It may not come as a surprise that we love house plants. In fact our family room in the winter is heavily weighted toward our plant family, pets come next and if you are lucky enough Cruise, the golden or Mini, the West Highland will deem you acceptable for applying pats and leave a small section of couch pillow available to sit on as long as you always have hands on deck ready to rub behind the ears.
Now, those of you close by know mom and I have a tendency to bring everyone inside so please do not envision some grand Orangery like Dumbarton Oaks (swoon) or the botanical brilliance of Kew gardens, but instead picture that by February these crazy plant ladies are running something that looks more like a plant infirmary where we try to pump-up the stems for our greenhouse Mardi Gras this weekend and spend our days whispering encouraging countdowns to “the pots outside days” and gather sign-ups for our mud-season meditation workshops where we all visualize placing our roots back in the delicious earth.
The truth is these plants keep us sane in these cold winter months and make it clear when you take care of your plants, they take care of you.
Take my own experience, for example. I was running the motivational workshop while mom was watering the girls this week - a routine I like to call “Mom’s Shower Hour" - when I noticed something unusual. Amidst the rosemary, geraniums, hibiscus … “the gorgeous green leaves and sturdy stems” (a good line to use if you run your own mid-winter pep rallies) some of our free radical tomatoes had started blossoming. These bright yellow flowers were on our long legged lanky tomato weeds. But that's not all. Our ever boisterous basil shoots were bursting out in the window boxes, and bringing their unidentified friends to make an appearance as well.
But the real shocker came when we looked down and saw Beatrice the Butterfly. In February!!!! Where did she come from?!? Now, I don't know about you, but where we come from, butterflies aren't exactly known for braving the cold winter months. But there she was, breaking through her chrysalis, a ray of sunshine in the midst of our home.
My mom has been clipping my lavender shoots (controversial) and soaking them in honey water to feed Beatrice. It turns out that she has a broken wing, but somehow managed to survive the week.
What a resilient force of nature and reminder of the importance of pollinators. Without pollinators like Beatrice, our plants wouldn't be able to reproduce. And without plants, well, we'd be in pretty dire straits. So as mom and I plan our pollinator gardens, Beatrice gives us new hope. She's a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there's always a little butterfly waiting to be reborn in all of us.
So take care of your house plants. Who knows what surprises they'll have in store for you. And if you see a butterfly emerge in the dead of winter, give her a little honey water. It might just make all the difference.
Thank you for sharing with us. Keep it wet and green our friends!
Black Swallowtail! An amazing visitor...could it have hatched in the house?
Black Swallowtails aren't attached to branches in Singing Bridge in late February. I'm only pretending to be a naturalist but they have a lifespan of only a week or two, which makes me wonder if an outdoor plant came indoors and she hatched out of season? Maybe you've found a new business...the Butterfly House at Singing Bridge?