My Jungle, Confessions..... — sweet southern bohemian

Today I've decided to come clean. I am a plant hoarder. I love plants. I have plants all over my living space. I've also written about them here.

I take my plant care very seriously, but unfortunately I'm all hit or miss when it comes to success with flora. What I lack in knowledge, I make up for in enthusiastic research. I read up on preferred climate, grow zones, lighting needs, watering schedules and soil types. I even have grow lights suspended from the ceiling. I give my potted pretties all my love and attention and you know what? Some thrive and some don't.

At the risk of sounding crazy I think plants either like you and choose to stay or hate you and die to get away. Take succulents for example. They are supposedly a very hardy plant, and I know they are all the rage in the blogosphere right now. They are GORGEOUS and they are just so doggone interesting! On the flip side they are finicky, fickle and downright hateful. Oh, do I sound bitter? My bad.

I heart succulents so hard that I've spent a small fortune on them. I bought tiny pots, special soil and I installed a grow light over my bed just for them. I talked to them and turned them toward the light and played music for them (Classical to be specific; I prefer Bruno Mars myself, but it's their world and I'm just living in it.). And guess what? They still died! No matter what I did they died. They would shrivel from the root up or fall apart slowly. Either way, they died and with each death my heart broke a little. Considering the fact that at one time I owned about 30 of them, that's a lot of heartbreak. Every time I bought a new one I was convinced that it would be different this time. I wouldn't stalk or hover over them and they wouldn't die, but it was always the same.

I was in an abusive relationship with succulents, and we just broke up!

I have accepted the fact that succulents don't like me. I still love them, but we are bad for each other. I've decided to focus on plants who love me as much as I love them. My new love is the Pothos plant, they come in many varieties and they don't shy away from me and my enthusiasm. They just grow and grow and grow. And they are beautiful.