On July 5th, 2018, I was at the home of my father and step-mother, ogling over their new lacy tree philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum). I desired a cutting, and, as the nurturing woman that she is, my stepmom graciously let me have a whack at her youngest child. I had confidence in my ability to propagate anything, due to my then-recent numerous shopping sprees at the Lowe’s and Home Depot garden centers. As I (first gingerly and then more and more aggressively) tugged away at a decidedly co-dependent crown, I began to doubt whether I, in fact, knew what I was doing. Finally, however, the stubborn vegetation gave, and I was holding my shiny, new philodendron cutting. It had two puny, underdeveloped roots, and I was in love.

The poor kid survived the hour-and-a-half ride home and was immediately placed into its own 4″ clay pot with dirt cheap (ha), bagged garden soil (I was young and naïve; forgive me!) with a vermiculite top dressing. At first, the little cutting seemed robust – it stood proudly poised on its personal tray of pebbles, handful of leaves spread out majestically. Over time, however, its luster began to fade. Its stalks became hunched, visibly shaken from the traumatic experience of being severed from the only family it’s ever known. I tried to cheer it up using an orchid stake, and that worked for a while, but it was determined to be sad and drooped deeply anyway. At that point I removed the stake, continued watering it regularly, and told it to just “hang in there,” but didn’t give it any more special treatment. Could you blame me? After all, I had hundreds of other leafy children demanding my attention. I decided that he could either grow or die, and I was letting him make that choice for himself.

He and I continued that stalemate for months – him refusing to die, and me not letting him dry up. Going into fall, I was still hopeful that he would recover, but as the wind shook the bare trees outside, I began to have my doubts. I admit that there were a couple of times, when I had the itch to clean and purge my household items, that I considered tossing out the freeloader. What was he doing for me, looking all pruny and sad like that? Had he been human, would I not have abandoned him months earlier? No, of course not, I thought, and if he still had the drive to continue to be green, then I wasn’t sacrificing all that much lending him some real estate on my shelf. It was December now, yet he was no more stooped than he had been for months. At that point it struck me: he wasn’t dying; he was fighting. I gave him a much-needed repotting to celebrate.

Over this past weekend, I again struggled with the thought of composting my poor lacy tree cutting. Perhaps what I thought were roots weren’t at all, and I had actually removed the little pup without any hope of it re-establishing as a mature plant. Again, though, I felt the nagging consideration of, “Why hasn’t it died yet, if it were going to perish?” I just couldn’t let this one go. It wanted to live, and by Georgia, I wasn’t about to kill that kind of motivation! (Just kidding, I’ve killed lots of plants that had motivation.) So, I left the plant, droopy and sad, and went about my life… and I’m so glad I did!

I tell you what, folks, this has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve discovered in my plant career – there’s a new leaf growing! And a second one! You heard that right: This philodendron, which has been only a weak, solitary leaf for almost eight months, has not one, but TWO baby leaves growing from its base! When I went to water on Monday, I had to rub my glasses, because I couldn’t believe my eyes – I’m a plantie grandma! I was so excited, I probably startled my poor partner with my vague text of “BABE!!!!” and no context. Bless him, he tries to understand plant nerds’ antics.

So there it is, the product of one plant’s determination! It’s amazing what living beings can accomplish as long as someone believes in them. It also goes to show that we never know what is going on beneath a plant’s soil – or inside a person’s mind – so it serves all of us best to be kind and nurturing towards one another.

Have you encouraged a plant (or person) today?

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Amy