Jar of Goodness 10.16.22: Houseplant Dance

. . . The weekly virtual “gratitude jar.”

This week, I’m expressing thanks for our houseplants.

I think.

Every year, it seems like more work to move them in and out of the house. They love being outdoors in the growing season, and we enjoy having them decorate our yard, so we move them outside in the spring, when the frost danger is over. But to survive winter, they need to move back in before it freezes.

And it’s probably going to freeze tomorrow night. So, the dance of the houseplants.

If I don’t celebrate it, if I don’t cultivate a sense of happiness about them, then I run the risk of them seeming like a complete chore.

So, hooray for houseplants. I need some more ibuprofen, by the way, I’m running out.

Here’s a list of some of the houseplants we’re dealing with today and tomorrow.

Sanseveria, “mother-in-law’s tongue” (Dracaena trifasciata, until 2017 Sansevieria trifasciata), which had been Grandma Schroeder’s as long as I can remember.

Splitleaf philodendron (Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum), which had been Grandma Renner’s for many years.

Terrestrial orchids, or jewel orchids (Anoectochilis sp.).

Pothos ivy (Epipremnum aureum).

Several airplane/spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum), plain and variegated.

Scheffleras, or umbrella trees, two types (S. arboricola, with smaller leaves, and S. actinophylla, with larger leaves) rescued from Hickman Hall at Stephens when someone there had disowned the poor things that had gotten full of scales.

Tradescantia zebrina, inch plant or “wandering Jew.”

T. pallida, purple secretia or purple heart.

Plectranthus “Mona Lavender” Swedish ivy.

Dracaena marginata, or what Dad calls a “Dr. Suess plant,” which just grows taller and taller and taller.

Hart’s tongue fern, Asplenium scolipendrium.

Arrowhead plant, Syngonium podophyllum.

. . . Plus the bonsai.

Plus the elephant ears (Colocasia).

We’ll get to the elephant ears tomorrow, since we have to dig them up, lop off their blades, and tuck them away into the garage; there will be two big garbage cans full of their enormous, loglike corms and stalks.