriaceae , which the African violet belongs to such as sinningia, episcia, and the goldfish plant. Specimen plants that I have had have been orchids, bromeliads, and amaryrillis flowers.



  

 Bromeliads have a good and bad side-the flowering plant lasts a very long time but the whole plant dies when the flower dies.










No comments:

Post a Comment

Reading Roundup...

I've reached a benchmark of reading 68 books out of my stated goal of 75, so far this year, it's time for an update. Over the years ...