I went traipsing through the most dangerous of danger zones at lunchtime today, heedless of the risk. I came back from Fort Collins, and took care of a few errands. Bought gas, ran through car wash, and then went to the fancy local plant nursery. I was primarily after perlite and small terra cotta pots, but I was fully aware that I would be walking through the houseplant section.
I tried to cover the whole section before I really added anything to my haul. I knew I was after a Christmas cactus, so I went ahead and nabbed a small one of those. Well, technically it is a Thanksgiving cactus, but same idea. I looked at a bunch of absolutely gorgeous plants, dismissing a few out of hand, putting several on a mental wish list, and selecting two additional family members (for a total of three acquisitions). The wish list plants were far more expensive than I was prepared to pay during a month when I have to budget for gifts. One was $20 for a 4 inch pot of a lovely variegated something-or-other, that I may come back for in the future. One was $30 for an incredibly beautiful philodendron, which might be my intermediate level, after I have learned to handle a very pedestrian variety first. But then there were the currently popular Pink Princess philodendrons. The first one I saw was in probably an 8 inch pot for $149. Yeah, no. There was one half the size for half the price, still way more than I was willing to shell out. Maybe by the time I'm ready for one, they will be so ubiquitous that they will come down in price.
I ended up selecting a very curly spider plant that was absolutely covered in pups. When I got it home, I immediately cut 6 of them off it and placed them in water in the kitchen window. I'll be giving those away this year for Christmas. I also found a tiny Ficus elastica, commonly called a rubber plant. The variety is called Ruby, and it has an enchanting deep pink on the leaves and petioles. I haven't had one of these since college, I'm pretty sure. I'm excited about it. The three new additions to my plant family are so cute.
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