Mr. McGregor’s Daughter, in an effort to promote domestic harmony*, has requested gardeners everywhere to tally up the number of plants they currently have growing inside. Here are my results:
Outdoor Plants Wintering Over
1 rosemary
1 ‘Rehoku Sunrise’ carex (an experiment)
1 apple seedling (my middle daughter’s experiment)
1 orange tree grown from seed by my 16 year old son
Year Round Houseplants
4 Aloe vera
2 Christmas cactus
1 Thanksgiving cactus
1 ivy (my eldest daughter’s)
1 stem of wandering Jew, rooting in water (also my eldest daughter’s)
Forced Bulbs
8 hyacinths (pictured above)
5 Soleil d’Or narcissus (there are actually more narcissus, but some aren’t sprouting)
For a grand total of 26 plants. I would have guessed half that, but then, I probably would have counted the pots of forced bulbs as one each, and I wouldn’t have counted my children’s plants. Good thing we haven’t started any seeds yet!
What about you? Do you know how many houseplants you really have? Do you dare to find out? If so, submit your tally here.
*If you have more indoor plants than Mr. McGregor’s Daughter, you promote her domestic harmony.
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: @2acrefarm
If I hadn’t already moved my onions out to the cold frames I would have had over 300
Twitter: @mycornerofkaty
Kathy, I’m tickled that Evan commented to chide you about his orange tree. See, you had more than you thought!
Very nice post! What a pretty vase for your hyacinth bulb.
I took photos yesterday, but am tardy in creating a post.
Twitter: @isupereco
I love the Aloe Vera. We had one growing up and we’d occasionally break off a stem to use it to treat a sunburn. A good looking and useful plant =)
Twitter: @reddirtramblin
You have bunches more than I do, and I love how you listed them. This has been fun.~~Dee
Do we count *each* seedling? Or each pot or tray of them? What about potatoes that have sprouted but not yet made it in the ground?
You should address your questions to Mr. McGregor’s Daughter. I think she said each seedling should be counted individually. Sprouting potatoes–personally, I wouldn’t count them. But it’s her census, not mine.
What makes my orange tree not count as a house plant? =(
(I bet you just forgot it…)
I did! I forgot! It is now corrected.
Twitter: @suburbangarden
Thanks for participating. I do want to know how many people have less, in the interests of truth and fairness. (But I am starting to feel rather smug.) The number of indoor plants can be surprising once you start counting them.