“Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful.”

~Hazrat Inayat Khan

I’m a keeper of plants. Some might call me a gardener but, having grown up in the rural US, I reserve the term “garden” for plants that root in the ground. And so, I’m a keeper of plants because all my plants are rooted in pots.

I have over 75 plants in my smallish apartment. Some of them have followed me through 6 moves. Some joined just this month. The only common feature among them is that they prefer Virginia to any place we’ve lived before. I attribute this to the sparkly sun here which was a key feature that drew me to the state in the first place.

My plants are as diverse as Richmond. There’s the Norfolk pine I’m growing as my Christmas tree. There are begonias adding their clashing leaf patterns to the balcony-dwelling jade plant, banana plant, snake plant, umbrella tree, and palm. On my desk is a battalion of orchids, most of whom bloom in spring. There are calatheas, peperomias, and bromeliads mixed in with the succulents and cacti. The coffee plants, passion fruit vines, and lemon trees are some of the newest additions. A dear friend got me a money tree for luck, around the time I got a lucky bamboo – it was a period of much change, so luck was needed. These lucky plants keep on growing. My crown of thorns hasn’t stopped blooming since I got it 5+ years ago. The fig, rubber, and dragon trees all were recently decapitated to encourage side branches (so far these experiments have been fruitful).

The plants sit along the windows and in layers such that those that need the least light live in the middle of my apartment and those that need the most are on the balcony for the summer or reside on the wide windowsill between my bedroom window and the blackout curtains necessary for daytime sleeping when I’m on nightshift. I know each plant’s light and watering preferences. I have a strategy for keeping each one alive when I leave for vacation.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s silly to have so many plants because I work such long hours outside of my home. However, when I come home to find a new flower bud or a fresh leaf unfurling, I’m reminded that it’s not silly but genius to have so many plants. The plants add a different beauty to the apartment than art (I have that too) and their quiet company is something I enjoy. With my plants even the most frustrating day can be softened when, upon sitting on my couch, I notice just how much the peace lily likes its new spot or how much the Chinese evergreen has flourished since we arrived in Richmond only months ago. And when I see the plants that I’ve potted up at least 3 times threatening to outgrow their current pots, I remember how we all change and grow with time. Sometimes our process of growth is too slow to see from day-to-day and only can be realized when we compare month-to-month or year-to-year. Yet, just as surely as my plants are renewing their roots and leaves, I’m also growing as the days of residency pass.