Overheard someone at the nursery say 'collecting pothos is just basic' and it got under my skin

I was at Armstrong Garden Center last Saturday grabbing some soil, and this woman said to her friend that collecting pothos is for beginners and not 'real' botany. I mean, I have like 12 different pothos varieties in my living room and they're all thriving. My marble queen has leaves the size of my hand. Why does everything have to be rare or hard to keep alive to count? Has anyone else run into people gatekeeping what plants are worth growing?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_clark1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh, that reminds me of something that happened to a buddy of mine, actually. He went to a plant swap last spring and brought a bunch of cuttings from his silver satin pothos, you know the ones with the little speckles. Some guy walked by and said "oh, just pothos" like it was beneath him, and my friend just laughed and said "this plant has survived my cat knocking it off the shelf three times, can your rare monstera do that?" I felt that in my soul because my pothos are the ones that make my house feel like a jungle without me having to stress out about humidity and special lights. Gatekeeping plants is just silly when half the joy is watching something thrive no matter how common it is.

lily2301mo ago

Collecting pothos is just basic"... I mean, gatekeeping hobbies is pretty basic behavior if you ask me. A plant doesn't have to be hard to keep alive to be worth loving, that's like saying you can't enjoy a good song unless it's impossible to play. My golden pothos has been with me through three moves and it's literally the most reliable friend I've got.