Monthly Musing – May 2023 – It’s a jungle in there

“Where are you going to put that?!”

We’re in IKEA and not so small daughter has emerged from behind a large stand of houseplants with yet another plant and pot in her hands.

“But it’s so lovely!” she tells me, “And the pot is really cute!” as if that is somehow going to miraculously make some space on her bedroom windowsill, or the bookcase, or the bedside table, for more greenery in a cute pot in a room that is already starting to resemble the Amazon rainforest.

There are worse things for her to be obsessed with buying, I suppose, and at least she looks after the plants.  They all have names and are carefully looked after using a houseplant app which tells her when to water and feed them, and they’re all thriving so I assume they must feel loved and well-tended, and presumably like the music that she plays (more so than me, I think!) and the re-runs of the Friends TV show that she likes to have on in the background.

Big daughter has caught the house plant bug as well and had a tall new addition in her kitchen/diner when we went round for dinner tonight.  She’d also been plant shopping in IKEA, and I was a bit worried from the way that not so small daughter was eyeing it up that this was on the one was going to make a beeline for, but fortunately, hers was considerably smaller.

I like that my girls enjoy having greenery in their living spaces. They’re not interested in the outdoor garden like I am, but I like that they care enough to look after the plants indoors.  I think it’s good for them – I think it’s good for us in general to have plants in the house.  I must confess that I haven’t always been very good at looking after them in the past but not so small daughter has encouraged me to become a better house plant parent and now, both the plants and I are seeing the benefit!

However, it does mean that there is no spare surface in not so small daughter’s bedroom – what’s not filled with books is filled with plants and often what is left without a home is on the floor … but I know it won’t be long now before she’ll be looking at moving into her own space away from us (university open days beckon – how has this happened so fast?!) and her plants will be going with her.  As much as I mutter about it when I can’t find a clear surface in her room, I know that when the day comes when the room is bare, I’ll miss it all.

That’s not for a while yet, though, so in the meantime, every trip to IKEA or the supermarket is an ideal opportunity for plant-spotting, debate over whether it’s really needed for the collection, and haggling over whether it counts towards the general grocery-buying or whether I’m going to make not so small daughter pay for the plant herself … it’s become something of a ritual and I know you won’t tell not so small daughter if I tell you that I actually quite enjoy it 🙂