Maybe Plants Have Feelings Too

I remember some tomato plants we had several years ago when we lived in central Georgia. They grew well through the summer and into the early fall. When December came we still got tomatoes due to the unseasonably warm weather. I like to think that another reason they kept growing is because I talked to them every day. The reason I started doing this was because they were looking sickly at one point during the early growing season so I tried to take extra good care of them. I thought talking to them couldn't hurt and I like to think that it did help them thrive. After December they really did complete their life cycle but I was happy they were able to grow that long.

Over the years I've had many house plants and a couple of herb plants. Some died despite my best efforts and even though I tried to pep them up by talking to them I guess it was just their time. I knew this was the case with a basil plant I had. My husband got it for me near the start of the pandemic and I kept it going and transplanted it into a bigger container at one point. But it did die around two years after I got it despite taking the best care of it that I could. This is going to sound strange but I almost felt like I had a relationship with it. I would go near it and would have thoughts like "I really should pick some of this basil to cook dinner with." This happened quite a bit. And if a day went by that I didn't interact with it I could almost feel its disappointment. When it had reached the end of its life cycle I couldn't part with it so the stem of it sits in a vase in my kitchen window. It actually looks kind of nice. I had a thyme plant after that but it didn't last nearly as long, although I did like it and tried to take care of it as well.But I didn't have quite the fondness for it that I had for the basil plant. I find that as with people, you can become attached to certain plants.

There are some plants that are easier to grow than others. In the past I have tried to grow tiny cacti and they lasted for awhile. I once had an ivy plant that was quite hardy and a ficus tree that was really sturdy and beautiful. A few years ago around Halloween we got a spiky succulent plant in a Day of the Dead Vase. My husband found another one about a year later in a different colored Day of the Dead vase. They sit side by side in the window facing my backyard. I call them my soulmate plants. I have an aloe plant near them that used to sit in the kitchen window but it was outgrowing its pot so I replanted it in a bigger pot. It has grown to three times the size it was before and another little aloe is growing beside it. It loves its new spot and the sunshine there.

Plants really do enhance our world in so many ways and they are so much a part of each of our lives in one way or another. So I guess it really wouldn't be such a stretch to think of plants as something we can have a relationship with. After all they are literally everywhere, so it is natural we would have a connection.

So when you water your plant or plants today, be sure to say hi!