My new puppy

My new puppy

I guess the green thumb spirit has really grabbed me. While in North Carolina, I took a day trip to Elkin to visit Eris and check out her new shop In Every Room. I was in a complete daze as I drove back to Winston for dinner with my parents. As I approached a stoplight in Bethania, I noticed a van parked on the side of the road. There were rows of little bonsai trees on display. I whipped into the parking lot and began browsing. I immediately noticed that they were priced a little higher than I anticipated paying, so I stuck with the bottom row of younger trees.

I asked the gentleman about how to care for them. I explained that I have no outdoor access. The winds were very strong, so he somehow grabbed this one, a three-year-old tree, and said that it looked good for me. I am always open to letting someone else pick for me. I handed him my money and he handed me an instruction sheet. I went back to the car and noticed in the fine print: “Bonsais are truly an outdoor plant.”

And so with that new reality, I began fussing over this little tree like it was a new puppy. While in North Carolina, I moved it inside at night and outside during the day. The plant does not like central air, which we rarely run in DC. But my parents still had their heat on and I was very worried about the effects.

So far, the tree is doing quite well. I made it back to DC, along with a Venus fly trap rescued from Alex’s kitchen. They are both in their new spots on bedroom windowsills, where they will receive lots of morning light.

This quote from Wikipedia makes me very nervous:
“The soil should not be allowed to become totally dry, even for brief periods. Deciduous trees are more at risk and wilt quickly giving obvious signs; evergreen trees, which tend to cope with dry conditions better, do not display signs of this problem until long after any damage has occurred, and may even appear green and healthy despite having badly damaged or dead root system for quite some time after damage occurs.”

That is why I am calling this little one my puppy versus my two orchids, which I totally neglect and are full of numerous buds as we speak. They are a couple of house cats instead. We enjoy each other’s company, but there isn’t a lot of quality time being spent with them.