I was having an email exchange with a friend about my plants and I remarked, about the above plant, that it was getting so large that it was getting in the way of my printer, so clearly I was going to have to move my printer. Moving the plant is out of the question. If a plant is happy, it gets to stay where it is. Something inanimate like a printer can easily be moved somewhere else.
Now, looking at that plant, it’s really nothing special–in fact, a lot of people might say it’s even ugly. It’s certainly nothing I would ever post on Twitter or any of the other social media sites because it’s definitely not “eye candy.” It’s not that kind of plant.
But it has a lot of sentimental value. It’s almost 5 years old–in fact, it’s probably older, but I have had it for 5 years, or almost, this Christmas season. Like many of my holdover “Christmas” plants, it now blooms out of season, but that’s okay–that’s part of the charm. So it definitely deserves the extra room that I have now given it. And as a bonus, my printer is actually closer to my desk so I have made my workspace a bit more efficient too.
I did a close-up of its leaves and stems earlier this summer–they’re quite lovely by themselves.
But sometimes, it’s nice to have plants that aren’t just showy. Sometimes it’s nice to have plants with some longevity too.
Gardendaze 
This is one of the few reasons that I am not so keen on poinsettia. Almost all get discarded after Christmas, which seems so wrong. If they are ‘that’ disposable, cut flowers would be more appropriate. However, if they go into the garden, they are not very appealing unless they get cut down annually, and no one wants to do that. I do happen to like them as houseplants, but even that way, they need pruning for structure, and can still get big and awkward.
Yes, this one definitely needs a little more pruning for structure, that’s for sure. The optimal time for us to do it here seems to be the time when I have been having surgery lately so the last 2 years I haven’t pruned it and it shows. It could also use a re-potting, but again, offices and surgery haven’t really made it a priority for me. I’m hopeful that next year will be better (at least for me–and therefore, by extension, for all my plants!)
Karla