heidiiiii Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Does anyone else here that has houseplants get upset when they die? I was brought up with houseplants like i was brought with cats. We had lots of them and my dad taught me how to care for them. I have some plants that are over 10 yrs old. When a newcomer (6 months - 1 yr old) dies, I dont take it too hard because it was a newcomer and it just didnt make it. But when a veteran dies in my house, I take it a lil personal. Weird huh? My ivy is dying. I know I cant revive it. I had that plant for 5 yrs. It is drying up b4 my eyes. I tried horticultural CPR but nothing. Changed its placement. Nothing. As a gardener and houseplanter, I know that no plant can live forever. Sometimes it just peeters out. And now a moment of silence for our dear departed Ivy....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 LOL! No, you're not weird, or if you are then we both are because I feel the same way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wenlaine Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Heidi, I was given an African Violet the day my son married. I had that plant for over ten years. I had replanted it many times and had numerous offshoots become beautiful plants as well. It died and I actually cried. I nurtured that plant like it had been a child of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 My grandmother had a green thumb, Mother could sprout sweet potatos and I have a brown thumb. When I visit someone with house plants I'm not being rude when I don't come look at them & pet them, I am just trying not to blight them. I have one jalapeno pepper bush in our little greenhouse that thrives because the only time I pay it any mind is to harvest peppers and give it an occasional drink of water. I used to have gardening books and did everything I'd been taught to nurture plants, and they all died on me anyway. I don't do well when aything I care for dies, so I admire lovely plants from a distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 when my hubby and I first met a lady I worked for gave me a deffenbachia(sp?) it was huge we had that plant and a huge Ivy plant for about 12 yrs and than 0ne died and the other soon followed. I was heartbroken. I no longer have any live plants in my home. I do buy boston ferns every yeat during the spring to hang in my front yard but I do not get attached to them. I know in the winter they will die. I do not have a green thumb! Im sorry your Ivy isnt going to pull through. nutti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anya Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I am sorry to hear about your plant. I am the same. I have cacti and if anything would happen to them I'd make a 1/12 replica in their memory. When you care for something it is normal to be upset when it dies it would be strange if you weren't upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovecats Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Does anyone else here that has houseplants get upset when they die? Yes, I have killed many due to underwatering...some lovely plants have gone to an early grave. :lol: I do have one currently that is pretty tenacious....still lives despite drought conditions... *off to water plant* And now a moment of silence for our dear departed Ivy....... *snicker*....that's funny...but i'm not making fun of your plant dying Marg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 7, 2006 Author Share Posted March 7, 2006 <see Heidi creeping up to Nutti`s garbage cans in October> I bought my mother a boston fern for Mother`s day when I was 8 years old. That plant died 2 yrs ago. I am 37yr old. You do the math! If I`m lieing, I`m dying! I have had the same boston fern for.....gosh like 15 yrs. I trim it, re-pot it, kiss it and loovvee it. (LOL ok, I am hungry, ignore me) When they hang outside in summer and you bring them inside in fall, they are going to have leaf drop and browning. Then if you peek inside you will see new buds. I have a catcus that I got at a yard sale from this famous woman in our town (famous to us) and she told me it was over 20 yrs old. I will have to take a pic of it and post it. Last yr walmart was selling small cacti for $1 a piece. I bought 6 of them, re-potted them and they are all big now. I cried over my mom`s boston fern like I lost a cat or kid. Other then that, I get upset but the ivy hit the can this afternoon. REST IN PEACE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniMadWoman Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I feel for you Heidi! I can't grow a houseplant to save my life, but I have the greenest outdoor thumb you've ever seen! I do have a couple of houseplants, but the kind that don't require a lot of attention . . . one is a spider plant and the other a marble queen pothos. They look a little underloved, but at least they're still alive taking out all the bad stuff in the air! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I have never had any luck with any kind of plants, I've even been known to have ceramic plants just up and break on me until my Mother who had a very green thumb passed. I inherited one of her african violets and since her death 18 months ago it has thrived. Even hubby who has a green thumb never had luck with violets, so he is as amazed as I that this one plant which was almost dead when I received it has just flourished. I figure my Mom is looking out for it and helping me with it. I have also managed to keep alive some of the plants that was given to me at her funeral. My whole family still believe DH is caring for them because they know they I usually just look at flowers and they wither. Peggi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julygirl56 Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 I have lots and lots of houseplants. African violets, spider plants, Christmas and Easter cactus, mother-in-law-tongues, philodendron, aloes and other cacti. I never thought I had a green thumb, but they must all like me for some reason, cuz they're all healthy, huge and green. Once a month in warm weather they get fertilized and once a month in COLD weather they all get a spot of warm tea. My Gramma used to do that and obviously they like it. That's how I saved the philodendron. I brought it home from work, cuz the office staff were killing it. Gave it a large drink of warm tea and within 2 weeks it was growing stronger and sending out new leaves. Next time you have a plant that doesn't look too good, try the tea. It sure can't hurt. lyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 8, 2006 Author Share Posted March 8, 2006 I have lots and lots of houseplants. African violets, spider plants, Christmas and Easter cactus, mother-in-law-tongues, philodendron, aloes and other cacti. lyn I kill african violets. Always have Always will. My neighbor threw away her spider plant. Made dh go out in the night and steal it from their garbage. All my friends now have spider plants from off shoots of that plant I saved. Oh! My two christmas catci bloomed this year! I have had them since I moved in house (1998) and they never bloomed. I stuck them up on the fridge (window up there) to get them out of the way, and lo and behold, blooms! If I do quick math in my head I have about 23 houseplants, that includes two containers with those chinese bamboo shoots from the $1 store. I have an old book called Houseplants for the Purple Thumb. You all dont have black thumbs, just purple ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.