Some people collect dolls or figurines. Others collect stamps, coins or antiques. Me? I collect plants. Sometimes, I think this borders on an obsession, as I have way too many houseplants. I guess you could call me a crazy plant mom.
Was I Born a Crazy Plant Mom?
I’m not sure if I was born this way, but I’ve owned and loved houseplants as long as I can remember. As a child, I was intrigued by any plant I could grow inside the house. Perhaps it was my way of connecting with nature while being cooped up in the house during our long, cold Ohio winters.
Perhaps it was because my parents weren’t very pet-friendly. When I was four, we moved into their dream house – one they had put their hearts and souls into building. Pets were limited to the non-roaming type, like fish, that wouldn’t have accidents on the hardwood floors or damage the new furniture.
I suppose plants fulfilled my need to connect with something alive. In a sense, they became my pets. Nowadays, I have a handful of the animal-type pets, but my love of houseplants hasn’t faltered. As I walk around my house, I count 25 different species of plants.
What Types of Houseplants Do I Own
Cacti are one of my favorite types of houseplants. They tend to grow slowly and can survive periods of drought should I get busy and neglect my watering chores. I buy them in small pots that I can line up on my windowsills. Window space is the limiting factor as to how many houseplants I can grow.
Many of my other houseplants have special meaning to me. I have the poinsettia my mother propagated from a cutting shortly before she died. I have the live plant basket from my father’s funeral. But I also have plants from happier times.
For instance, the banana plant my husband gave me for Mother’s day one year. Or the pineapple I rooted from the first pineapple I purchased after my youngest son left for college. He is allergic to pineapple and for many years this fruit was banned from our house.
Pineapple is a fruit both my husband and I adore. Oh, how sweet it was to be able to eat this forbidden fruit once more! And even though my rooted pineapple top has yet to produce fruit, it’s a wonderful reminder that the sacrifices we make in life are often only temporary.
My last category of houseplants are there simply to remind me of my dream. I’d love to someday add a glass-roofed sunroom or conservatory onto my house. It would be a place to surround myself with living flora by day and watch the stars by night.
Yet, I have to wonder. Would such a room fulfill my crazy plant mom desires? Or would it simply fuel my plant addiction? With the hefty price to build and heat such a room, it’s most likely I’ll never know the answer. And that’s probably a good thing!
