The effects of a plant addiction upon my life:
When I grew in the windows, people would walk into our home, immediately stare, then say, “It looks like a jungle in here!” I now keep them under lights in a bedroom to avoid the scrutiny.
When my spouse accidentally fell asleep in the room with the passionfruit vine, he would have nightmares that it was going to get him.
I bought a home purposely with many windows that faced the sun (South-facing windows) but now I regret not buying one with a sun room facing in that direction.
I love having my plants where I can see and truly enjoy them.
Where I live, I was known as 'The Plant Lady' for many years until I did quite a bit of volunteering for my children and people associated me more with them than the plants.
What I really want as gifts are plants but my family thinks I have enough.
There is often a frantic journey to buy pots and potting soil, sand, perlite or some other potting medium during the autumn and winter when it is difficult to find because a favorite place had a plant sale that offered a plant I needed to buy.
If we go to a store that has a plant section, I always need to see all the plants as one never knows what might be new.
I had to take a guide aside at a conservatory and quietly tell her that she had misidentified the papaya tree as a mango (we live where they do not naturally grow so it is an understandable mistake).
When going on a vacation, I always look for a nursery of either orchids or exotic plants along the way that I can visit.
I feel aghast when I visit a home with a south-facing sun room and they do not have any plants. When watching my children compete in swimming and there were windows, I always thought about what types of plants I would put in those windows if I worked at the place.
I remember buying plants for my plant collection when I was five years in age. Every vacation I took as a child included bringing home more plants.
I have more photos of my plants than of my children (after they became teenagers and did not want to be photographed).
At nineteen, while my college friends were going to the beach or lazing around by a pool, I spent an entire summer working for room and board in a wholesale nursery in a country known for their agricultural expertise because it was an educational program...even though it had nothing to do with my college degree. The greenhouse where I spent most of my time, despite the latest technology at the time, was very hot but the greenhouse where the cuttings took root was hotter. I worked 5 ˝ days a week, long hours, visited other nurseries during the weekends and had nearly no time to explore the country. I never regretted it.
I spend quite a bit of time reading about plants and plant-related subjects.
I know quite a bit about pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, rooting hormones, and how to prepare soil for proper pH and drainage.
While at the university, I bonded with a professor over plants. The physical chemistry professor did research related to solar energy and admired the efficiency of plants for converting the sun's rays to solar energy.
I often have a difficult time finding information about some of the plants I grow, especially information on growing the plants under lights.
When plants become too large and I can no longer manage them in the home, I often give them away...but, if they are a favorite, not before making a cutting.
I do not go to the conservatory any more because I get plant envy. :|
Even after all of these years, I still find plants fascinating and wonderful; I still have many questions and find that I am always learning. And...worse, I still keep finding plants that I must have!
Effects Of Orchid/Plant Addiction
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