Plants interest me not at all as a hobby, so when I see people geek out about them I just go, "Wow, pretty green and pink and purple things! Awesome!" I had a co-worker who had a house stuffed to the RAFTERS with the most incredible exotic plants and gave me a thorough rundown of each when we worked together. It was great. Just from her brief infodump I could tell how much work they all were, even if it was a labor of love.
I've never thought about how the culture makes anything women are good at as something intuitive as a way to devalue our work. I see it in nursing. Despite the fact that nursing programs have an 80% passing standard and I have a veritable alphabet SOUP of credentials after my name, 90% of the time patients judge me on how "compassionate" I am (what they mean is, how fast do I answer their call button no matter how many traumas I'm caring for at the same time, as if I'm supposed to just "know" they need me). Meanwhile surgeons can have the most abysmal bedside manner but patients will shrug and say, "But I bet he works hard, and I'm sure he'll do a good job on my surgery."
I love this thanks for sharing. Also, I was a hairdresser and especially barber and so often people (men) would assume that my hard earned skill was innate. I’m currently half way through a teaching degree. Lecturers (both men and women) constantly reference parenthood as part of a skill set they assume I have, that is relevant to my degree (I’m not a parent). This drives me mad, I will one day articulate this better.
I wish I had more time to garden. I get so little time that when I do I need to start by pulling out 3000 weeds and by that time I can’t be bothered anymore.
I have a few indoor plants but my husband often complains about them, they take up too much room.
I see a DV therapist once a fortnight and she asked me once what my life will look like once I’m finally able to leave. I told her it will be green - I have this really vivid image of a house full of plants and sunlight streaming though the windows.
I wish I had read this article before I half killed or properly killed my succulents. I was watering way too much! My all knowing stbx who comes from a vegetable farming family said I had to water plants often or they would by hydrophobic 🤦🏻♀️
Thank you! Love this and can’t wait for more articles. I’ve never been able to keep my indoor plants alive, and my ex used to make fun of me for it. Been divorced 5 years now and about a year ago decided to start taking it seriously and try to learn because I love the atmosphere inside with lots of live plants. I live in Florida so when they start dying inside I put them outside on my deck and they turn into a jungle! And I totally agree about the orchids. I have several hanging outside and I literally ignore them, and each one produces beautiful blooms a couple times a year. I have a question about a monstera I bought about 9 months ago. It was beautiful and full and the store where I got it said to re-pot it in about 6 months. I did and it’s all thin now and a lot of leaves have died. I think I may have overwatered it when I repotted it, but it’s been about 6 weeks now and and I’ve let it go dry and then just water it a little. It’s not getting any better. Is it possible to bring it back? I haven’t been using distilled water, so I may try that. Thank you again!
Thanks for this! I really want a plant for my office but don't have it in my budget right now. The article reminded me I could propagate a new one with the succulent I currently have.
I have asshole cats that cannot resist destroying indoor plants, so I only have a few houseplants (mostly on high places that are difficult for them to get to) and focus most of my efforts on outdoor gardening. My husband says I have "too much going on" in my outdoor garden bed -- I have Asiatic and Oriental lilies, canna lilies, daylilies, delphinium, dahlias, a camellia bush, catmint, alpine strawberries, variegated vinca minor (spilling out of a tilted pot), a couple different types of dianthus, a lot of Madagascar periwinkle and petunias as fillers, marigolds, ice plant, candytuft, and a black-eyed Susan.
I'm also cultivating star jasmine, carolina jessamine, Japanese morning glory, and crossvine as well. Currently solarizing my side garden bed in preparation for fall planting -- I impulse purchased a huge rose bush yesterday, which I'm looking forward to planting in cooler weather.
I have a somewhat wild shade garden in the backyard -- astilbe, ferns (a mixture of found and purchased), and whatever wild violets I could save. I put some daffodil bulbs in there too, but I'm not sure they'll come up next year, since I planted rather shallowly.
Plants interest me not at all as a hobby, so when I see people geek out about them I just go, "Wow, pretty green and pink and purple things! Awesome!" I had a co-worker who had a house stuffed to the RAFTERS with the most incredible exotic plants and gave me a thorough rundown of each when we worked together. It was great. Just from her brief infodump I could tell how much work they all were, even if it was a labor of love.
I've never thought about how the culture makes anything women are good at as something intuitive as a way to devalue our work. I see it in nursing. Despite the fact that nursing programs have an 80% passing standard and I have a veritable alphabet SOUP of credentials after my name, 90% of the time patients judge me on how "compassionate" I am (what they mean is, how fast do I answer their call button no matter how many traumas I'm caring for at the same time, as if I'm supposed to just "know" they need me). Meanwhile surgeons can have the most abysmal bedside manner but patients will shrug and say, "But I bet he works hard, and I'm sure he'll do a good job on my surgery."
I love this thanks for sharing. Also, I was a hairdresser and especially barber and so often people (men) would assume that my hard earned skill was innate. I’m currently half way through a teaching degree. Lecturers (both men and women) constantly reference parenthood as part of a skill set they assume I have, that is relevant to my degree (I’m not a parent). This drives me mad, I will one day articulate this better.
I wish I had more time to garden. I get so little time that when I do I need to start by pulling out 3000 weeds and by that time I can’t be bothered anymore.
I have a few indoor plants but my husband often complains about them, they take up too much room.
I see a DV therapist once a fortnight and she asked me once what my life will look like once I’m finally able to leave. I told her it will be green - I have this really vivid image of a house full of plants and sunlight streaming though the windows.
Yay! Another interest of mine. Succulents hate me
Yay, plants. I want to farm because I love growing fruit, veggies and herbs. My current favorites are basil and potatoes because they are super easy.
My best accomplishment thus far: I found, dug up and propagated a wild blackberry bush.
I wish I had read this article before I half killed or properly killed my succulents. I was watering way too much! My all knowing stbx who comes from a vegetable farming family said I had to water plants often or they would by hydrophobic 🤦🏻♀️
Thank you! Love this and can’t wait for more articles. I’ve never been able to keep my indoor plants alive, and my ex used to make fun of me for it. Been divorced 5 years now and about a year ago decided to start taking it seriously and try to learn because I love the atmosphere inside with lots of live plants. I live in Florida so when they start dying inside I put them outside on my deck and they turn into a jungle! And I totally agree about the orchids. I have several hanging outside and I literally ignore them, and each one produces beautiful blooms a couple times a year. I have a question about a monstera I bought about 9 months ago. It was beautiful and full and the store where I got it said to re-pot it in about 6 months. I did and it’s all thin now and a lot of leaves have died. I think I may have overwatered it when I repotted it, but it’s been about 6 weeks now and and I’ve let it go dry and then just water it a little. It’s not getting any better. Is it possible to bring it back? I haven’t been using distilled water, so I may try that. Thank you again!
Thanks for this! I really want a plant for my office but don't have it in my budget right now. The article reminded me I could propagate a new one with the succulent I currently have.
I have asshole cats that cannot resist destroying indoor plants, so I only have a few houseplants (mostly on high places that are difficult for them to get to) and focus most of my efforts on outdoor gardening. My husband says I have "too much going on" in my outdoor garden bed -- I have Asiatic and Oriental lilies, canna lilies, daylilies, delphinium, dahlias, a camellia bush, catmint, alpine strawberries, variegated vinca minor (spilling out of a tilted pot), a couple different types of dianthus, a lot of Madagascar periwinkle and petunias as fillers, marigolds, ice plant, candytuft, and a black-eyed Susan.
I'm also cultivating star jasmine, carolina jessamine, Japanese morning glory, and crossvine as well. Currently solarizing my side garden bed in preparation for fall planting -- I impulse purchased a huge rose bush yesterday, which I'm looking forward to planting in cooler weather.
I have a somewhat wild shade garden in the backyard -- astilbe, ferns (a mixture of found and purchased), and whatever wild violets I could save. I put some daffodil bulbs in there too, but I'm not sure they'll come up next year, since I planted rather shallowly.