Friday Flora: Plant Crimes Edition

[lebateleur]

It's been a rough week and a long day at work and very strange to wake up to news of Abe Shinzo's assassination. In the interest of posting something calming and happy, here is more Friday Flora.

For good or ill, more people in my neighborhood buy plants than can take care of them. Which, it is a learning process, and luckily at least some of those people put the plants out for adoption instead of immediately dumpstering them. And because I have a bleeding plant heart and like a challenge, I am happy to pick them up.

I posted a few months ago about the abandoned diffenbachia that was clinging to life as four stems. I'm happy to report that six-plus months of TLC have paid off and it is starting to grow new leaves.



As is the monstera I adopted the night of the lunar eclipse, which has sprouted half a dozen new leaves that are starting to develop the characteristic swiss cheese holes.



I really love the glossy green of these new leaves. The appearance of holes in them is especially gratifying, because nobody really knows what mechanism triggers the plant to start producing them (the one in my bedroom, for instance, has led a pampered life since I brought it home healthy from the store, and has produced no holes whatsoever).

I noticed someone lugging two suspiciously distressed-plant-shaped tubs to the recycling chute the last week of June as I was heading out to run a day full of errands. If they are indeed plants and still there when I get back, I thought, I will see what I can do.



They were and were, and I did. They are still in bad shape, but regenerating fast enough that I hope to get rid of the dead growth (which is currently helping to maintain the ideal level of soil moisture) soon.

Finally, I found this guy on my walk home from the grocery store last Saturday.



She seems to have been abandoned during a move rather than because she's ailing and seems to be adapting quite well to the conditions here.

これで以上です。

Comments

[corvidology]

It's so nice to know there's a plant rescuer in my circle!

[lebateleur]

Thank you! I do what I can for the little guys.

[senmut]

You are a dryad... or the equivalent in your culture!

[lebateleur]

As it happens, I am a dryad in one of my current D&D games. XD

[bethctg]

I love your plant posts so much! Do you know what that last one is? So pretty.

[lebateleur]

Thank you! I think it might be a stromanthe, but I'm not entirely sure (the leaves seem a little rounder than I'd expect). Once it matures a little more, I'll have a better idea.

[under_the_silk_tree]

Wow, you find a lot of plants! That is so awesome that people in your building will leave plants out to get adopted rather than just throwing them away.

I love plants but I am doing all I can to keep the two I have now alive. lol If they make it then I will get more.

[lebateleur]

It's not just plants! My neighborhood (the whole city, really) is very into freecycling and rehoming all sorts of things: books, clothing, furniture, music, sports equipment, etc. I especially appreciate it for plants, though, because they are living things.

That's excellent about yours, and I bet they will make it. :) I started with one or two also and now it's a bit of an obsession.

[forests_of_fire]

Man, I am so jealous. I had to stop buying plants because I killed them off so often, even if they were cacti or other succulents. I suppose I will have to live vicariously through you. ;)

ETA: also, I find it incredibly fucking neat that they don't know what causes the Swiss cheese holes!

[lebateleur]

Oh, I've killed plenty of plants in my time...it's total trial-and-error figuring out what ones you don't kill. (And you have a living critter, and living critter are much more complicated to care for.)

I know, isn't it crazy? It seems like something science should have figured out long ago--or be able to now. I dunno, maybe someone will win a Darwin Award for it some day.

[forests_of_fire]

They have some beautiful cacti at my store right now and I'm resisting the urge to buy them so badly because I know it'd just be wasted money. XD

I want to know if anyone's actually looking into that. It is interesting af and I would legit love to know how it happens.