My neighbor's 30-year-old jade plant fell over during a storm last night

I helped her prop it back up and she started talking about how she got it as a cutting from her grandmother's plant in 1993. She said plants are just time travelers that outlive the people who planted them. Has anyone else had a conversation with an older gardener that made you look at a common houseplant differently?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthewsullivan2mo ago

That neighbor just handed you a piece of wisdom that takes most people decades to learn. In my experience, older gardeners aren't just talking about plants when they say things like that. They're talking about how we're all just passing through, and the things we care for outlast us in weird ways. My grandmother had a spider plant she gave cuttings from for forty years, and now there's a piece of it growing in three different states. It makes you realize that a lot of everyday objects we take for granted are actually little time capsules. Your mileage may vary, but I've started noticing that in all sorts of things, not just plants.

harperschmidt12d ago

But see that's what gets me. You mentioned everyday objects being time capsules, and I've been thinking about that all day. Do you think it's the object itself that holds the meaning or the fact that someone took the time to care for it and pass it on? Like, is my grandma's cast iron skillet worth anything without the memory of her seasoning it every Sunday morning?

cole_hall2mo ago

@matthewsullivan is out here dropping philosophy bombs disguised as garden talk. Honestly, my first thought when my own jade plant fell over was "great, now I have to clean up dirt," not "this is a fragile time capsule of memories." But now I'm side-eyeing my poor, neglected pothos like it's some wise old traveler holding secrets I'll never understand. Guess I better start apologizing to it for all the times I forgot to water it.