Quirky Things About our Apartment #2: Houseplants
(Sorry we've fallen behind on this "Apartment Quirk" series. There are too many to list, but we'll try to share a few more before we leave.)
We are the reluctant caretakers of 100* houseplants...
Our apartment has 5 large, almost floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside of each of these windows is a narrow ledge on which the owner of this apartment has crowded with a myriad of potted plants, including rose bushes, geraniums, a grapevine, a willow tree, herbs, ivys, fruit trees, and ferns.
Yes, they add beauty and charm to the outside of our apartment, but I spend way too much time watering and fertilizing these plants. This was not part of the description of the apartment, but I'm terrified of killing them** lest I incur the wrath of the professor, so I fret and worry about keeping them alive.
To make this task even more formidable is the fact that she only has two small watering cans. Thus, each window full of plants requires that I fill two cans, carefully walk to the chosen window so as not to spill a drop of water on the hardwood, water the plants, go back to refill both watering cans, and water the remaining plants again. Multiply this by 5 windows and multiple this again by 3 times a week (at her request) and you can understand some of my frustration. On top of this, the instructions from Professor X state that I must fertilize these plants with two different kinds of fertilizer (one for the fruit trees, the other for flowering plants) every fourth or fifth time I water these plants.
* Okay, maybe it's not 100, as David's mom pointed out to me, but a cursory count indicated there were at least 70.
** I started this entry in September. As of today, I think I've already killed at least 4 of her plants :( And I don't think the leaves are turning brown, drying up, and falling off because it's fall. Sorry, Professor X!
We are the reluctant caretakers of 100* houseplants...
Our apartment has 5 large, almost floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside of each of these windows is a narrow ledge on which the owner of this apartment has crowded with a myriad of potted plants, including rose bushes, geraniums, a grapevine, a willow tree, herbs, ivys, fruit trees, and ferns.
Yes, they add beauty and charm to the outside of our apartment, but I spend way too much time watering and fertilizing these plants. This was not part of the description of the apartment, but I'm terrified of killing them** lest I incur the wrath of the professor, so I fret and worry about keeping them alive.
To make this task even more formidable is the fact that she only has two small watering cans. Thus, each window full of plants requires that I fill two cans, carefully walk to the chosen window so as not to spill a drop of water on the hardwood, water the plants, go back to refill both watering cans, and water the remaining plants again. Multiply this by 5 windows and multiple this again by 3 times a week (at her request) and you can understand some of my frustration. On top of this, the instructions from Professor X state that I must fertilize these plants with two different kinds of fertilizer (one for the fruit trees, the other for flowering plants) every fourth or fifth time I water these plants.
* Okay, maybe it's not 100, as David's mom pointed out to me, but a cursory count indicated there were at least 70.
** I started this entry in September. As of today, I think I've already killed at least 4 of her plants :( And I don't think the leaves are turning brown, drying up, and falling off because it's fall. Sorry, Professor X!
posted by Lynna | 3:11 PM
2 Comments:
Hey... 4 out of 70 ain't too bad! I must admit, one of yours is looking mighty odd lately, but I still have a few weeks to revive it, eh? (I have nothing to complain about, huh? ;p
Good Lord, I didn't know you guys lived in a jungle! wowzers.
Reminds me of the stress I felt when I had to water Anne's plants while she was off honeymooning. I killed them all. :(
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