How to keep your sanity with plants

When we were buying our quarantine haul in April, me and my husband decided to try gardening again. Luckily we have a yard and many containers from my other year gardening failures - oops, my bad - I mean, learnings.

I already harvested lettuce, collard greens, beets, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, but just once, they never come back. I often forget to water them, they survived mostly because of raining days. I am a lousy gardener, I know.

The only thing that comes back every year is spring onions. That thing grows in water! If you give a bit of dirt, it will love you forever.

There was something about 2020, none of the vegetables I planted sprouted. I even tried hydroponics. They died!

I faced the fact that gardening is not for me. But there is a type of houseplant, above of all, that won't die even if you want to kill them.

Succulents are my redemption. They don't need that much water and it's the best plant investment you can get. Each leave is a potential new plant.

I have a 3 season sun room in my house and every late spring when the snow finally melts and I can open my windows, I take all my succulents from whatever they are in the house and put them there. And in 2020, it was my special place. It was where I experimented with hydroponics and killed them all. I also bought a bird feeder and tied on my lilac tree (that came with the house, just saying) and observe Nature.

And Nature came. I got some very common birds, lots of chickadees, cottontail bunnies and squirrels.

I appreciated the green outside more than ever. Being locked inside made me more grateful for each piece of succulent I transformed in a new plant.

It's easy. Grab a leaf, not any leaf. Choose a healthy one and careful remove from the stem.

Let the tip callus for 2 days. Put in the soil, don’t bury, the root will find their way to the nutrients. Water twice a week. When they grow, water once a week. Some need direct sunlight, some are very good office plants and are comfortable in the shadows. But succulents need just enough water to plant killers to remember to not kill them. And they tell you when they are not comfortable.

They are so forgiving. The type of plant to keep you motivated and make you believe you still can take care of plants.

“Oh wait... are you stretching because you need sun? I am sorry!”

We had a very colourful Fall in 2020, it felt like every single tree was their brightest.

I didn't even bother with the insane amount of leaves, it was so beautiful. Look!

Now it's Winter again, my sun room is closed. I can still hear the chickadees and blue jays. The bunnies and squirrels are still here.

My succulents are all in my room or by the windows, and I am grateful for them because right now, in these white and snowy months, they are the only green I have.

The Nature is doing a great job keeping the trees alive during the Winter so you can appreciate them in 2021. Even if you are a plant killer, you don't need to do anything to appreciate trees.

But if you want to try succulents, my personal recommendation are: Burro's tail & the stretching sun lover is a type of Echeveria. They are a great addition to any cozy corner.