My "New Life" in Florida

I came to life two years ago when I moved to Florida. In more ways than just the weather, my life improved greatly. I was sharing it with the man I love, and he believed in me. His faith in me rubbed off and I became healthier and happier by the day.

When I moved here, I had several plants with me, and this is their story.

First is my Variegated Pothos, and before I get into that story, let me explain... I used to HATE houseplants. Not that I really minded them, but I hated that every time I got one, it immediately withered and died. For Mother's Day, 1997, I knew what I wanted my son to give me. I wanted a Pepper Mill. It cost less than $10 and it was all I wanted. I told him so. I showed it to him in the store.

So he showed up on Mother's Day with this plant, instead. It was a beautiful plant, but I hated plants. I knew it would instantly die, just like all the rest I had had over the years. It was a waste of money... Plus, I would have to go buy my own Pepper Mill. I did not resent my son for the choice, but I did wish he had listened to me, because I was going to feel really guilty when it died and he thought I hadn't loved it.

So I hung it in a nice, sunny kitchen window and waited for it to die.

A few weeks later, it still had not done so, and my friend Bella came to work one day with a surprise for me. It was... another plant. It was in a four-inch pot and had four leaves. Tiny, fragile... or so I thought. It was doomed.

I put it on the windowsill and waited for it to die.

My son then got a job in a garden center and began bringing me plants which were going to be thrown out because they weren't thriving or selling...

And for some reason I still have not figured out, once I got them in my possession, they began to reach for the sky and become quite lovely. Just like the Pothos Jesse had first given me, which I'd taken a few cuttings off of for Bella and a couple of other friends, within six months. And the little plant Bella had given me..? It quickly outgrew the pot and was sprawling all over my windowsill.

I loved them all... and each time I moved, I took them with me. Until a few years ago when I moved to Montana and knew they would not make the return trip a year later. I brought back only a handful instead of the thirty I had taken with me.

Among those I brought back were the Pothos, the "Friendship Plant" as I had named the one Bella had given me because it was so prolific... (I gave away twelve of them before I left Montana) and my Heart-Leaf Philodendron.

I found a small apartment which would have been just fine if it was like the model shown to me before I signed the lease. When I saw the actual apartment, it had only two windows. Both faced north... and there was a stand of tall pines just outside them, on the other side of which was a car dealership. I had practically no natural sunlight.

I kept them alive with grow-lights, but they never again thrived.

Some two to three years later, I moved in with a man who wanted to marry me. He had lots of windows. But my plants withered quickly, even so, and even when I provided grow-lights for them. Bella's Friendship Plant died. The other two got smaller and smaller.

Two years ago, I moved to Florida and  brought my four remaining plants with me, including the Pothos, Philodendron, Yucca Plant and a Christmas Cactus.

I had little hope for the Pothos, which looked dull and lifeless, but it had a brighter future than the Philodendron. Of that I was certain. The Philodendron had only a few tiny leaves, and they had become smaller and smaller with each year. It was dull; the leaves curled and limp.

I hung them in the back porch of the house I lived in that first year with James. They did not come back to life, exactly... but they hung on, somehow, despite my pessimism.

Then we moved into a new house last May and I hung those two outdoors. I accidentally took a photo of the Pothos one day, which is the only reason I have this one: It was alive.

The Philodendron was all but dead, but we hung it anyway. I didn't take any photos of it, accidental or otherwise.

I began watching the two come back to life on that deck... it seemed symbolic of how I felt, myself. I began wishing that I had a cutting from my Friendship Plant, and mentioned it to my sister Lily, who generously took a cutting off of the one she had in her office, and Fed-Exed it to me in November. It got broken in transit, despite the cushioning of the package... and I was able to salvage one tiny sprig. This is how it looked in February...




Yesterday, I began working with my plants, which needed "tidying up." I thought I would take them "apart" and unwind them, and remove any dead leaves. I think the sum total of dead leaves, after the year since I'd moved them outdoors, was perhaps thirty.

Here is the Pothos, stretched out...



And after the Pothos, I worked on the Philodendron...



And then I tidied them up again...





The Friendship Plant didn't need any tidying up... but I took a photo anyway, just to show it's wonderful, captivating Asymmetry, of which I am a huge fan. This is a much bigger pot than the previous one...




I love Florida. My plants and I have all found New Life here.