Green Plants

Although I love winter, and I'm not even all that terribly tired of it yet, this week, yet another week of extremely cold temperatures and a lot of staying inside, has made me crave green foilage a little bit. Aren't house plants nice? Mine would be even nicer if I were a bit more diligent about remembering to water them, but all in all, they do quite well.

The ivy leaves on the left are the original plant that my very, very good friend Siri gave me as a gift on her wedding day after I sang during the service.  Every once in awhile it attracts some nasty mites that I have to battle, and battle again, but three or four times its has come through the infestation of tiny bugs, and flourishes.  It is loving the worm tea from our vermicompost this winter, and there are baby green leaves sprouting all over the place.  I love that it is still alive and flourishing, and that I can think of my friend whenever I pass by it.  

I thought it was so neat that Siri had lots of ivy at her wedding almost ten years ago.  Ivy was also a big part of her baptism and confirmation decorations, and I thought it was really neat how it all tied together, something I would never be organized enough to pull off for my own kids, but that I really appreciate being able to think about!

The plant on the right has been with me for more than 20 years at least, and has been split many times, with baby parts given away to my own friends.  A sweet, extremely kind elderly lady, Ole Steffens, gave it to me long ago when I was just a girl.  It's a tough little plant, able to survive pretty much anything.  It likes a lot of sunshine, but seems to grow almost anywhere.