This photo is just to establish where the rest of the photos were taken. This sign is in my boss' office. 
As you can see, this avocado tree has had some problems; I had asked an office colleague to maintain my watering and feeding schedule while I was having my shoulder replaced. Unfortunately, the colleague overwatered, and it took more than nine months to bring it back to where it is now. The tree is about twenty-five years old and had been truly verdant and leafy before I took my eght-week absence.
This ficus [rubber tree] was started from a couple of shoots that were pruned from the parent tree before it came insode for the winter. The parent is about forty years old, and was started in Manhattan on the 16th floor of an apartment building in Gramercy Park, moved to Rego Park, Queens, then to a fifth-floor walkup cooperative apartment in Jackson Heights, then to our house, its current abode, in Flushing North, also in Queens. Now its offsrping has live in Long Island City for about seven or eight years.
Finally, here's a mango that I started from seed abolut six or seven months ago. It's almost time to transplant this baby into a slightly larger pot.
As the title of the article says, It's a Little late for Arbor Day, but I thought you may be interested in some of the trees in our office.
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Comments: 14
Like your daughter, you have a respect for green living things.
I do ... sort of ... I just can't grow anything.
And that's not exactly true. One summer about 8-9 years ago, we had a particularly good crop of avacados to make our much beloved guacamole. I have no idea why, but I started saving avacado seeds. Bought pots and potting soil, added nutrients, etc., and planted those bad boys. I expected nothing and was delighted when pale green little sprouts started peeping up through the soil. Long, long story short, I had about a dozen very healthy trees to transplant into our back yard along the fence. Disaster struck when we got a severe and unexpected freeze, very rare for San Antonio, TX. It killed them all. I had to cut down dead trunks. Very sad. All the work. And no green babies.
The Mango and the fiscus also intrique me. I think I would enjoy indoor trees. Currently we are lacking. I have been hesitant but if I can ask advice from time to time maybe I can get past the hesitancy to just do it!
The mango wil not bear fruit unless it is transhipped to a tropical clime and removed from its pot and planted in a salubrious environment. [Plop! plop!]
I sent Tonia an email with step-by-step instructions on the drinking glass starter method. thank goodness my instructions matched yours.
I added the warning that my cat just loved to bite off the tender green sprouts as they sat on the kitchen widowsill.
I can appreciate your struggle with plants. I become attached to them like speechless pets. I hope your shoulder gets better quickly, it sounds like it was some major surgery. Good luck.