Nostalgia

9 years ago

I was blathering on and on with a friend on the phone the other night and an interesting topic came up.

It occurred to me that as I've been rebuilding a collection of plants that I had years ago,perhaps somewhere in my mind what I'm really doing is trying to re-create a bygone era of my life.

Additionally and not necessarily directly related to the above mentioned, I'd like to think that for many people,their houseplants are much like a "key" to a reservoir of memories.

Really not sure if this conversation will go anywhere,but figured I'd share my thoughts on that with you guys.

Anyone else have similar observations?

*wasn't really sure whether to put this here or in the discussions up topside(this IS sorta related to plants after all)...figured just to be safe,I'd put it here. Feels more like a conversation anyway.

Featured Answer

tropicbreezent

9 years ago

I've got a few plants that I've propagated on from originals years ago, keeping the same genetic line. There seems to be this compulsive urge to keep them going as a link to a time/place/situation/whatever way back. Replacements don't seem to work. Was given a tree seed by a close friend who picked it up off the beach near her home. It grew nicely but that friend passed away. Later a cyclone came through but the tree survived amongst the fallen trees around it. When the authorities cleaned up the fallen trees and debris they ripped out this tree. I went to the beach and got another seed but didn't look after the new seedling it produced. It wasn't given to me, I took it. There just wasn't that same association, and it finally withered through neglect. We make associations with things and they develop a life and meaning of their own.

Comments (7)

summersunlight
9 years ago
Yes, I tend to get sentimental about plants too. Plants that I grew in earlier times always bring back memories of those original times.
For example, an Aloe vera reminds me of the aloe plant I bought at a school "santa's workshop" type event and then grew for a number of years (wish I could have kept it going - it would be awesome to still have that plant all these years later).
asleep_in_the_garden
Original Author
9 years ago
No kidding! Hummers like aloe blooms too,yaknow?

Thanks for responding...at least now I know I'm not the only one. LOL
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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
IDK why I didn't see this originally, but glad you didn't put it on Convos, which doesn't seem to exist anymore. TBT seems like a good day to find & comment on it. ;)

I have so many memories connected to plants! In the house plant realm, a couple of my oldest plants were given to me by my Gramma. She wasn't as into plants as I am, but she'd kept them alive for decades, and now I'm trying to do the same. Hopefully my daughter or potential grand daughter will take over them in the future.

I have a few other plants that I've had for a couple decades and I can remember moving them around, places they sat in different houses, the years they had to be put up, out of reach of small hands, and the joy of sending pieces of some of them to others to start their own journey.

My 2nd serious teenage boyfriend... when I went to his house to meet his Mom, I could tell she was a nice person right away because she had some beautiful older plants. A big hanging pot of Syngonium (which I thought was Caladium at the time) and an umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla) that she'd been trimming for a long time to keep it from brushing the ceiling.

I'll always remember my last landlady fondly, we traded plants a few times. The Begonias & a palm tree she gave me are some of my fav plants.

I've traded too many times to remember which trader sent what, but I know which of my plants came from trades vs. the ones I bought @ stores. When I think about that, it's a pleasant thought, cliché-ish warm fuzzy stuff about humanity being mostly good.
asleep_in_the_garden
Original Author
9 years ago
Well THERE'S a positive side effect of the new format...yasee,..this post WAS on the "conversation" side and therefore had minimal traffic. Now that the two forums are combined,everyone who never really bothered clicking on over can see what they hadn't been seeing all this time. lol
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
Oh ok. That is cool! ...Though a discussion about whether or not the end slice of the loaf of bread is the slice to be eaten first, or a lid to replace so the loaf stays fresher longer, is sorely out of place over here.
pelargonium_gw
9 years ago
I have a fondness for plants "back then" too! My mum used to grow streptocarpus and african violets, and I learned from her and started growing them too. Other plants I got from friends and neighbors as small cuttings, are among those I remember, and I have some of them today (not the very same plants, but same kind.) By the way, I like the "like" button on the new design here. :)