This past weekend I finally pruned my jade plant that I got four years ago in Ann Arbor. It had grown top-heavy and sparse around the bottom. Similarly, last fall I finally pruned my geranium plant that had grown from a small cutting into a veritable tree.
I am a bit of a helicopter plant-parent, and I have a problem cutting back my plants. I just get so excited to see them growing that I can't bear to chop them off! And then they grow tree-sized and unruly, and I realize that I should've pruned them months ago (or years ago, as in the case of my jade).
I think that's a pretty good metaphor for life, right? Sometimes you have to let things go in order for them to flourish... things like plants, kids, ideas... I mean, even the newest Disney princess Elsa made the case for letting go in order to realize your full potential.
My helicopter-parenting has led to other problems, too. I have now killed one cactus and one air plant since living in Boston, and a second cactus appears to be on its way out. I also have a second air plant now, but I'm terrified that it will die, too. Anyway, I suspect I'm overwatering the cacti, so I'm trying to ignore it in hopes that it pulls through. Or it could be that the winter has been too dreary, and the cactus is dying from lack of sunlight. Succulents aren't supposed to be so difficult!
On the other hand, my dracena and a different jade plant still have mealybugs. I cannot make them go away! I think I'm being neglectful in that regard, and I should probably take my helicopter tendencies to the mealybug war.
Finally, my bamboo has been looking sickly for a year, although it's not dead yet. I'm not sure if it's unhappy with the chemicals in my tap water (it generates a ton of salt crystals around its stem and the edge of the vase) and/or if it doesn't get enough light (its leaves turn yellow). Google tells me I could try replanting it in a larger pot with soil instead of leaving it in its vase with stones and water, but I just don't know.
For someone with a master's degree in natural resources, my green thumb is not that great. Things either shoot up like trees or die for no apparent reason when I try to nurture them. I'm trying to just "let it go" and relax, but I feel like I'm killing my babies here...
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| My geranium, when it used to be a tree. |
I think that's a pretty good metaphor for life, right? Sometimes you have to let things go in order for them to flourish... things like plants, kids, ideas... I mean, even the newest Disney princess Elsa made the case for letting go in order to realize your full potential.
My helicopter-parenting has led to other problems, too. I have now killed one cactus and one air plant since living in Boston, and a second cactus appears to be on its way out. I also have a second air plant now, but I'm terrified that it will die, too. Anyway, I suspect I'm overwatering the cacti, so I'm trying to ignore it in hopes that it pulls through. Or it could be that the winter has been too dreary, and the cactus is dying from lack of sunlight. Succulents aren't supposed to be so difficult!
On the other hand, my dracena and a different jade plant still have mealybugs. I cannot make them go away! I think I'm being neglectful in that regard, and I should probably take my helicopter tendencies to the mealybug war.
Finally, my bamboo has been looking sickly for a year, although it's not dead yet. I'm not sure if it's unhappy with the chemicals in my tap water (it generates a ton of salt crystals around its stem and the edge of the vase) and/or if it doesn't get enough light (its leaves turn yellow). Google tells me I could try replanting it in a larger pot with soil instead of leaving it in its vase with stones and water, but I just don't know.
For someone with a master's degree in natural resources, my green thumb is not that great. Things either shoot up like trees or die for no apparent reason when I try to nurture them. I'm trying to just "let it go" and relax, but I feel like I'm killing my babies here...
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