Plants at Home Depot whimper in fear when I meander near their aisles. Cacti cry. They know that my love for plants cannot undo my unnaturally Brown Thumb.
Brown Thumb? It is the opposite of a Green Thumb. The Green Thumb magically allows said owner of such talent to be able to make any plant blossom, bloom, grow lavishly and more all seemingly without effort. The Brown Thumb causes withering, tremors, tears, and lots of eventually saggy dead plants no matter the advice received and applied. Even the meticulous reading over of professional instructions on the care for plants can't seem to save a Brown Thumb from his or her doomed destiny of plastic plants.
No More says I! For I have found some hardy plants that seem almost to THRIVE on neglect, blunders born of good intentions and more.
I can say this as a fellow Brown Thumb. Over the years I have found a few plants that are hardy enough to survive me and I thought I would pass these on to those who would love to have a pet plant but are afraid to try ( if you are like me you may be ridden with guilt at all the lives that wilted at your well intentioned hands in the past).
Pileas Birdsnest - This one is awesome. 45 degrees to 85 degrees she will do fine. Did you forget to water her in the last two weeks or so? That is okay too. Well not really but she will forgive you. The important thing here is Sunlight. She likes to be near a window ( not right up in it or out directly on your porch). As long as she has Sunlight nearby she will be happy. When she is happy she will flourish and grow ( this is one of those hanging plant types with vine like arms and lots of leaves). When she is unhappy she may wilt a bit, leaves turning brown and or shrivelly. In that case see how close to the sun she is. Check if the dirt is bown dry. Tear off all those nasty dead leaves.
And if you come across withered vines snip them off......you can sometimes grow a whole new plant from them if you put them in water and then dirt once they get roots.
I had one Pileas for three years. It eventually met the grave......because I had no where to hang it and my cats mistook it for a cat bed ( SKISH!!!!!)
Spider Plant - This one is really easy. Again it does na seem to mind temperture changes. It too likes sunlight ( not in your face sunlight though). I try to water them once a week however I have been known to skip......like up to three weeks....oops..... and they survived. Try something fun with them.....bury different rocks from outside in your plant's soil or egg shell, peanut shells, even sea shells. The different things you put in the soil will affect the colors in your plant ( making them have light streaks in the leaves, dark streaks , etc). Spider plants are pretty fun and easy to work with.
Wandering Jew - I did na name it and I forget it's latin name. If you doubt this is an actual plant name google for images. This one is really stupid simple. It loves the moisture in my laundary room so much I never have to water it. This is another hanging plant and when it is happy whoo hoo! I have tendrils that are easily 3 feet or longer off of mine. This one also likes sunlight ( though not direct all the time).
Dragon Trees - These guys are haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaardy. I won't mention the abuse mine suffered ( I forgot they were outside on the back porch for a while.....) I will mention that they can go without water for long stints and while they like a lot of sun it is not wise to keep them in direct sunlight ( like on your porch) for extended periods of time.
In my experience all of these plants are very forgiving and even if you mess up and they start to go wilty on you, they will recover if you take the time to correct it. I know most plants are like that ( take time to correct it and they get better), however a lot of plants seem to be picky ( even the stupid simple cacti.....which I STILL managed to kill......UGH!)
My friend Tuxxy has no experience in plants and wanted one for his apartment. I gave him a Pileas Birdsnest and the simple instructions ( likes sunlight, water when dirt is dry) and his is doing fantabulous ( better than the one I have.......I moved it too close to sunlight....in the summer.....oops....no worries though as she is slowly but surely recovering nicely).
So if you are a Brown Thumb do na fret! There is hope! Really there is.
And if anyone else has a stupid simple hardy plant they know of PLEASE share. I would really like to have a broader variety of plants in my house.
