Green(ish) Thumb?

 

We're still in the midst of winter.  It's cold and gray.  (And I'm so over it.)  While the snow outside can be pretty to look at, I'm ready for spring.  I'm ready for those warmer days.

I've never been very good in keeping plants, whether they be indoor or out.  My father was the "plant man."  He mostly grew tomatoes and cucumbers in his later years, but when I was a kid, he grew those and a whole lot more.  He dug out a plot of land in the backyard and grew flowers and a variety of vegetables over the years such as peppers, zucchini (I'm not a fan) and even corn for popping.  (I'll have to admit that it didn't turn out too great, but...)  He would start his seeds indoors under a grow lamp in the colder months and then transplant them outside in the spring.  When he gave up the house with the plot of land for a large garden (a plot that is now grown over and not in use which is sad), he still started his seedlings indoors (now on a porch) and then move them to larger pots outside.  He would have so many that he would give them away to friends.  And after a while, friends came to come to expect getting plants from him every year.  I'm sure they miss that as much as I miss him and his tomatoes and cucumbers.

My son has "inherited" some of my father's farmer tendencies.  During the height of the pandemic, he dug out a plot of land in our backyard and "fenced it off" (sort of) and grew pumpkins.  He took really good care of the land and managed to eek out 3 small ones.  (They were definitely some of the most expensive pumpkins ever, but that's not the point.)  He also worked on putting plantings around our patio.  He definitely has a talent and he tells me he helps maintain the garden on his college campus.  (I didn't even know they had a garden!)  

Meanwhile, my mom was all about the indoor plants.  (Although she helped my dad with his seedlings...she was especially fond of his cucumbers.)  When I was younger, she kept plants such as African violets and Christmas cacti in the sun parlor (aka, the den where we kept the tv).  When they moved to the shore, she kept plants on the back porch (along with my dad's seedlings) and in the bay window in the living room.  The bay window was mostly where she kept orchids that my father seemed to give her every year.

Though some of those orchids died, some still live.  I gave a couple away, but have maintained three.  They managed to survive the two years after she passed sitting in that bay window that faced east.  I won't say that they thrived, but they did bloom and survive.  (Which is more than I can say for the plant that was given to me by the office when my mother died.  It lasted not quite a year, until it gave up.  Funnily enough my cousin sent me the same plant when my father died.  I've (sort of) managed to keep it going, although my green thumb son says it needs to be replanted in a bigger pot.  He promises he will take care of it for me.  I just hope it will happen soon!)  When I sold the house, I took them with me.

They now residing in the front window of the house in the Poconos.  At the shore, the bay window faced east.  Here in the Poconos, the window faces south.  In both cases they get a decent amount of light.  I'm doing my best to take care of them as well as the two spider plants that sit in the window that faces east in the laundry room (a weird place for plants I'll admit, but it really seemed to be the best place for them) and the jade plant that is in the kitchen window (facing north) that is definitely going to need a bigger container!  

I have to say the orchids, which while not blooming (yet), seem to be doing well.  I see signs of growth.  Maybe they WILL bloom at some point (keep those fingers crossed for me).  Maybe my brown (black?) thumb is evolving into a green one?  Might there be hope for me yet?

Keeping these plants alive is a way of honoring my mother.   I will NEVER be able to honor my father with a garden like his, but I'll let my son take that task.  With a little work and a lot of love, this living things just might continue to blow and grow.