Just for fun, fee free to answer any or all... I feel kind of anal about numbering them, like a book report for English class, but it was visually easier to digest and gives ppl a quick way to say which one they're addressing.

1) What plant have you had for the longest amount of time that's currently still alive and how old?

On this I believe it's an Aglaonema that I can remember being in my room as a young teen, and the plain green spider plant that's been kicking around for decades may have come from the same planter.

2) If you previously had another plant that lived longer than any plants you have alive now, what was that and how old? OR what's the oldest plant you've killed?

Poor rubber tree, got to be so big and pretty, 8-9 years old, but unable to survive being stuck in a cold shed a few years ago.

3) What about a plant that you know is just really old but maybe you haven't had it for its' whole life?

Around 20 yrs ago my Gramma gave me a Drac. marginata 'tricolor' tree and some potted Sans trifasciata. Nobody remembers when the tree came into her life, but at least 35-40 years ago. My Mom's pretty sure the Sans is somewhere around 80.

4) The oldest captive plant you've seen?

When I lived in Columbus OH I liked to visit the Franklin Park Conservatory to see, among other things, their bonsai collection, some of which were tiny trees labeled as being 300, 350 years old. Although not unusual for a similar facility in any city to have such a collection, kind of hard to wrap your mind around standing there looking, reading the signs. Hard to imagine both the fact that such is possible AND that obviously a really long time ago, somebody had the idea to DO that and figured out how. How nervous do you think "the new guy" is at that job when a replacement is necessary?

Last year I lost a schefflera that I had 28 years, not sure how old it was.

tj

I bought Crown of thorns at the same time; from a small seedling (maybe 1.5") it grew into a very bushy, over 4feet tall plant. Left it with my ex...it lived for about 20(+?)yrs, but eventually it ended up in CT heaven...These were my first house plants in Canada.

I also have a ficus Benjamina rescued from a trash container approx. 16-17yrs ago, it was a mature plant already but pretty neglected. I moved in Jan. couple of yrs later, and it almost froze. Lost all the leaves, and looked really dead. I was about to dispose of it, but that summer few new leaves appeared. So it is still alive.

Rina

I just hope that someday I can tell people that my plants are 20-30 years old....that would be neat..

When the first floor neighbor who I was close to, died - my access to water became limited without having to do a 3 flight climb. So, the summer porch decorating idea ended after 2 years - but it was good while it lasted.

Of all of those plants, I have a few of the euphorbia left, and a Rosemary bush.

A very dear friend honored me with a generous replacement bulb, so I'm hoping to rekindle the tradition, and keep this Minerva alive and re-blooming annually for many years to come!

With any luck, some of my salvaged bulbs will make it, and that would make my oldest plant about... 5 or 6 years old, I do believe. Not very old, at all.

Previously, I'd had plants with lots of age on them... but lost them in a house fire. We've just had all the luck, I guess. Oh, well... what can you do? Life happens!

She divided it into 10 pots, but as she got older they were neglected and now only two small pots of it remain, but they're doing well.

She also has several thanksgiving cactus, draceana, a boston fern, and two snake plants at least 20.

A Norfolk pine and a chinese evergeen that are 15.

At a local public library, they have had 5 weeping fig trees growing in gigantic planters in the lobby for more than 40 years. They were at least 20 feet tall and and around and needed very frequent pruning to stay that small. Last year they renovated and removed them. I'm not sure if they brought them back after finishing or not because I've not been back lately.

My oldest plant is a green Spider, bought 1972.

Spider was doing great until last July during our heat wave. So many leaves burned. I ended up unpotting, trimming roots and foliage..it sure doesnt' look like it did before July.

Second oldest plant is Clivia, sowed from seed, 1982.
Can't find a new pic of the plant, but here are 2012's bloms.

This pic was taken 2009..and no, I didn't pay the price on the pot..lol. I save growing pots..thankfully kept container to repot Clivia.

Last is Crown of Thorns, Milii, started by a cutting, 1982/3.

The last pic was taken 2009...again, no recent pic. Well, there are, but alongside other plants, so hard to see.

Toni

Oldest houseplant in my care is another Ficus I've had for 20 years +, and was probably about 15 years old when I got it.

The oldest houseplant material I have, is a piece of a Boston Fern I got from a soon to be 99 year old friend I've mentioned often. Fred was a true plantsman and had a knack for plants like I've never seen. The story behind the fern is circuitous. More than 100 years ago, Fred's father, a greenhouseman, sold a Boston fern to a lady. Per Fred, she tended it for 83 years, then gave Fred a piece of it back. He grew it for years & years, and gave away dozens of starts, one of which he made me take, so that's how that story came about.

The oldest outdoor plant that's been in my care since it was in a small nursery can is a J procumbens 'nana' (dwarf Japanese garden juniper), also about 23 or 24 years old. The oldest trees I own are a Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) and a Picea glauca var. densata (Black Hills spruce). Both were collected from the wild in North Dakota. The pine is probably between 200-300 years old, and the spruce is 300-400 years old, according to the friend who does timber surveys for the US Forest Service and collected them. I once saw a piece of trunk from one of these stressed spruces grown on rock in extreme conditions that was less than an inch in diameter. With a magnifying glass, you could see where Andy had counted and demarcated the growth rings in 50 year segments, of which there were about 4-1/2. THAT, is what I call slow-growing!

Al

Marjie

Unfortunately, growing and gardening seems to skip a generation in my family. My Grandma grew beautiful plants, indoors and out... my Mother could kill any plant in record time! I love plants and gardening, but my daughter shows no interest, at all. Hopefully, my Granddaughter will pick up the tradition, and I'll be able to teach her a little something about growing... time will tell!

Most of my Dracaena Warneckii are from one plant I got about 24 or 25 yrs ago.

When we bought our house in 1985, I rec'd a small jade plant as a gift and since then I've made MANY plants from it to give away.

Also, I have pothos and spider plants that are 25 or more yrs old.

I love these kinds of threads. I have one, but I am not home to post it.

One has to be careful when stating their oldest plant, since for sure one may give away their true age..lol
Decades? Not you;;;;;;;;;_)

Beautiful plants here everyone! I have none that survived my old mixes before coming here, except my Jade tree.

I'll post soon:-)

Mike

Gonna let this flow on... like graffiti...

Cacti, I kill with kindness... I bow my head to your skill! And what do I see behind it, off to the right? Are those bulbs? I adore bulbs! What are they? Is it, by chance, Pregnant Onion?

Not very old, but part of my collection, anyway...

And...

And...

And those are the bulk of my collection, sans two windowsills I store plants in for winter, that are too dark to get decent shots in.

Have a great day, everyone!