concerning houseplants

If you'd like to try more houseplants, but don't want to read several books just to keep them alive, I thought I'd share what I've learned. (Okay, so the truth is that thinking about this post gave me a wonderful distraction from thinking about all the stressful meetings that were awaiting me this week.) It seems to boil down to this:

1) DON'T WATER PLANTS TOO FREQUENTLY. Most plants do not need to be watered every day or even every couple days. I water most of mine more like every week or even every other week. I'm sure there are exceptions for more "finicky" plants, but the more sturdy, common variety seem to need some time between waterings to let their roots "breathe". I have found that, for most plants, even after getting very dry and wilted-looking (like after a long vacation), they can still make a surprising comeback if just given a good soak. Of course, the more frequently you check on your plants, the better.

2) BUT WHEN YOU DO WATER, WATER WELL. The idea is to give the roots a thorough soak without leaving them sitting in standing water. I've found the best way to do this is setting the entire plant in a shallow dish of water, leaving it there for several minutes to an hour, (until the soil on top feels wet to the touch) and then removing it. This way, you know the roots have gotten a really good drink (sometimes, if you water really dry plants from the top, the water just runs right out the bottom without watering the plant very well), and you know that the plant is not left in standing water. Of course, this only works for plants in containers that have holes in the bottom, like the cheap, plastic containers that most plants come in when you buy them. (I think it's generally much easier -and less traumatic to the plant- to just leave it in the container it came in and then set the whole thing in a cuter, outer "cache" pot.) This watering method still won't be possible for some plants (like ones in really big pots), so you will have to improvise. But watch out for standing water! -It kills plants and also brings gnats, as I have discovered from unfortunate experience on two occasions. You can usually just "tip out" the standing water. I've also tried watering plants in the sink or taking them outside to be watered.

3) MOVE YOUR PLANTS -if they are not doing well in a particular spot. If there's a spot that's not working for any plant you try, put some nice silk flowers there instead. Since I moved our gardenia to one of our smaller bedrooms, where it can get more light and humidity, it is doing much better.

4) FEED YOUR PLANTS. This really isn't too hard. I just bought a liquid fertilizer, and I put a few drops in the water every time or every-other-time I water.

5) AVOID HIGH-MAINTAINANCE PLANTS -if you don't want the hassle. Tropical plants, like my gardenia and sonic impatients, may refuse to bloom just because it is too dry for them. Misting them, I got slightly better results, but have not yet been willing to spring for a humidifier on account of my plants. Hibiscus will bloom, but the flowers drop after 24 hours or so, maybe for the same reason. Despite their reputation, orchids were not that difficult (just put a few ice cubes on top to water them every week) and the blooms lasted for a month! There are some plants that need very little care, like anything in the succulent/cacti family.

Preschool Moment - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

If there's one thing I could talk about endlessly, it would be my job and working with the preschoolers. And...I pretty much do (poor Dave). Maybe it's time to expand my audience, and, for the purposes of blogging, I'll try to keep it light.

Each week we do a different theme/book with the kids. This week's was an especially good one. (Is there a more perfect book for preschooler's than "The Very Hungry Caterpillar?" -I think you could make a pretty strong case for it.) Anyway, for large group language activities, the kids got to follow directions to find various food items and feed them to a paper-bag caterpillar-puppet (which some of the children called "the monster" even though we'd been talking about "caterpillars" all week...pretty typical...well, it really did kind of look like a monster since I'd hand-drawn it).
FACT: as a whole, 4-year-old children love almost nothing so much as feeding pretend food items to a paper-bag puppet; I do not know why this is the case, yet it remains a law of nature. Some of the younger kids though, did try to cheat by putting their food pictures in the bag's opening instead of in the monster's -er, I mean, the caterpillar's mouth.
For our second activity, we tried sorting food vs. nonfood items, during which time many pretend food and other items were taste-tested by the kids -(sometimes you do start to feel like a record on endless repeat, "just pretend, just pretend, just pretend!").
We acted out the story with our bodies for the 3rd activity, by wrapping the kids up in a blanket ("cocoon"); most of the kids could hardly wait for their turn to jump in. And here, finally, we come to the preschool moment of the week: opening up the "cocoon" to see their smiling little faces, so eager to burst out and hop/flap around like crazy butterfly things. And then, that moment when you know you've accomplished something as a teacher -when you know they've made some connections- hearing the kids across the hall saying, "I got to be a butterfly -I came out, and I was a butterfly!!"

Summers

Doesn't it seem like if you could just keep track of all your summers -of where they've taken you from one year to the next- you'd have a pretty good sense of your life's history? Maybe that's why I like to play this game with myself: "What was I doing at about this same time last year? And the year before that? And the year before that?..."
Once, I read a book about a girl who'd been in a motorcycle accident and had a brain injury that made it so she couldn't remember the events of her life from one day to the next -let alone from one year to the next- and how hard that would be to just float through time and space with no "landmarks" to anchor you. Maybe it's sort of like that.

Summer 2010: A busy summer; Summer of buying our condo in Logan, of going to Germany, of working in the preschool at Mountainside Elementary. Houseplants and family vacations (Mount Rushmore, Jackson Hole...)

Summer 2009: A very happy summer; Summer of being newlywed, of Wymount (married student BYU housing), of collecting data for my thesis. Riding my red cruiser bike all around campus, wanting to cook all the time, late nights in the computer lab with Dave. 4th of July in St. George, hiking with Dave's family... Then, Dave moved to Logan in July to start working at SDL (Space Dynamics Lab); I finished up some stuff for my thesis and followed him there in August.





Summer 2008: Another very happy summer; summer of falling completely in love(I met Dave in April), of an absolutely lovely summer term at BYU, of living in Aracadia Apts. with Becky, Katie, Natalie, and Staycee. Started an internship in St. George at a skilled nursing facility in July. Being exhausted from the work. Spending the evenings with family, talking with Dave on the phone every night. Santa Fe road trip with mom and dad, camping with Erica.






Summer 2007: A harder summer; Summer I graduated from Utah State and started graduate school at BYU. A lonely summer, living on Condo Row, half-way dating a guy named Jason for a couple of months. So excited to come home in July as soon as the term was over. And then, things miraculously go oh-so-much better the day Becky called up and said, "hey, I'm moving back to Provo this fall. Want to be my roommate?" A dream come true. Visiting Brian and Karene in El Segudno with mom. Visiting Angie... Mesa Verde/Capitol Reef/Bryce road trip with mom and dad. Dean Hansen family reunion in Colorado???




Summer 2006: Wonderful, carefree summer of play; Summer of Darwin Avenue fun -livin' it up in "Grey Brick # 4" with my completely lovable, flirtatious roommate, Ruth., who dragged me along on all of her adventures -sleeping on the lawn, making a movie, visiting random boys who lived up the street... Summer school at Utah State and Andy Anderson's anatomy, studying with friends in the ward. During the first half of the summer (before summer school started), Calico camping trip, visiting Brian's family in CA, and then flew to Angie's in Vegas where I met up with mom and dad and we left on our American History tour back east.





Summer 2005: Seems surreal looking back on it. Summer I moved to Logan with Cami. Our apartment off 7th north, our stinky DI couch, hot afternoons lying under the ceiling fan and eating endless otter pops, job hunting, taking the bus up to campus to take notes for the DRC (Disability Resource Center). And then, starting some time in June or July, dating Brock almost every evening. At the end of the summer, moving into some student housing and getting ready to start my first semester that fall at Utah State.



Summer 2004: I don't have many pictures from this summer (at least not digital), but it was a memorable one. My freshman summer at Dixie, and I was such a freshman -enjoying my money, car, classes, friends, freedom, almost urgently trying to fit in as much fun as possible. The summer Cami and I were inseparable. When I wasn't working at La De Da Homestore, we were generally off on an adventure with David Hilton, working on our "evil mastermind/vampire" movie. Late nights talking in the Frostop parking lot with Cami, David, Kassie, and JD. I'm sure I went on family trips, maybe Colorado Springs? It's getting pretty hard to remember this far back.


Summer 2003: Summer I graduated from High School, spending lots of time with Becky and other "lunch group" and high school friends. Freshman orientation at Dixie State, starting to work at La De Da late that summer/fall. Brian got married in August. And this is really about as far back as I can go without doing some serious delving, as things are starting to get pretty jumbled up and foggy.

Houseplants

I have fallen in love with houseplants. It must have started when I got the idea to create my own mini cactus garden. I got a few books from the library and off I went. It makes me happy to come home and check on my plants. I like taking care of them and worrying about them (I guess it's kind of a sad substitute for not having a dog or a baby in that way). Some of my plants right now include: mums, desert rose, various cacti, philodendron, dracena, a bromelaid, geraniums, hibiscus, two orchids, and a struggling gardenia. There have been some casualties along the way including, but not necessarily limited to: hydrangea, sonic impatients, desert violet thing, and begonias. The question on Dave's mind: "Will she ever stop buying houseplants?" Only time will tell, but, for now, I sure hope not.