wherein Liz acquires new plants; also, a brief life update and Yuletide progress report

[edenfalling]

I came back from Thanksgiving not only with a bunch of leftovers (I will return the tupperware and extra cooler at Christmas), but also with a new spider plant -- apparently my mom was serious about getting rid of all of hers. Oh well, more for me! :-)



The next picture is a plant I bought for myself last Friday, as a reward after surviving a week from hell at work. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s cute and it was shelved among the succulents, so I have high hopes of not killing it accidentally within two months. *crosses fingers*



I haven’t named either of them yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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Oh, btw, I am safely back in Ithaca! I left Madison around 11:15am and arrived home around 3:30pm, at which point I did my weekly grocery run while I still had the rental car. I returned the car around 5pm and walked home rather than wait for a courtesy ride, despite the frigid weather, because I have gotten used to walking a mile or more every day and I find I get weirdly twitchy if I don't get out and move around at least a little. Then I took a nap. :-)

I have spent the evening organizing the fruits of my Yuletide research so I know more precisely what I know, and also have a clear list of things I still want to research in more details (plus potential sources for those details). My next day off is Wednesday, and this time I really will hit up the Cornell libraries to see if they have some more obscure and/or scholarly resource type books, not to mention some articles from academic periodicals, because there is no way in hell I'm going to find those in the public library system. And hey, you never know what a trained reference librarian may be able to dig up. :-D

Comments

[branchandroot]

Oh, those are both quite handsome! (Love the pot for the second one.)

[edenfalling]

It is a very attractive pot, particularly when you consider that I bought it at a dollar store! :-) The one potential flaw is the stylized picture of flowers on the far side -- possibly orchids -- done in pink and darker green, which I thought was tacky when I purchased the pot, but have come around to quite liking over the years.

I'm not sure why my mom is so dead-set against this last spider plant, since her stated reason for getting rid of all the others was that they were overgrown, tatty, and anemic-looking (a-chlorophyillic, perhaps?), and this one fits none of those criteria. But hey, I'll take it.

[monkey5s]

Imma vote for that new plant being a peperomia, or baby rubber tree plant. There are several hundred cultivars, and the descriptions show that the leaves can look pretty much like anything. BUT, it is a partial succulent, the leaves should be kind of thick or leathery? They're supposed to need to dry out between waterings or they get root rot. OTOH, they are native to rain forests and are happier having a humid environment. But if it's too wet they get some ring-shaped fungus on the leaves. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, PLANT! If it is a peperomia I would take the easy out and name it Pizza Plant.

[edenfalling]

It does have thick, vaguely leathery leaves, so yeah, probably some variety of peperomia. Thanks for identifying it! I can't do much about providing a humid atmosphere -- my humidifier is basically two sopping-wet towels hung over my drying rack and re-soaked every four to eight hours as needed (presuming I am home and awake to do the soaking of course) -- but I can make sure its soil dries out between waterings.

*ponders pizza-related names*

[monkey5s]

Should you get the chance to shop at a cheap-o store you could possibly find a small spray bottle for very little. Making a daily routine of spraying the leaves would surely be enough to counter the desert-like indoor weather of Winter Where It's Cold Out.

[edenfalling]

I... actually already have a spray bottle for that very purpose. I just tend to forget that it exists for months at a stretch. *wince* Possibly this is a sign that I should keep it down beside my sink instead of on top of the refrigerator (even though the refrigerator is where I keep my watering pot).

*goes to spritz all her plants*