My wife has two plants on the back patio. I like them all right. They add some natural color and a nice homey atmosphere along with all of Robbie's toys, the sand that has been dumped from the sandbox, and the lawn chair I got Kim for mother's day a few years ago. The thing with plants, though, is that you have to take care of them, or they die. Now, if they're growing in the areas they're indigenous to, chances are the environment will pretty much take care of them. But Houston has been pretty rough on our two little plants because it's hot and it's only rained twice since February. So here are these two plants--we'll call them Plant A and Plant B--and they're dying pretty much every other week. (Actually, Plant A is always fairly unhappy because it needs a bigger pot, and I know how it feels) Thing is, Plant B lets you know when it's in trouble. Its leaves start to get all sad and droopy. And if you haven't watered it by the next day, it looks like it's ready to fall over dead. It's all an act, though. You just gotta fill up a large plastic Astros souvenir cup with water and pour it in the plant's soil and a mere two hours later it's like nothing was ever wrong. In fact, I probably like Plant B more than Plant A because I feel like I'm getting results when I water Plant B. It's good to feel like your work is yielding benefits.
Plant A? You never know what it's thinking. It generally looks the same all the time. I just go ahead and water it when I water Plant B, because it's never going to tell me otherwise. I will probably come out on the back patio one day and find it suddenly dead, expecting me to feel guilty that I neglected it for so long. Sorry, Plant A, you gotta help me to help you. I'm not a mind-reader.
Yeah, I definitely like Plant B more than Plant A. Still, I want to get a bigger pot and some new soil for Plant A. I may not be a crazy garden-type like many of my friends, but it still makes me glad to see happy plants.
