I visited a plant nursery a few weekends back to get some more green for the balcony and was resolutely determined to avoid the houseplants. This is because I feel too guilty to bring any home anymore since my home is essentially House Plant Hospice. I don’t know what I do wrong; Z claims I both under + over-water at the same time but it can’t possibly be both right?. So I will say “it’s something in the air” that can’t be overcome and instead enjoy plants outdoors.
But then I walked by these:
 

 
And I knew I must have them. The holder was mine, originally from the same nursery at Christmas time, and they are so perfect together. It’s held mini poinsettias and mini evergreens and now it’s summery. It’s also lined with plastic so super easy to clean out.
 

I have no idea what they are but I assume they are probably poisonous to the cats so for now they are kept up high on a surface with raised edges so no berries roll off. I’m sort of wishing I had gotten two more of the orange berries and one more green, because I also have little mini pots and all of this together would have been so great. But, I have no idea what they “do” and if they’ll grow so this little collection will do for now. I’m thinking at some point these were heavily fertilized because I’ve noticed a really strong chemical smell coming off them. I may mist them down in a few days if it’s still there. I suppose it’s possible they might naturally have a weird smell.
 


 
I’m also not sure how much light they need; this little nook below is bathed in light all day, with direct light coming in during the afternoon/evening in the summer, and throughout the day all winter. I’ll let them hang out here with the orchids to see if I notice any improvement. For water the little card said to keep moist but not wet.

 
And speaking of orchids, these are Z’s, I take absolutely no credit for how wonderful they are:

 
We don’t have many plants, but the ones we do I love. I feel really sad thinking about when we eventually have to leave Germany and have to abandon them. I anthropomorphize everything since I learned that word in 9th grade and it sometimes gets in the way of a good closet clean-out.
 

 
When I do this to plants, then I get an even stronger emotional surge because I make up stories about their lives, how they feel about their living conditions, and obviously give them names. Some of this I blame on Anne of Green Gables.

 
We also don’t know how long we will be in this apartment. Z is a contractor so even though we’re thinking we might like to move out of the city and try a little village, we don’t have a long enough guaranteed time-frame at the moment to make any kind of commitments beyond 6 months out or so. Sometimes it wears us out a bit and we feel “on hold.” Our plan for now is to see what we can and take advantage of our wonderful location for as long as we are able with a sense of “normal.”
 

 
So for me, that sense of normal will include a few plants, even if I can’t keep them (alive) forever.