Planting to remember

Sweet little ivy pot. I’ve been enjoying two planter baskets for about a week now. The thing with planters is they don’t last unless you repot them. So I spent a couple of hours this afternoon planting English ivy and caladium and philodendron in various containers.

I bought a silver creamer and sugar set at a yard sale last summer. The sugar server seemed just right for the ivy. I carefully removed the small plant from the mixed basket.

What’s good about a dead goldfish? You can use some of the rocks from the fish tank as drainage for an ivy plant! Hey, Goldie’s demise wasn’t deliberate … but the timing couldn’t have been better.

Next, I added several spoonfuls of the pottings oil from the planter basket.

Time for a drink. I pushed the ivy plant into the container, spooned a bit more soil around the edges and gently pressed everything into place. Then I watered my new plant. It’s a sweet little spot of green on my windowsill.

The process intrigued my oldest daughter who determined to create her own sweet spot. We decided her bedroom would be the perfect place for a green and growing plant — as long as her little brother doesn’t get his grubby hands on it!

Feeling blue. She selected a canning jar as her planter, and then in went the gravel.
She is one who did not appreciate the timeliness of Goldie’s demise.

The plant fit nicely and she patted in a few spoonfuls of potting soil.

A healthy drink of water followed.

We made several plantings for ourselves and saved a couple for my sister to plant. The biggest plant was a caladium. It now resides in a 2-gallon crock at my mom’s house.

Small, living, growing reminders of the kindness of others and my grandma’s insatiable love of plants and the natural world.