January 2021

I have held onto a belief about myself for a while that I’m a plant killer.  It sounds awful, but I’m a kill them with kindness plant owner who has a tendency to overwater.  A couple years ago when I brought home two Christmas cactus plants around the holidays, I set them on the windowsill in their temporary pots with their festive foil wrappers and forgot about them.  Based on my track record, I didn’t think they would occupy window space long enough to warrant much attention.

My little plants struggled under my care, but somehow they survived more than a couple weeks. However, they had  barely grown  since I bought them. I decided that having beat the odds, they deserved a more permanent home.  I bought a fresh bag of soil and some new plant pots and got to work.  I lifted the first plant from its temporary pot to find the roots had extended beyond the pot in a desperate search for some new real estate to occupy.  I turned it over and gently shook the plant free carefully separating the tangled web of roots from the dry and transferred it to its new home.  I surrounded it in a cocoon of rich soil and finished with a good watering (not too much!)  I placed it back on the windowsill and admired my work.  I could almost picture those tiny, tangled roots stretching to explore their new space.

For so long, the plants just got by, surviving but not really living because of a limiting belief I have about my gardening abilities.  Weeks later they are thriving, one even bloomed for the first time ever!  I’m reminded each time I look at these little plants what can be accomplished when we just make room to grow.