Houseplants

My Take

DiVoran Lites

We bought some houseplants a while ago. So far they like being at our house. I recall the beautiful spring day when we planted them in mostly terracotta pots. African Violet stands out for the spectacular recovery she is making. I think she needed a home more than the rest of the warehouse plants did because in the store she was under a shelf on a cart where there were several others in the dark and all scrunched up. Next stop…the dump. All her leaves crowded upward reaching for light and air. Her deep purple flowers had many buds among them. I saw that she was beautiful, that she had potential, and that she above all the others wanted most to come home with us.

We had two small Polka Dot plants, one white the other pink. They also wanted to leave the big Garden Store and come to a home where people cared for them as individuals. When we got home, I watched a video on polka dot plants and the pleasant teacher told us a secret about our Polka Dot Plants. They like all the others, were almost as much afraid of being overwatered as she was. She learned how to let people know when she was thirsty. She lets her leaves droop a bit until she gets her drink of water. I’m hoping it will keep me on track with the other plants too. I do have an awful habit of watering too much. 

We bought a plant that is such a deep burgundy color that it’s labeled: black. We need other colored foliage around here since much of what we see is green, green, and green. I didn’t read the tag until I got the plant home, but when I did read it I was taken aback. It looked like a perfect volunteer standing straight and tall in its small pot, but the label said, “Sweet Potato Vine.” Oh no, what now, vines are a bit too feisty for me. I’ll call it Vinny and see what I can do with it. There’s always help on YouTube.

I went to the store specifically to get a miniature palm tree, but somehow, I got side-tracked and ended up buying next to the biggest size of Split Leaf Philodendron on the floor. Now that’s a plant that can clear the air of almost any unwanted thing. He’s our hero. We’re calling him Phillip (Phil) like in Philippians.

Thea with begonias

We had already taken up some plants from the yard. I potted a spider plant and brought it in. Thea tasted it then decreed that it needed trimming and ate half of every leaf on it. She didn’t throw up this time as she did the last time she ate some spider-plant. I’ve got to re-seed her cat-grass garden. (She doesn’t care a whit for catnip.) I don’t think houseplants are all that good for cats, but she did taste every plant and that was the one she chose. I’m calling the plant Spider because I like spiders.  If you have Arachnophobia. I apologize for mentioning the creatures. Don’t worry, I have my phobias too.

It’s always a good thing to have a passion and pursue it. God is in the business of pouring out his love and grace. He has given us so many things to learn and do and they are so varied it would take a robot to name them all. The first person who ever praised the Lord in the Bible was an artisan which means a person who works with their hands. I like to work with my hands and have especially loved potting and starting to care for Violet, the Dotties, Vinny, Phillip, and Spider.

Maybe I should be writing about the Corona Virus Scare, but I’m not scared. We don’t take much notice of the news, but we do follow the rules and find out the few things we truly need to know. Why? If we are Christians and love our Lord Jesus who died to atone for our sins we can get a lot from Psalm 91. As we read it, we know we don’t have to be afraid because we believe what the Bible says. The Bible has over 365 references to the word fear. We can read Psalm 91 over and over and see our fears decrease as we believe the word of God more and more.  I get scared, almost everyone does whether they admit it or not, but I do feel I’m getting a bit better at trusting God as the years go by. To experience the absence of fear is to experience peace, love, and joy. Many, many Christians will tell you this. You probably already know it yourself.

Colossians 3: 1-2 says, 

“If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. [Psalm110:1.] Set your minds and keep them set on what is above—the higher things—not on the things that are on the earth.” (AMP Bible)

You might want to check out Dr. Caroline Leaf on YouTube. She taught me a lot about renewing my mind into the Lord’s way of thinking. 

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Houseplants, Polka Dot plants, Spring gardening