Labor Day weekend is the time when I traditionally bring my house plants back inside from their summer vacation. And this year, they had a much better summer than the Spoiler and I did. Despite being drenched and battered by 3 separate tropical storms (Fred, Henri and Ida–and all within a period of about 10 days no less!), the plants flourished and grew–most so much that they outgrew their original places in my home.
So that created issue number 1. Many of these plants did not return to the places they left. And once I brought them in and placed them, because they were larger, fewer plants fit in the same place. It’s not a bad problem, but it certainly required some creative adjustment on my part.
Problem 2 was all those tropical storms. While they did save me some watering, they did a heck of a number on the plants. Leaves were shredded, stems were broken and the containers were covered in mud. Debris was in the containers. Some plants, like the begonias, that don’t care for all that moisture, are actually showing signs of fungal issues. Others, like the citrus, which also prefer to be on the dry side, are losing leaves. It’s nothing earth-shattering, considering the true devastation and loss of life these storms caused–but it certainly caused more cleanup for me before I brought in the plants.
And finally, because the plants are so much larger, my windows are even more obscured. This lovely view that I had all summer?
I will now be enjoying the view of my plants until next May. That’s not all bad either.
Gardendaze 