OPINION: Keeping greenery in my life

Since I moved to Creston, I haven’t had the best luck with plants and gardening. When I first moved here more than three years ago, I had a box full of plants in my front seat and a tiny palm tree in my backseat. Fast forward a few years and the only ones that are still alive are the plants I brought to work.

I’d like to think I’ve got a bit of a green thumb. I’ve been collecting plants of all kinds since my freshman year of high school. They traveled with me to college and the various dorm rooms; they survived my semester living in my aunt’s basement and my mother’s nurturing while I was abroad.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I planted a solid-sized garden in our backyard. For two summers, we had a nice amount of produce until the local deer came for a feast.

However, despite this love, it didn’t take long for my plant posse to start losing members. Maybe it’s just the angle of lighting in my apartment or maybe the plants just weren’t fans of Iowa, but within a year of moving here, they were all gone.

Despite this, I’ve tried my hardest to bring some plant life to my existence. Inside the house, I have one potted plant, a peace lily from my grandpa’s funeral a little over a year ago. This guy is wonderfully dramatic, and it helps me keep him from joining my previous plants in death.

Once every two weeks or so, his leaves go from super perky to major droopage. That’s my key to give him a big glass of water. Within two hours, he looks like the happy plant he was before. If only all plants told you when they needed water.

Along with my peace lily, during the summer months, I get a small flower bouquet for my kitchen table. It’s not much, but it certainly makes the whole space feel brighter.

I’ve tried a couple times growing produce outside on my apartment balcony during the summer. Tomatoes worked semi-well, but I only ever got about a handful, despite my multiple buckets of plants.

This summer I’m trying a new venture: potatoes. I know I’m more likely to use potatoes than tomatoes in cooking. They edible part also grows under the ground, so I feel less worried about the neighborhood squirrels getting a few bites in. I have two large buckets filled with soil and seed potato halves, so fingers crossed that goes well.

Luckily, though I am lacking in plant life at home, we have more than enough at work. If you were to walk into the newsroom, you’d see an unused desk facing the window and filled to the brim with plants. We originally only had a couple, but between plant swaps at the library and some of our plants have many, many pups, we’ve got more than can even fit on the desk.

Whether I lost my green thumb or I just need better “vibes” in my apartment (maybe my chronic anxiety is killing the plants), I am working to slowly bring my collection of plants back up to a sizeable level.

If you’re a bit like me, I’d like to make some plant suggestions. I already mentioned my peace lily. As long as you don’t have pets, this guy is fantastic. However, don’t let your furry friend get even a sniff of the pollen.

If you’re looking to have an abundance of plants, the aloe is great. What started off as one aloe plant my friend gave me is now 15 separate aloe plants, 14 in the office and one that’s made its way down to Missouri.

Though I haven’t had one in a while, snake plants are known for being easier to take care of as well. The Google description even says they’re valued for their “tolerance of neglect.”

While not as dramatically dangerous as the peace lily, neither the aloe vera nor the snake plant are pet friendly either. If you’re in need of a pet-friendly plant, I would suggest the spider plant. These bad boys appreciate indirect sunlight and, like the aloe, produce a ton of pups!

Hopefully all of our plants will flourish and I won’t have to make the trashcan a plant cemetery again.