When we lived in Illinois, we loved our house plants. They were almost regarded as a member of the family. (OK, OK, maybe I'm exaggerating. This is just in case my kids are reading this. 🙄)
There was one colorful croton in 1994 that we gave Art for his 50th birthday that he (or was it Tiffany?) named Petey. We surprised him at work with the plant and a huge plateful of smiley face cookies to share with his staff at E.P.A.
One tree we've had for a long, long time was an Octopus/Umbrella/Schefflera tree. The official name is schefflera actinophylla.
However, when we visited my daughter and her family early last year in Chicago, this is what it looked like.
For the life of me, I couldn't understand how it was able to stay upright and not crash to the floor.
There used to be three or four trunks but the others must have perished leaving just this one determined survivor.
However, by fall of 2020 the schefflera was in too much danger of falling over so Tiffany decided the poor plant had to go.
Last week she thought there were weeds growing in the pot and was going to pull it out when she discovered that the schefflera was fighting back to life like a phoenix. My granddaughter and Tiffany sent these photos to me.
It is quite uplifting when plants do that. We have volunteer petunias in our back yard. Hmm ... there's a blog idea for these times when I don't seem to have many. :)
ReplyDeleteI love all the big plants here, but I like the backstories even more; Art's 50th birthday in 1994, he looks 35 in that pic; your son Keola going into the Peace Corp, wow! I bet that seems a lot sooner than 20 years ago. Anyway, nice to see the schleffera's story isn't over yet!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment (for Art). He is smiling.
Deletenature is pretty amazing!
ReplyDeletewow, some plants are more determined than we are to grow!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute story, and cute little "weeds!" Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI love plants too but don't have any house plants any more. Nowadays I settle for flower beds.
ReplyDeleteFunny, we have a croton plant too that has been with me since I was shortly out of college so perhaps 25 years old. I also have my mom's Umbrella plant that is probably as old as I am. Like the one above, it likes to lean with time but I solve that by rotating it in the corner it sits in with gradual incremental turns.
ReplyDeleteOne determined plant. Glad it survived in a new form.
ReplyDeletePlants can be resilient.
ReplyDeleteYour whole family has a way with plants! I love the plant stories. Also, the photo of Art receiving the plate of cookies and plant is so, so, so....well so something. I'm not sure if he's tired or perturbed, but he certainly doesn't seem pleased.
ReplyDeleteI think he was in shock. We'd NEVER visited him at work before. However, it was summer; I wasn't teaching and the kids were older so we decided to take the train in and really surprise him. He was happy but definitely surprised.
DeleteHe's actually smiling underneath that mustache.
DeleteWhat ever, it now seems to have a new lease on life. Always amazing when that happens. Maybe it just need some room.
ReplyDeleteI do understand. We have a split leaf philodendron we named Horace. We found it in a trash can in the seventies. It had three tiny leaves. It's huge now and lives with daughter Margot.
ReplyDeleteIt lives on!
ReplyDeleteWe can get attached to plants. I had many plants in my classroom and some kids had their favorite plant. Many kids got starter plants from me
ReplyDeleteThat's an amazing story. I admire the resilience of plants. I've tried three times to get my gingko plant taken out (it grows too fast and goes into my gutters) but it keeps coming back. It has proven to me that it deserves to live.
ReplyDeleteHurray! I love it when plants survive and then thrive. I really want a gingko tree but not sure how it will do in Hawaii. I love the leaves and also its history of being one of the first trees to emerge from the atomic blast on Hiroshima. True grit!
ReplyDeleteWithout revealing TOP SECRETS, what do the 4 gold bars on Art's shoulders represent? Is EPA part of Public Health Service? From looking at the markerboard, did they succeed in reducing paper? Charming photo from your earlier days. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteArt was a U.S. Public Health officer. They use Navy ranking. The 4 bars stand for Captain (equivalent to Army colonel). He was on loan to the U.S.EPA and still is a HUGE advocate of Reuse/Reduce/Recycle. Believe me.
DeleteOh My! Your family should be proud. I didn't know different departments "loaned" personnel to other departments. Please thank him for his time in public service. I'm sure he's been agitated watching how the covid ignorance has unfolded, much less all of the EPA issues. Poor Fauci and his public service gang are just traumatized with some folks' refusal to accept facts. Maybe Art's department needs to return for a few months! Linda in Kansas
DeleteArt and all his former EPA cohorts were aghast at how Trump hogtied the agency making them unable to do their job.
DeleteWhat great old photos! And that plant does seem to be defying gravity.
ReplyDeleteFun history of a family plant, and its wonderful rebirth!
ReplyDeleteGood for the schefflera. I had one once that I gifted to a girl friend. She had it for years. I wonder if it survived her move to GA.
ReplyDeleteWow! That plant is a survivor!
ReplyDeleteI use rooting compound when I start new plants. My sister is way more skilled at propagation than I am. She NEVER uses rooting compound. She just dips the end of the plant in honey and sticks it in the dirt!
ReplyDelete