And The Rest

A side effect of all this germination and so forth is that the plants which usually live inside our walls are getting a little bit more water than is normal for them.  As long as I'm making the rounds with a watering can in my hands, it is easy to toss a couple of drops their way.  We can only have plants in our house that can withstand long periods without water.  They must also be relaxed about how much actual sunshine they receive.

Oddly enough, the plant in my office gets the opposite treatment.  I get to work, look at its parched soil and think "Oh god, do I have to water you now, too?" and it gets neglected.  The plant in my office, however, flourishes without water.  It is an absolute necessity.  Any plant that shall live in my office must be able to survive for 4 weeks without any human intervention; that is the LAW.  It can be sort of sad-looking and really, really in need of attention at the end of those 4 weeks, but it has to be able to bounce back.  I've left it that long on more than one occasion.  I've also re-potted it twice since I got it (in 2004).  I suspect it will be time to re-pot it again soon.  I look forward to the day when it gets promoted from desktop plant to floor plant.  I purchased it from a grocery store floral department in a burst of positivity just as I was moving in to my office.  I liked that it claimed to enjoy "dry conditions" and I liked its name: Dragon Tree.  

At the time I got it, I thought that I would get myself a new plant every year that I was in the office.  I thought that it would be delightful to have a room filled with potted plants when I retire.  Fortunately, I sort of missed the opportune moment in the second year (I was presumably away or something) and the idea faded.  I don't think that I could find all that many nice plants that could survive the abuse that the poor old dragon tree suffers.  A forest of dragon trees would be just silly.  Or insanely obsessive.  Anyway, not really a projection of the kind of dignity I'd like to pervade my office.  

So, for now I have a dry dragon on my desk, 2 pots of philodendrons and a sentimentally significant christmas cactus.  And an outdoor garden in a state of ever-increasing readiness.