Why Former Black Tumb?

 My grandmas were both wonderful gardeners. I remember helping them weed and water the flowers. Gardening with them gave me a love of plants that has lasted into adulthood.

Unfortunately I wasn't blessed with their green-thumb. Starting in my teens, I killed every plant I've owned up to the past few years. I had a little better luck with outside plants, but not much. 

I considered myself hospice for plants. They came to my house to die. LOL But, I kept trying because I was determined to have at least one I could keep alive. 

About the time I was about to give up I ran across a post (no clue who wrote it or I would link to them) about how no one really has a black thumb. People who think they do just need more practice. They said that with enough practice and learning, anyone could have a green thumb.

I was really encouraged by this, and that year I set a goal of having 1 of my plants I'd collected over the spring/summer make it through the winter. I believe 3 out of 20 made it. 

This year, I lost only a couple of plants out of the 30+ I started with. I have a decent variety of plants and some that are propagated from the mother plant. My wish list of plants has grown. I'm really hoping to pick up a few of them this year, but I have to figure out how to make space!

So, what's my secret? How did I go from total black thumb to a budding green thumb? Constant learning. 

I've learned what kind of lighting each part of my house gets. When I find a plant I want, the first thing I do is make sure I have the lighting it needs available in my house. If the plant can't get the right lighting, it has no chance. 

Next I look up the plant on Pinterest and Google and find all the info I can on it. I learn what lighting, water requirements, humidity, etc. Sometimes, as I learn about the plant I realize I can't care for that type. It may be too finicky for my inconsistent, adhd ways. Or maybe it needs more humidity and I know my house, even with misting, will be too dry for it.

I have 3 cats and 2 dogs, so if the plant is toxic and I can't get it up out of reach, I don't get it. I actually keep most of my plants up and unreachable. Two of my cats are really into plants and could easily destroy an entire plant in one night.

Now, I've been told I have a talent for finding the info I need on the internet.  People often ask me to look things up for them because they can't quite find what they need. So, since I've already found so much information on each of the plants I have (plus the ones I decided not to get) I figured I could gather it all in one place and share.

I'll be making individual posts for each plant, plus list posts to help you find the best plants for low light, that brightly lit window sill, humid bathroom, etc. If there are any plants you would like to see featured, please leave me a comment and I'll cover it asap.