A black thumb

When Colter was a little boy, his grandmother -- who gardened as passionately as I read and write -- inexplicably taught him to pull leaves off trees. I think she was trying to bring him and nature together; unfortunately, they never formed quite the bond she hoped.

He continues a family tradition, though, of being unintentionally unkind to plants. I have never been able to get excited about watering, potting, or otherwise caring for plants.

The only plant we currently have is a cactus that is the third generation of one Gary and I spotted while walking around Ocracoke Island just before I became pregnant.

The first generation lived in a small pot, then the ground, outside our first home. The second generation lived in a larger pot in the backyard of our second home. When we moved here, we brought part of it along.

I feel a certain kinship to the cactus; like me it is prickly and survives most conditions.

What plant are you most like?

Comments

[Angie]

That's a tough one! I never really thought of myself as a plant either and I don't really know too much about plants as I am not a gardner. Is there a plant that blooms at night, cause that is when I have the most energy!

[VJ]

Hmmm, I've never thought of myself as a plant before. I guess I would have to be like the ones I have that almost die from lack of care, but are rescued just in time; like my 7 year-old peace lily or my 1-year old geranium.

[Tiff]

Hmmmmmmmmm, I have no clue. Maybe an ivy creeping along and exploring the world with it's vines.

[Nikki]

My favorite is our rose bush. It was at the house when we moved in last year. I don't know a lot about gardening so I left it be, most people have told me that I should trim it down and put rose food on it, etc. I was having a bad day one day and when I went home, much to my surprise it was in full bloom and it is beautiful. It has bloomed now 3 times this season. I now dead-head it and have taken to a few different plants we are adding to our landscaping. I think I would most likely be a morning glory. I love to be awake early in the am to see the sunrise and enjoy the day while it is still quiet.

[Robin P]

It is known in my family that I once accidentally killed a fake plant! Don't ask!
I shy away from cactus since I was once poisoned by one. I was watering it in the baby house in Israel while the kids were napping and it tipped so I caught it. A short time later I noticed a blue line going from my finger all the way up my arm.My finger swelled and I couldn't pull my ring off. I was immediately put on antibiotics.
I once kept a pink spotted plant alive for a year. That is my record. I enjoy plants but I don't want to own them or be responsible for them.

[Mir]

I have an african violet that a friend gave me on my daughter's first birthday ("Congratulations!" read the card. "You've kept a human alive for an entire year! You're ready for a plant!") In the five years I've had it, it has quintupled in size. But it hasn't flowered in a loooong time, and periodically I forget to water it and then realize with horror one day that it is nearly dead... and then I water it and--incredibly--it comes back to life. Still no flowers, though. Hmmmm. (Methinks I'd best not ponder this similarity for too long... at least I didn't quintuple in size!!)

[Rachel Ann]

I've always said plants take one look at me and commit suicide; its quicker and less painless than what I put them through.

I don't even have a cactus to my credit!