Friday, September 28, 2007

What got me started:

It all started in a recently-deceased-woman's backyard:

I arrived at an estate sale without any cash once, something that'd never happened before. I decided to go in with a friend of mine and look around, regardless. We walked through the house. There was something neat about it; many of the plates and tea sets matched each other, and it only took a moment to realize that this woman loved her plants, and her backyard. The backyard was beautiful and well cared for. At least before the estate sale it was. People were trampling through the plants, to get to the items that were actually for sale.

My friend and I started picking up the plants parts that were lying broken in the path of the bargain hunters. I'd seen these plants before. There was a variety, but they all had fleshy bulbous leaves. I'd heard that these kinds of plants were hardy and could grow even after they'd been broken. These plants were succulent plants, though I didn't know the word "succulent" at the time.

We took the pieces of the plants home and, in an effort to ensure their survival, bet that each of us could grow our pieces best--into healthy, rooted, plants. We talked-up our abilities, knowing that we both knew nothing about the specific plant cuttings we'd just acquired.

Thus began my relationship with succulent plants.