Gardening & Plants

My tomato plants...

I simply LOVE plants. Okay, not "love love", but I really like them. They are beautiful, they listen to me without opinion, they don't talk back, and they are happy with whatever care I give them. I even name them. Maybe that is going a little too far, but hey! The plants don't mind! 
My family tends to get overwhelmed with my numerous plants in the house. I have a lot of plants that I try to keep in the house (especially those with names), because they just don't handle the heat well at all.
The tomato plants are really the only ones that I INSIST stay outside. I call them my 'illegitimate children': they voluntarily started growing in my daffodils, much to my disfavor. I do not like tomatoes. Never have, never will. I wanted pink daffodils NOT tomato plants!
Anyway. Moving on.
I got a new garden catalog in the mail today, much to my happiness. I was reading about some of the plants and cracked up when I read "...this is a hardy little plant that will grow anywhere". Believe me when I say "NOT IN OKLAHOMA!"
Seriously, all plants, sometimes even the weeds, need help to survive in the great state of OK. Plants that 'need direct sunlight' must have shade for a majority of the day because the sun will burn them to a crisp. Even certain types of cactus need shade part of the day.

A potted cactus - Water rarely!

And it is not just the heat that kills stuff. Oh no! It is the wacky weather we have here. In the spring time we can get 3" of rain in 30 minutes, washing away all of our plants. What doesn't wash away will freeze when the temperature drops below 30 degrees the next day. Or it will get blown away or 'wind whipped' to death by the high winds that we always have. I have even seen plants get sand blasted to death by our sand storms. There is just no end to what can happen to the poor plants here!

Ivy & most vine like-plants are really easy to grow.

Thus the reason why I try to keep as many indoors as I can. Not only does it increase the plant's chances for survival, but it is also really good for the people who live in the house. The plants help clean the air and produce oxygen for us. They also make great conversation pieces and certain ones have good medicinal purposes. If they don't have a medicinal purpose, they always make for an easy place to dump our coffee grounds and loose tea leaves into. They will use the coffee and soaked tea leaves to their advantage.
One plant that has become kind of a favorite of mine is the 'Lucky Bamboo' (which is actually in the lily family, not the bamboo family).
Some of you may remember my mentioning it in February this year (along with an orchid, which my mother killed while I was in ABQ, and my 'illegitimate children'). You can see the post HERE.

"Lucky"

Since the last time I posted about the lucky bamboo, it has sat in a dark corner and grown another 6 inches, which is impressive for this slow growing plant. I am particularly proud of how creative I was in providing it with a new vase (it outgrew it's old vase!).
It needed a narrow vase so the bamboo would stand up straight, but after several days of searching, I had not found a vase that would be perfect for 'Lucky'.
Then, as I was going through and organizing my 'junk', I came across a vase full of pennies. I had received it as a gift when I was interning in Oklahoma City with Character First! Education. I had a lot of sentiments toward it. Every one of the pennies in the vase represented a child that I had tutored or taught.
What better vessel to put my lucky plant into?!
So, I dumped out the pennies and substituted them with bright colored pebbles, trinkets and buttons.
Not only did that help thin out some of the odds and ends of my 'junk', but it also made for a very crafty and sentimental piece for me. Is it vain of me to say that I am proud of myself??

Aren't I brilliant?!