How have I missed this thread??!!! I've been here for several years but will introduce myself anyway. I'm Kathy & we have mostly done edibles because that's all my husband thinks you should grow. Edibles or stuff like cotton that has a use. I'm one of those weird chicks who try to go the homeopathic route as much as possible so we have also started trying to grow things that help with that. My husband is disabled (COPD, diabetes, congestive heart failure, prior back surgery, on oxygen) & there's alot he can't do (also stuff he could do that would help him but he doesn't). Anyway, I never really had houseplants very often because he complained so much about them. Waste of time, money, space, blah blah blah.
I remember clearly my first houseplant. It was a Queen's tears (Bilbergia nutans). I had post partum depression after my second kid was born. I never had the energy to bother brushing my hair or clean my house on a regular basis. I took care of my kids but it was the bare minimum. My oldest was two & loved going outside to play but I had a hard time, it just seemed like too much work to get him & the baby outside. I knew something was wrong & did get help. One day I was coming back from the mailbox & flipping through the mail. There was a garden catalog & in it was a caricature of this plant they had for sale. It was called a friendship plant & that just struck me because boy did I need a friend. I eventually got the plant but over the years I've had to replace it with another but Bilbergia nutans still holds a special place for me. (That's been 30 years ago. My kids are ok & I'm ok.)
My favorites are Aloe, pothos, Philodendron, the holiday cactus, & I'm starting to have some interest in air plants.
My issues have been with animals & my plants. For years, my houseplants were kept under some trees for the summer & around October I would take them inside for the winter. Our dogs were older & never bothered the plants no matter where they were. In the last 6 years, that all changed. First, someone dumped a kitten then a few years later a puppy got dumped here & then I found a kitten in the cold rain & couldn't leave it. Naturally the shelter was full when I needed them & couldn't take them. It took me awhile to catch on to kitty #1 & my plants until I caught her using one as a litter box & slapping another one until she knocked it off. After some research, I finally thought I had fixed the issue (& she grew older & uninterested). And then the puppy came & she would run right through my plants, knocking stuff everywhere. She would also grab pots & drag them around the yard or dig them up out of the pots. I would tell my husband to not let her out, that I would let her out when I got home so I could walk her with a leash but I would pull up in the driveway & she would already be outside, running around the yard with the remains of a pot or a plant in her mouth. I would just want to cry but I would also be so angry at her & my husband. I've slowly replaced after each new pet but this might be the last time.
