Really, It's Time to Dump That Pot(Plant)

I don't think there are very many women who don't like flowers and plants. We all love getting flowers for Valentine's, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. The problem is that cut flower arrangements don't usually last more than a couple of weeks. Some of us also like to have plants in pots. Sometimes it is just a single plant or it could be an expensive gift arrangement. Like the cut flowers, plants in pots don't usually last very long either. Many flowering plants are nursery grown and forced to bloom at a certain time of year. Just look at all the poinsettias at Christmas, and the Easter lillies during the Easter season. It really doesn't matter what the plant is. Growing plants indoors is testy at best. From the common ivy or draceana to the picky African Violet, they seem to defy the owner. Imagine spending $20 to $40 on a palm tree only to have it decide to drop it's leaves and die. How many times do people buy a bromeliad thinking it will look good in the bathroom. Just pour the water in the little well at the top, right. Then watch it sour and die. The lovely African Violet that is blooming so well in the store will have it's leaves turn brown and the flowers fall off.

We are addicted to these moody green things. We love to buy them and decorate our homes. But sometimes it seems that these plants are on a suicide mission. As soon as we bring them home they decide to keel over and die. We wonder why? We watered it. Drowned it is more likely. Or sometimes we forget to water them at all. There they go. Call the plant doctor. Too bad the patient is terminal.

So how come so many people insist on keeping these dead things? We put them outside on a sunny day and forget to bring them inside when the temperature drops outside. I watched a lady in my building kill her corn plant this winter. She put it outside for the sun, then it froze. The same thing happened to her dracaena. Stubbornly holding on to hope that the plants will somehow come back to life, they still sit outside. The life is gone, no more leaves will sprout. So get rid of it! Why keep the skeletal remains of a once nice plant? Yeah that pot is big and expensive. So put something else in it. Better yet put a fake plant in it. They can't be killed. Of course dogs and babies may pull the leaves off. Making the ultimate sacrifice is difficult but sometimes it is best. Don't continue to look forlornly at that poor dead plant on the kitchen table. Take the now lifeless plant, go outside, walk over to the garbage can, lift the lid. Now dump the plant, pot and all in the trash. Your neighbors and the other plants will thank you. Face it you cannot make that plant live again. Once it is dead, that's it. It's time. Get rid of that pot plant.