Houseplants as Old Friends

When I get emails and calls from indoor gardeners struggling to save a plant, almost every time they tell me something along these lines: “I really don’t want to lose this plant—it has sentimental value.” Oftentimes the plant was given for a special or memorable occasion like an anniversary or funeral. Sometimes the plant even belonged to a deceased loved one.

If you look around your indoor garden, you’re likely to spot at least one plant that offers you a fond memory. Houseplants become an integral part of your home, and in many cases bring to mind happy or even difficult times.

In my extensive indoor garden, I have several memorable plants. Like the mixed basket that I received when my cat, JuneBug, died when she was 20. Every time I water those plants, I think about our years together and all of the quirky things she did.

Then there is the dracaena I bought at a foot high when I moved into my home in 1987. Today that same plant towers 10 feet tall and is the first thing you see when you walk in my front door.

Hoya Carnosa  (Julie Bawden-Davis)

Another plant that holds special meaning I mentioned a few blog posts ago. It’s a fiddleleaf fig that I picked up while planning the photo shoot for my book, Indoor Gardening the Organic Way. At the time that I got the plant, it was considered a little “sickly” by the florist who gave it to me. She told me that she wouldn’t be able to sell the plant—and though she didn’t say it, she hinted at the fact that the plant might be put out to pasture if I didn’t take it home. At the time, the fiddleaf fig was about 2 feet tall, but now stretches 4 feet, and though it still looks to have a slight case of the sniffles most of the time, overall it’s doing well.

One of my most meaningful plants is a hoya that I got as a cutting. The piece was given to me when my mother and I met for the first time her great aunts. It turns out that their hoya came from the gardens of their mother and my mom’s great-great aunt. They wanted to know what the flower was, so I told them, and then they insisted that I take some cuttings.

Hoyas are fairly easy to root, so I soon had my own multi-generational hoya growing, and I often enjoy the waxy, fragrant blooms. While I probably would remember that afternoon when I met my great-great aunts every once in awhile, I think of that day and those lovely ladies frequently thanks to the beautiful hoya plant that they so kindly shared.

Do you have meaningful “old friend” plants in your indoor garden? If so, share in the comments section.