Seven Years Ago, Today...

I started on the most rewarding journey of my life: My marriage.

The newly-married Karen and Bob share a kiss at their favorite Italian restaurant, May 2, 2003

Then, a couple of days later another journey began: A two-day road trip from New York to Illinois in a rickety U-Haul truck.

Our rented truck in the parking lot of a motel in Indiana. Don't let its looks fool you. That thing could go from zero to 60 in 30 minutes.

View of the packed truck. You can't see them, but there are about 80 plants packed in boxes in there.

Yes, I packed up eighty plants and brought them with me to my new life. Seven years later, I have 30-35 of them left. I was feeling kind of bad about that (45-50 is a lot of dead plants) until I realized how big and mature many of the survivors have become, and how much I've learned about plants and what they need (and what they will and will not put up with) since then. Here are some of the survivors:

Photograph of a plant grouping in my New York apartment, sometime before I moved. All of the Sansevierias, the Dracaeana fragrans and the Epipremnum on the pole are still with me. The Anthurium 'Arizona' lasted about a year before it went into a sudden decline. The Sansevieria trifasciata on the far right is very much bigger now.

Peperomia incana in a 10-inch pot. This was also a very small plant back then.

Crassula ovata

Zamioculcas zamiifolia. It was about a third of this size in 2003

The Dracaena reflexa 'Song of India,' that was featured in a recent post is also one of those that survived and thrived after the move.

I'm hoping that in the next seven years, I can greatly improve my track record in keeping my plants alive and thriving. I already think I am doing better, since the great majority of my plants are at least three years old at this point, with many of them in the 5 years or greater range.

And I'm hoping that in the next seven years, and beyond, I can make my husband half as happy as he has made me in the last seven years. Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

Flowers-To-Be

I got a nice surprise from one of my favorite plants this week. My Dracaena reflexa 'Song of India' is preparing to flower.

Dracaena reflexa 'Song of India' with its incipient inflorescence

The whole plant. That is a standard-sized folding chair on the left, so this is a rather tall plant. The flowers buds are in the cluster of leaves to the right of the bare stem, near the top.

I've never had a Dracaena bloom for me before, or show any inclination towards doing so. I've had this particular plant for about 8 or 9 years. I love the variegation, the way the branches twist and turn, and the fact that it produces new growing points regularly, without being pruned. I probably should prune it one of these days, though.

Flowers vs. Foliage

Every now and again at the Garden Web House Plants Forum, someone posts a thread inquiring about people's taste in plants. One question asked is whether we prefer plain green foliage or variegates, another popular one is whether we grow house plants mostly for their flowers or for their foliage. It isn't hard to figure out where I stand on this issue. After all, this blog is called "Life Among the Leaves," not Life Among the Blossoms."

The two pots of Hippeastrum 'Orange Sovereign' make eye-catching accents in this grouping. But my favorites in this picture, without question, are the foliage plants, particularly the Dracaena reflexa 'Song of India'

I do love flowers. Few things bring me more joy than seeing my outdoor garden in full bloom. In fact, I tend to err towards flowers outdoors--I don't have enough foliage interest going on there. It is something I intend to work on. Also, I do grow a few houseplants strictly for their flowers: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Hippeastrums, and Phalaenopis orchids all have exquisite blooms and rather dull foliage. I think the foliage of epiphytic cacti, like Schlumbergera and Epiphyllum is interesting it its own right, but I don't think I'd be as interested if they didn't bloom as well.

Epiphyllum 'David W. Grant'

As beautiful as the Epi bloom above is, to me it pales in comparision to the foliage of this Aglaonema 'Siam Aurora'

But for the rest of my plants, flowers are strictly a bonus--a sign that the plant is healthy. (I've heard that sometimes sick or dying plants bloom as a last-ditch attempt to reproduce, but that hasn't happened to me yet.) Beautiful or intriguing foliage is what I look for when I go plant shopping. Oh, and as to that variegated vs, plain green thing: I covet variegated plants of all sorts, but I think the most beautiful plant I've ever seen was a healthy, shiny, deep green Dracaena deremensis 'Janet Craig'. Second place goes to a well-grown Homalomena 'Emerald Gem.' Both plain green, they just seem to embody the essence of "planthood" to me.